Mobile-Net

What to look for when buying a Phone Case for your iPhone or other smartphone

Plenty of people I know buy useless phone accessories but fail to buy one of the most important accessories for a smartphone - a phone case or cover. I guess people prefer the look of a slim, sleek phone.  However, it's important to realize that despite the general good quality of workmanship, your cell phone is far from invincible.

So what are some of the threats facing your phone?

• You could drop it
• You could drop some other object on top of it
• You or someone else could accidentally sit on it
• You could scrape it against some sort of hard or abrasive surface

Many of  us have come to rely on our phones a Great Deal.  We go nowhere without them.  We are attached to them almost every waking moment.  We would be lost without them.  We think nothing of spending upwards of $200 on them because know how integral they are to our daily lives.  Something this important should of course be cared for properly.

Now I'm not saying that there is any kind of bulletproof protection out there.  Just because you put a phone case or cover on your phone does not make it immune to the kind of threats mentioned above.  What it does however is give your phone a fighting chance.  Your phone is much more likely to last long if it is protected than if it is naked.

So what sort of things should you look for when purchasing a phone case? Here are a few general things to keep in mind:

• Size matters: Some of us don't like to use 'holsters' for our phones, which means we are used to carrying the phones in our pockets.  You don't want to buy a case that makes your phone too large to fit in your typical pockets. Or on the flip side, if you DO have a holster for your phone, you want to get a cover that allows you to still place your phone in the holster.
• Weight matters: Once again how you carry your phone comes into play here.  If you wear clothes with delicate fabrics, the extra weight may not be a good thing, especially if you carry a keychain with large set of keys in the same pocket.
• Material matters: You should try out a few different materials and see how they feel in your hand.  Some materials are sturdy but 'slippery' - its great to have a stury case that is scratch resistant and can withstand a bump or two but if it comes at the cost of making the phone itself hard to handle and more prone to fall out of your hands, that may not be a good tradeoff.
• Screen protection matters: If your phone has a screen that accepts touch input you want to make sure the phone case or cover you purchase does not interfere with your ability to use that screen input.

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