I agree with the message that most of it doesn't matter since I'll slap a thick case on my phone, but the sheer amount of broken unprotected screens you'll see in the wild makes you think.
Makes Me think when are phone manufacturers going to focus less on a few more pixels on the camera and make a phone rugged enough that for routine daily use it doesn't need a damn case?
I've never liked cases but now so many phones have Cameras that stick out such that the only way to get them to even sit flat is to level them off with a case. Just make the battery a little bigger and thicken the backing of the actual phone! Also raise the titanium bezel just 1mm and the glass is much less likely to ever make direct impact.
Frankly, if people are shelling out for higher end phones that break that easily, that's at least partly on them.
Like, I've been buying mid-tier Androids for about 10 years now, and I can't recall the last time I've had one shatter, and I'm clumsy as all hell. I've accidentally punted this thing across the office once, not a scratch. And as I'm so routinely told by the iPhone and more elitist Android spaces, this thing is supposedly a cheap plastic piece of shit.
It's so weird they settle for something more expensive but also more breakable. Makes sense if you're buying glass wear or something, I guess, but a device you keep in your pocket or hand all day? Shouldn't it be nigh indestructible at that price point?
True, I've been using the same mid-tier Samsung for 5 years now. It looks a bit rough but it still works just fine and I'll continue to use it until it breaks
They tried that already with the samsung s7 active. It was a pretty rugged phone by itself but people still insisted on putting a case on it. They then complained about the phone being too big and it didn't sell well.
Those still broke too easily. I tried out a couple models of the actives, and they would still break. One time I was sitting on the ground and my phone slipped out of my hoodie pocket and it shattered. It fell maybe 3-5 inches tops.
I mean, phones are already designed to be obsolete pretty quickly to keep you buying more often. Longevity isn't really a high priority in modern phone design.
Yeah but you could still screw with the software, limit updates, use cheap chips, and shame customers to make sure we all continue to throw our phones in the landfill every couple of years, but I would buy the phone that at least I won't worry about breaking tomorrow.
Phone case culture just seems so silly to me.
i've had my current phone for 3 years and it's been getting maddeningly slow lately. 2 weeks ago i took the case off and it legitimately feels sleeker and newer and somehow faster? or at least i'm better able to put up with the slowness cause it feels new? it's very odd and i'm frightened at the psychology
The only way to explain it's faster could be because the case was making the phone overheat. The chipset is made to protect itself by lowering the clockspeed (calculations per second) to avoid damage by heat resulting in being slower at performing tasks.
So maybe the case was isolating the phone so much it overheated constantly and after removing the case it could breath again and keep its original speed.
If you had a chunky case then maybe a sleeker design could offer enough cooling and still some protection. Best of both worlds :)