How Many Smart Phones Have You Damaged So Far / Recommend Protection?

ihbh on 25/07/2016 - 08:51
Last edited 25/07/2016 - 10:29

I have only damaged two smart phones.

  1. An Apple 5 when I went for a run in Perth a couple of years ago and it poured down (very rare) - I tried to sprint back to the hotel but had to take cover under an overpass but the phone got wet and water seeped under the screen and spread.

  2. An Apple 5c fell out of my back pocket on to the tiles in the front hall of my house this last month and there were cracks on the top half of the screen. I had dropped this phone before on hard surfaces and there was a crack on one corner of the screen before the last fall.

These are work phones, but I feel slack and am looking to buy a case for my new phone to prevent 2. from happening in future. Will cheap ($1 to a couple of dollars) cases still provide a similar level of protection as the more expensive ones? What's the best value case you recommend?

  1. is unlikely to happen again or is somewhat preventable, so I probably don't need protection here. Or do I (including related incidents)?

Poll Options

  • 49
    None
  • 16
    1
  • 7
    2
  • 2
    3
  • 2
    4
  • 0
    5
  • 2
    >5
  • 2
    Other - please elaborate
Mobile

Comments

  • iridiumstem on 25/07/2016 - 09:04

    I have not "damaged" my phones yet (if you limit the damages to cracks on the screen and/or something that makes phone harder to use). I do have dents on one of my phone (I dropped my old phone on asphalt, it landed on the side and rolled, made few dents on the metal frame) and another phone has LCD panel slightly lifted from the frame (though I think that was there before I started using it).

    I think it's mostly luck related if you drop your phone. How you drop it, how it lands etc all become a variable. There are things that supposedly reduce chance of screen cracking (i.e. glass protectors which apparently breaks and take some of the impact, some phone cases have "lips" that make the screen to not touch the ground when it lands face down etc) though. That said, I still think it's luck based.

    As with water damage, a lot of the phones now come with some kind of resistance (even iPhone 6s has some silicon sealings that protects some parts of the phone, that said, it doesn't stop water damages to the phone). Though, I kinda think it's best if you use the phones as if they don't have any water proof features. The waterproof features I still think are hit or miss.

  • Sarge2401 on 25/07/2016 - 09:15
    +2

    The only phone I have ever damaged was the one the dog ate. Left it at home one day and he was trying to answer it for me. Also cost me a new mattress that day. Having said that I've dropped phones but have always been lucky I guess and I've had mobiles for probably about 18 years.

    • ihbh on 25/07/2016 - 09:20

      I've had mobile phones for almost as long and didn't damage any pre-smart phones.

    • robertbruce on 25/07/2016 - 10:18
      +2

      So what happened to the mattress after the dog ate the phone. Actually, no, wait..yep, don't worry, don't wanna' know - hope the dog got better

  • kaz09 on 25/07/2016 - 09:48
    +2

    My iphone 5s seems to be indestructible. I've dropped it so many times, the bathroom, parking lots, the train station (one time it fell and nearly slid onto the tracks) and its never been cracked. I tend to accidentally tip some water or tea or whatever im drinking onto the screen too, but that gets quickly wiped away.I dont have one of those protective cases its just a flimsy plastic one that doesnt even cover the whole frame. I'd recommend getting those protective cases if you're prone to cracking your screen easily.

  • ItsMeAgro on 25/07/2016 - 09:53

    My Samsung Galaxy S2 is still uncracked after all these years.

    Had it in a case, of course, but just a $3 plasticy/rubbery back-and-sides one.

    Dropped plenty of times.

    Same with the old HTC magic.

  • npc on 25/07/2016 - 10:50

    Dropped S6 once. No visible damage but LCD under glass split into 2 pieces and stopped working. No scratches or cracks on the glass. "Lucky". Less $300…

  • holdenmg on 25/07/2016 - 11:00

    You (or your employer) can take out Phone Insurance.
    Chubb or ACE Phone Insurance, Google it…

  • indium on 25/07/2016 - 11:06

    6 :(

  • Diji1 on 25/07/2016 - 11:40

    Never broken a phone.

    Used to always put covers on but stopped when I got my last phone since:

    a) Never sold a phone second hand.

    b) I buy phones as a status symbol so why am I spending 700 bucks on a device to spend more money on it to hide it.

    There was also c) the Z Ultra is too big and a case just made it bigger.

    When I get my Z5 Premium I'm going to put tempered glass on both sides and try and get a transparent or "chrome" bumper case to I get the "best of both worlds" - looks and protection.

    Will cheap ($1 to a couple of dollars) cases still provide a similar level of protection

    If it's the same sort of design sure I guess but a $1 TPU case isn't going to provide the same protection as buying an Otterbox style of case obviously.

  • Vampyr on 25/07/2016 - 11:42

    Whilst on the topic, can anyone recommend a cheap and reliable screen replacement company (Sydney inner west)? It's a Motorola moto x style. Thanks.

  • scrimshaw on 25/07/2016 - 12:04

    Broken a Lenovo 789. It fell out of a bike mount, skittered across the road and got ran over by cars.

    It broke spectacularly into smithereens. -$140 dollars.

  • rldowling03 on 25/07/2016 - 12:47

    Never damaged a phone, bricked one once while installing a custom rom, but not any physical destruction

  • Windows7forever on 25/07/2016 - 13:27

    I always ensure I purchase a leather case that covers the front and back on every new phone before I start using it. Never dropped or had any issues.

  • nafe on 25/07/2016 - 13:58

    Never broken a phone in 21 years of mobiles. Been through the whole cycle of them getting smaller and smaller (anyone remember the T28s?) and now getting bigger and bigger. Waiting on my S7 to be delivered now, lost track of how many phones I've had, but I still have all of them in a box somewhere lol

    I always have a case on my phone, from leather holders, to cheap TPUs to the Otterbox Commuter but lately the Spigen Slim Armor is my favourite.

  • Dazza610 on 26/07/2016 - 09:57
    +3

    Surprisingly I haven't smashed/damaged any as yet…
    Not that I haven't tried.
    1) was being dropped off by wife at the golf course. I had my phone & wallet in my hand & placed them on the Bumper-bar while I removed clubs from the boot. As soon as I closed the boot she took off, before I could grab 'em.
    I called out (windows up air-con on, couldn't hear me.) I chased her for about 500m expecting them to fall off. By the time I got back to the clubhouse I had resigned myself to the fact they were GONE.
    I grabbed my mate and took off in his car to search the sides of the road, (mainly for wallet), all while using his phone to call her to stop and look, (but she doesn't answer the phone while driving). When she got home she answered, and looked at the back of the car. Amazingly my wallet was still sitting there. At least that was my main worry averted. To understand how amazing this was, is the fact that she had to go around 15 corners, through 4 roundabouts, 2 sets of traffic-lights and over 1 railway crossing. After doing a "hopeful" search, I gave up.
    Later on, a guy called the 'home-phone' (in the address-book), and said he had found it. (So it was still working) And would drop it off on his way home from work. He found it sitting in the middle of the road on the LAST roundabout before or house. A couple of scratches, that's all.

    2) Did the same thing again, this time she went shopping & parked in the shopping centre, and I was trying to ring MY phone to maybe alert her if she could hear it.
    It sat there on the bumper-bar ringing away with my wallet right under it, for 2 hours.
    I wonder what went through people's mind seeing it & hearing it, but not going near it. Maybe they thought it was a set-up or something.

    I think I've used up all my luck with mobile-phones, so I make sure it's in my pocket now.

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