I know there are a lot of people who use phones as a kind of fashion accessory. It completes the look, ika nga. For me though, phones are tools of the trade, and as much as I love my phones, I really don’t treat them gingerly. That was fine back in the day when phones were really tough. My Nokia 3210, for instance, had been buried in sand, dunked in sea water, even trampled on by an over-excited askal. And dropping it? Practically a once-a-week exercise.
Things started to change when Nokia hopped onto the fancy phone bandwagon. But even then, they were still tougher than most phones which, when dropped, tended to scatter into a hundred pieces you then needed to reassemble. From that era – I’d say 2007 – I got what would turn out to be my last Nokia: an N95.
I held on to that baby until she just gave up the ghost. In the end … well, just look at my Lily.
I just took these photos, so yeah, I still keep her around.
Anyway, after trying out a bunch of other phones, I eventually gave in to the allure of the iPhone.
My first was an iPhone 4S, simply because I really didn’t like the rounded backs of the earlier ones. I liked the brick-y feel of the 4S as it sat more comfortably in my hand without feeling like it was gonna slip away at any moment.
And then the iPhone 5, and finally the 6. Throughout all three versions, finding a good protector was always a thing for me for two reasons: first, because the damned phones are so thin, it sometimes feels I’m not holding onto anything at all; and second – well, like I said, tools. I dropped my 4S, for instance, within days of getting it, because I was trying to type on my computer while taking a call. Apparently, turning on the speaker phone function didn’t occur to me until after I dropped the thing.
Long story short, a good phone case was something I needed badly. So I tried a whole bunch of them. I have a drawer in my office full of ones that I tried and immediately discarded. Some were good enough, to be honest, but just bad enough that I couldn’t wait to get rid of them. The last one, for my 6, I hated. It was light, sure; it was sturdy, great; but the thing had so many sharp edges that my hand just couldn’t get comfortable. First world problems, am I right?
In my defense, I hold on to my phone more than I don’t so, yeah, I can’t apologize for wanting to get comfortable.
Anyway, the other day, I think my search for a good protector finally came to an end. You might even say I’ve found it – the protector that’ll keep my phone safe and me, happy.
The box it came in says it’s submersible to 6.6 feet, for an hour; that it’s sealed against dirt and dust; that it’s closed to snow and ice – which is a good thing ‘coz I live in the Philippines and y’know how terrible the snowstorms here can get – and it survives drops from 6.6 feet. Apparently, the protector “exceeds military shock standards,” whatever that means because I’m pretty sure that, as tough as it is, it ain’t bulletproof.
Oh and it’s surprisingly light. Y’know how your brain makes snap judgements about how much an object is likely to weigh so that when you pick it up, your muscles are primed to exert just enough force to actually move it? Yeah, well I’m looking at this thing and I’m thinking it ought to weigh about the same as a medium-ish paperweight. But then I pick it up and it practically flies up, it’s so light. And when you cart your phone around with you as much as I do, that’s a big deal.
So, thanks to RA Rivera, it looks my phone is pretty set for the rest of its useful life. Mosey on over to youpoundit.com (@YouPoundit) if you want to get one. You might like it as much as I do.