Get a strong phone case

Phones are forecast to get more expensive soon because all the microchips got gobbled up by companies trying to create god by doing matrix multiplication.¹ So it's worth considering how you can defend your increasingly precious phone.

Today the average smartphone costs more than $400. The average iPhone costs over $1000.²

You have a one in three chance of damaging your phone each year.³ This chance increases significantly if you are a butterfingers.

About one third of people who break their smartphone replace it — incurring the cost of buying a new one. Roughly one quarter get it repaired. The average cost of repairing a smartphone in the USA in 2024 was $302 ⁴ – higher than you might have thought!

Decrease the chances of incurring a sudden cost and maintain the future value of your phone by getting a strong phone case.

What makes a strong phone case?

I've found, in my many googlings, hat strong phone cases typically have the same features:

• A hard outer shell and a bouncy inner layer. Usually the inner layer is made of Thermoplastic Polyurethane and the outer shell is made of Polycarbonate. The rubbery inner layer acts as a shock absorber while the outer shell remains rigid.
• Raised edges. If you drop your phone and it lands face down the distance between the ground and the screen will prevent the screen from smashing. This also protects the screen from getting scratched when you place it face down to prevent your partner from discovering the present you got them.
• Grippy bits. So you don't drop it in the first place.
• A cover for the charging port. To prevent it getting clogged. Especially if you work with dust, muck, clay, or filth.

I've put my recommendation below, but so long as it has the above features I suspect you will be okay.

My recommendation

While exhaustively searching the internet for strong phone case recommendations, Otterbox was the most frequent name to come up. So I went for their Commuter case for my iPhone 13 mini — and it hasn't broken yet and I'm very happy with it. These cases are tested by dropping them from 4ft (122cm) over 70 times — which feels about right.

Otterbox do make even stronger cases but they look like they're for angry people who throw their phones and are much heavier (over 10 grams!)

Below I've painstakingly collated links to Otterbox phone cases on Amazon. If you purchase something using these links I will make a small commission at no additional cost to you. However, your purchase will also help finance yachts for the ultra-rich.

Tags

• saving money
• product recommendation

Published

6 Feb 2026

Updated

6 Feb 2026