Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “The Problem with Phone Cases!”.
Hey what is up guys mkbhd here – and this is a question i get so often so when using these phones or tablets or computers or whatever uh, you got to have a case for it right. You got to have some sort of protection that you need to worry about uh. So this is me answering that question. This is why i don’t use cases so more and more especially recently. These new flagship phones that are coming out are focused more and more on their design, specs matter less and less so we’re seeing these new phones come out and no matter what the specs are. Quad-Core this ram speed that doesn’t really matter basically, every phone at the top of every manufacturer’s lineup performs great. So the way to pick which phone you buy is number one, the software features and number two, the design and the hardware and the feel on the hand.
So that’s why these manufacturers have spent hundreds and hundreds of hours of research and development, creating these meticulously precise designs, where every curve every edge, has a reason. The button placement, the build materials, the shape the size, everything is considered and everything has a purpose they make. The phone thinner they make the phone lighter, they push the limits of physics to fit as big a battery or as many camera lenses or as big as speakers as possible into this beautifully designed phone. So when you finally decide which six or seven hundred dollar phone you wan na buy you’ll really appreciate these little details. These fine things that they’ve, considered and you’ll hopefully really appreciate the design. But then a case manufacturer comes along and no offense to any case manufacturers, but they spend maybe a week to study the dimensions of this new phone and come up with a piece of rubber or plastic to put over the top of your phone to protect it. And so you put this piece of rubber on your phone and then the beauty is gone. Like the meticulous edges, the sharp details, the design, all the curves, everything that they were trying to impress you with and the way it feels in the hand is gone. The thinness that they brag about on every new flagship phone when you put that piece of rubber on top is now gone, but you want to protect the phone. What, if you drop it, you got to have some sort of protection on the phone for that right.
Well turns out the drop tests where they actually have a case on the phone are actually at least a little bit useful, because they’ve shown that basically no case with a few exceptions. Basically, no case actually prevents your phone from getting damaged when you drop it from any significant height when you drop your phone on the screen, especially, is going to get damaged unless it’s an otterbox defender. So really the protection a case offers is against direct impact between your phone and whatever surface you drop your phone on. So if you drop a metal phone on concrete, you prevent that metal from getting scratched, which is great, but so do skins. There’S skins that you can apply just like a screen protector. It’S just on the back of your phone. Uh really are thick enough at this point. To actually protect your phone.
The same amount as a thin rubber case would against the drop from maybe pocket height. They also tend to improve the feel on the hand worst case scenario: you have the htc one m8. This is a tall large, rounded metal phone uh and if you want to touch the top of the phone and grab that power button with one hand, you inevitably have to do a little shimmy with your hand and with those smooth, rounded edges. That’S just asking to drop your phone eventually, so i added a carbon fiber textured skin to the back of my phone problem solved and that’s kept the phone’s thinness.
It hasn’t changed the shape of the phone. The only thing that’s really changed is the way it feels in the hand, because you now have that texture. So i guess the only thing you have to worry about is the actual visual looks of the phone and that’s not really a problem anymore, because a lot of these skin manufacturers have tons of different colors and looks and build materials and all sorts of things. For the most popular phones out there, i also have a skin on my laptop.
It’S a decal from decalgirl.com, don’t judge for the 13-inch retina macbook pro. Obviously that’s a device. You don’t really drop that much, but it does protect it when i pull it in and out of my bag from any scratching with a zipper or something, and at the end of the day, if i want to sell the laptop or get rid of it, i Can just take the skin off and it leaves a metal underneath perfectly new, so bottom line. I really don’t use cases on my laptop or tablet or phone, and that’s because i actually care about the design of it.
And if you do too, it doesn’t really make sense to cover that up with the piece of rubber or plastic. So i i’m going to encourage the the skin makers out there. The d brands, the decal girls, the slick wraps, all those guys to keep making more awesome skins for us to customize our phones, the way they look and the way they feel in the hand, and if i actually need to protect my phone i’ll put it back In my pocket or get an otterbox defender, i guess without any further ado i’ll go ahead and sign off.
Let me know what you guys are. Are you a case person? Are you a skin person or do you carry your phone naked because i know lots of people like it naked .