Phone cases have been the same for several years. There’s very little innovation, unlike phones, which are getting sexier and more refined.
Our $ 1,000 Phones Deserve Better Cases
Since the introduction of phones, phone case manufacturers have been trying to capitalize on this market by offering protection and personalization. You buy a new phone, you buy a new case, the two go hand in hand, but when smartphones slowly came out of their proverbial case; dusted off his boring black and white plastic from the early 2010s; and put on a shiny, matte, metallic, glassy, colourful or chic new outfit; The sleeves were glued into the same shape.
Brands appear left and right, but ideas are recycled straight away: hardshell or softshell, plastic or leather or thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), black or clear. Compared to smartphones, there is very little imagination in creating cases, and there is a certain status quo that many brands seem happy with – I’ve got to a point where I feel bad, almost a thousand dollars for one expensive phone (like my newly acquired Pixel 6 Pro) only to take it with you in a case that doesn’t show any of its polished design elements.
Modern flagships deserve better cases made from finer materials, with more elegant designs and more colour options. And that’s even more true for Android flagships because the housing options are noticeably more limited for them compared to their Apple counterparts.
The case for the best cases
Whenever Google, Samsung, Apple or any other smartphone maker puts on a big show about their latest flagship and the thousands of hours and probably millions of dollars that went into the development and selection of the Device have flowed. the best materials and colours to display it, I can’t help but flinch knowing that most phones I buy are likely to be trapped in a generally transparent or black smudge. One that was clearly not born out of the same passion or research.
There comes a point where you wonder, why bother? Why is Google or Apple or some other company trying so hard? And why do we insist on buying the nicest colour options when most of us end up getting a case for our hundreds of dollars’ investment so that it doesn’t crack or break at the tiniest drop?
Then there is the other side of the argument. Why can’t we have better cases? With so much money and effort going into giving us beautiful smartphones, why can’t case makers go out of their way to give us a similar experience?
More of the same
Looking at the broader housing market, there are very few innovations at the moment. It has its masks that may offer some nice patterns and colours, but they fail badly in the protection department. I know I wouldn’t trust my clumsy hands to carry a phone if it were only wrapped in the skin; I drop my phone twice a week so I don’t take any chances.
Then there are the hard-shell cases, regardless of their material (smooth plastic or covered with fabric, leather or wood), which also look pretty, but also have difficulty absorbing and deflecting shocks. I’ve seen phones around me with broken glass only to find that the person chose a hard case to “protect” their device.
The most protective material on the market, TPU, isn’t the sexiest to touch or look at. It’s a huge step up from the old generation of silicone sleeves, which attracted dust and lint like crazy but still felt somehow. cheap and unnatural. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t bought anything but TPU cases for almost a decade, but I usually have to spend days researching them to find an option that is one step ahead of the rest.
Every year or two I decide to try a new clear TPU case in hopes that it will be the perfect solution to showcase my phone and still protect it, but unfortunately it always attracts fingerprints and grease, picks always a yellowish hue. Over time and eventually, the phone makes the phone look slimy and cheap, not more expensive.
I’ve also looked at Spigen, Caseology, Ringke, Otterbox, and many other well-known brands, but after buying the first Liquid Air or Vault case you realize they are all the same. the exact same design in the exact same colours – mainly black and … black. Or grey if you’re lucky. Some people will find solace in this consistency; They buy the same case for all phones and know exactly what they are buying. I get bored with it. I always look for a fresh design and new colours, otherwise, I get the impression that I haven’t switched to a new cell phone.
