The only time I ever see caseless phones is in the movies. Everyone I know protects their phone like it costs $1k to replace it. So I’m curious, is my circle unusual or the norm?
No, because even cheap smart phones are often expensive and difficult to repair. My current phone is an s10 ive had since 2020 and even today it would cost me £50 to replace the screen myself.
I refuse to treat my phone as disposable so when i very rarely buy a new phone, ill buy one that i could repair myself and with internals that will last a long time.
Budget phones are usually out for me because they usually become annoyingly slow after only a few years which means i usually end up spending more for a mid range which means repairs cost more if i need them. Therefore putting a decent case on it makes sense.
Made the mistake of buying an iPhone 15, it’s so thin and boxy that it’s uncomfortable to hold without a case and the stupid camera array sticks out so much it does not lie flat on a surface when put down, even with a case
I would likely go case-less if it wasn’t for my dry hands, and the occasional need to have my phone sit on my leg (while I am driving) so I can go hands-free with it.
My problem is that any phone without a case (and about 99.999% of cases out there) has the phone being as slippery as an enraged hagfish. It literally leaps out of my hands with most operations, which is why I need a case – to grip it effectively.
And now with my iPhone 15 pro max, I have been in a desperate search for any case which is sticky enough. As in: with the phone in the case, place it face-up on your open palm without gripping it and tilt your palm 30-45°. If it slides off, the case is too slippery. I’ve had sticky cases before, but it seems that everyone suddenly stopped making them some time after the iPhone X.
Yes. No case. Why would I? I specifically got the phone because it’s quite small, and feels nice in the hand. A case would ruin that.
I also have not dropped any of my phones once in the past ~10 years.
I also have not dropped any of my phones once in the past ~10 years.
I am in fear and awe. I put in incredible mental and physical effort not to drop my devices yet have managed to drop and break about half of them (while they were in cases, too).
On the upside it forced me to learn basic electronics repair lol
I use a case and I have (very rarely) dropped my phones, but I’ve never broken one (or even significantly damaged one) by doing so. I suspect that might be because the lip of most cases protects the screen from direct impact with flat surfaces. Or maybe I’ve just been lucky.
And I do agree with you that a case bulks up the phone a bit and you lose that satisfying thinness. However, to me, there’s a positive trade-off: if you get the right case (like a silicone one), you can significantly increase the tackiness of its surfaces, giving you a much better grip on it. This, to me, is the chief benefit of having a case—not to protect it should you drop it, but to make it so you’re much less likely to drop it in the first place.
My phone is cheap and old as hell. I absolutely do not care of I drop it and it stops working. Actually it already did that, but unfortunately the disassembly and repair only took about an hour so it’s gonna remain usable for a while. It is also a tank. Cannot fathom people who take care of their phones. It’s so much easier to just not give a fuck.
Redmi 9T.
I used to use a case and protective screen, but never broke a phone from dropping or anything. So one day I just got tired of my phone feeling all huge and janky and stripped it down. Never went back.
I tried to use my phone without a cover, but it’s so thin that I don’t like the feeling. So I went back to my cover only for the added thickness.
I haven’t ever broken a phone when I’ve dropped it, so no case or cover. It goes in my pocket with keys sometimes but has no notable scratches after 2 years
I use a case and usually a screen protector. They get broken pretty frequently anyway.
Bought a repairable phone and only use a screen protector now. If it were to break it’s not that expensive a repair (never paid more than $500 for a phone anyways, seems ridiculous to me), and I’ve dropped it plenty of times and it hasn’t broken yet in nearly 4 years. Doesn’t seem necessary.
I change it depending if i feel like it or not.
If something breaks its like at most a 90€ replacement partJust trying interstellar on PieFed. Says 119 comments but only see four. Also not sure what profile name it’ll use as I have two on one email address. (edit - it picked my old one.)
No case. Dropped and cracked my screen after 15 months. Ordered a new screen on mobilehq and will install next week. I prefer the lightness and the soft back of my g84.
… And now on the PWA the username it shows is my new one, and all comments visible. I think Interstellar needs more work.
Case and screen protector. This phone cost me over a grand, and you only need to drop it once.
Would you drive a car without a seatbelt?
Is the screen protector really necessary?
I’ve never used it, just a cover on the back.
I keep my phone in my pocket, and stuff will always end up rubbing against it. I plan on either reselling or giving this phone away in the future, so in keeping it as mint as possible.
There’s already a few noticeable scratches on the protector (S25 Ultra) so while it’s a tough phone, it replaced a Pixel 5 which had a pristine front glass after I was done with it.
Keeping to the car analogies, they’re like floormats. Not needed, but good to have.
Most people I see in public don’t have a case on their phone. But I also see a lot of people with fucked up phones and cracked screens, so maybe they should.
A lot of people also don’t spent that much on their phone, or have an easy, cheaper way to replace it through their carrier. Mine for example, I can usually find a current flagship device for no money down and pay it off $20-30 extra on my bill if I was to get a new device for any reason, or use the protection warranty and only spend $100 for a replacement on my current device if I lose it or break it.
They could also be work devices, owned by the company they work for and simply DGAF.
I swear, most fucked up screens I see are actually temperate glass screen protectors. The cracked protector is proof to them the protector works. I take it as proof a thin piece of glass barely adhered to a flexible chassis is way more prone to failure than the actual screen. I had film protectors until I my pixel 3a. Surprise, screen glass is hard as… Glass.
(edit: see comment below saying it’s a wear item. Unedited comment still here:) I cannot fathom why my coworker continually replaces the soft protector on his Samsung flip due to failure at the hinge. . The folding phone. The one that only ever goes in his phone folded.
Surprise, screen glass is hard as… Glass.
In some cases, even harder! Gorilla Glass has a variety of material strengths over glass in hardness, but at the cost of being (slightly) less scratch resistant.
Interesting. I did get some very mild scratches from keys on my pixel 7 early on. I didn’t think harder glass would come with less scratch resistance. Sure you don’t mean greater tensile strength?
Maybe? They’re less prone to shattering.
The flip and the fold come with a screen protector from the factory. It’s integral to the phone as the screen is flexible and soft, without it the screen would get opaque and dull. People forget that the point of cases and screen protectors is to be like rubber tires. They’re there to take weather (not damage) instead of the phone, and to be easily replaced on the regular. Samsung offers a replacement service for the flip that changes protectors regularly with the phone protection program.
You know… I didn’t think about that because I don’t own it and haven’t touched it. Consider the topic fathomed. Seems like some people do just fine without the protector, but I was blinded with our hard glass designs. Thank you
Yeah, like, there’s even a little leaflet that is the first thing you see when you open the box that just says “Don’t remove the screen protector. If it gets damaged, don’t replace it yourself, send it in for a free replacement.” Or some wording of that kind.
I don’t use a phone case. I already think phones are too big. Adding a case makes the phone even bigger and even bulkier. I’m usually pretty good at not dropping my phone.
Yes, usually, because I actually did drop it recently. 😅 Although, the screen is fine. It just has a little love tap on the corner. It’s got character now. It’s got the “worn” look.
