Your Phone Needs A Protective Case. Or Does It?

The market for phone cases is enormous. From simple and inexpensive to hand-crafted and luxurious, you have all the choices in the world: size, colour, shape, material – thousands of manufacturers are working this very second to ensure you will always have exactly what you are looking for.

However, if you look deep into the issue, there has never been a consensus to the debate on whether you actually need a case in the first place.

While some of us believe that encasing our phones is a reasonable must and can’t stand the idea of having our large-screen device tumbling around in the backpack, others hold to the opinion that covering your phone is unnatural and takes away from the beauty of its original design.

While, like most other decisions, this one is a matter of personal choice, we have still rounded up all the major “for” and “against” points and hope that going through them will make your decision making process at least a tad easier.

Pro-Case Arguments: Why Having A Phone Case Is A Good Idea

To Drop Or Not To Drop

Have you ever met a person who has never dropped their phone? Exactly. No matter how careful we are, there is no beating gravity – and sooner or later, after a comic “oops”, your phone will hit the ground with a thud of disappointment and lost trust. What happens AFTER the fall, is what matters. While some phones, and especially the rugged ones, will have no problem surviving a heavy fall or two – more fragile models and especially the ones featuring bigger screens may not take it just as well.

So, a case may soften the fall – and this one goes into the pro-case basket.

In addition to softening the fall itself, the texture of the case may even prevent the fall from happening in the first place. With some phones featuring sleek and smooth covers, it may be easier for them to slip out of your hands.

It’s Not Just Looks

Protecting your phone from a few small scratches may seem to some as petty. But there is more to the issue than looks. While scratching the surface of your phone is not a big deal at all, scratching your camera or damaging a button is a serious functional problem that will affect the way your device works and will require some time and money to fix.

Reselling In Mint Condition 

What are your plans for this phone? Once you are ready to upgrade, you may want to make some cash off the now older model. In this case, the small scratches will matter – and the ability to describe your phone in the ad as “mint condition” comes at the cost of taking extra care of it during the time of use.

 Showcasing Your Style

With all the multiple of ways of personalizing custom phone cases – from colour schemes to personalized engravings – there is no lack of ways to show your personality to the world. For some of us, a phone case is just like a piece of jewelry, a fashion accessory if you will, with no particular function but some strong style aptitude.

Contra-Case Arguments: Why You May Want To Do Without

With all the in favour points above, there are plenty of users out there who simply do not see the point of covering up your phone and protecting it against unseen potential dangers.

Covering Up The Artwork 

We’ll kick off with the style argument here. While your phone case may let your individuality shine, it will put the brilliant design and craftsmanship of your phone in the shadow. With the all the time, effort and technical knowledge put into the looks of our phones by their manufacturers, it may seem quite ungrateful to cover all of that up with cases.

What’s more, no matter how lightweight it is, a case will add size to your phone, making it more bulky and less easily fitted into your pocket.

Not 100% Damage-Proof 

When it comes to drop protection, a case is helpful. But it’s not 100% proof. Unless you have a very thick soft case, able to really cushion the blow, there is no guarantee that your phone will be fully protected from damage. This is something to consider when choosing your side in the case-no-case stand-off.

It’s Getting Hot In Here

If you feel that your smartphone is prone to overheating, putting more clothes on it certainly won’t help. Overheating will cause trouble to your battery and slow down your phone significantly – so no matter how pretty the case is, without proper ventilation – it’s a death trap.

So what does it all come down to? If you know that your smartphone history is nothing short of violent, investing in a protective case may be money well spent. On the other hand, if you switch between models often and tend to avoid smashing them into the walls – you might prefer to go nude (with your phone, that is).

If you are still in two minds between having or not having a case, why not consider an extended battery case, like this one for Galaxy S3, that will give you the extra benefit of less re-charging?