Which phone case protects your phone best? What we see at the counter

When someone walks into the store with a broken screen, the first thing I do is take the case off and look at it. Sometimes there was no case at all. Often there was, but one that didn’t do its job: too thin at the corners, no rim around the screen, or so stretched that the phone was half falling out. After thousands of those phones, you know exactly which case really protects your phone, and which one only looks nice.

I’m Job from ThePhoneLab. Cases are the territory of my colleague Koen, area manager in The Hague; he wrote in the shop about what he looks for, and I quote him a few times below. The rest is what I see at the counter myself: where a phone breaks, and which case prevents it.

In this blog, we discuss:

1. Where does a phone actually break?
2. Silicone, clear, book case or Alcantara: which material protects best?
3. Why MagSafe in your case matters
4. Case with a card holder: book case or separate card holder?
5. Which case protects your phone best? How to choose

Where does a phone actually break?

Look at a broken screen and you see it straight away: the crack almost always starts in a corner and runs across the glass from there. Koen puts it like this in his tip in our shop: “A phone usually doesn’t fall flat on its back or screen. It falls on a corner. And that’s exactly where a case needs to do its job.” If a case doesn’t stick out slightly beyond the screen there, your glass still hits the ground when you drop it.

The second weak spot is the camera. It sticks out a few millimetres, so without a raised rim your phone rests on its lenses as soon as you put it on a table. And the third is the back glass: it breaks just as easily as the front when it lands on a small stone, and that repair isn’t cheap either. So a good case takes care of three things: reinforced corners, a rim around the screen and camera, and a sturdy back.

Silicone, clear, book case or Alcantara: which material protects best?

The best material is a combination of a hard back and a soft edge: the hard layer spreads the impact, the soft edge absorbs it. That’s exactly how our Protective Case Premium is built. But every material has its own strength:

• Silicone: soft in the hand, raised edges around the screen and camera, and a microfibre lining on the inside. Protection you don’t feel, and in most colours also with a MagSafe ring.
• Clear with a hard back: shows off the colour of your phone and protects the back glass better against hard impact than a fully soft case. Reinforced corners absorb the blow when it falls on its edge. A clear case does get a bit dirtier over time and can discolour. That’s why we also have a smoky black transparent version, where that happens less: so your case lasts longer and keeps looking spotless.
• Genuine leather book case: protects the front and the back, with a magnetic flap and three slots for cards or a banknote. For anyone who wants to leave their wallet at home. The leather gets better the longer you use it.
• Alcantara: the synthetic suede from luxury cars. Warm and soft in the hand, hard-wearing, colourfast and with built-in MagSafe magnets. Something different from silicone or plastic, without shouting about it.

What you want to avoid: cases that go limp after six months, silicone that attracts dust and can’t be cleaned anymore, and fake leather that looks old within a few months. Soft clear TPU cases also turn yellow after a while; a hard plastic back stays clear for longer.

Protective Case Premium

Hard back, reinforced corners and raised edges around the screen and camera. Transparent, or in colour with MagSafe.

Shop the Protective Case Premium

Why MagSafe in your case matters

If you have an iPhone with MagSafe (iPhone 12 or newer, except the 16e), choose a case with a built-in magnet ring. You can charge wirelessly through it and click a power bank, car mount or card holder onto it. Without magnets in your case, none of that works, or only half. If you have a 16e or an older iPhone, a case like this is exactly the way to still use MagSafe accessories.

The strength of those magnets matters. Koen writes in the shop that a weak magnet in your case may seem harmless. But in practice your phone can then bounce off your car mount over a speed bump and get damaged after all. With a good MagSafe case, that doesn’t happen. That’s why our MagSafe cases are matched to the alignment and strength of Apple’s standard.

Alcantara MagSafe case

Genuine Alcantara, the synthetic suede from luxury cars: warm in the hand, hard-wearing and with built-in MagSafe magnets.

Shop the Alcantara cases

Case with a card holder: book case or separate card holder?

If you want to carry your cards with your phone, you have two good options: a book case with card slots, or a MagSafe card holder that you click onto the back. The book case also protects your screen when it’s closed and has room for three cards and a banknote. The MagSafe card holder keeps your case slim, holds three cards, and you take it off when you don’t need it, without your cards falling out.

My rule of thumb: if you pick up your phone a hundred times a day and want quick access to your screen, choose a slim case with a MagSafe card holder. If you want maximum protection and just one thing in your pocket, choose the book case.

MagSafe card holder

Clicks onto your iPhone or MagSafe case, with room for three cards and a thumb opening. In black, blue and light blue.

Shop the card holders

Which case protects your phone best? How to choose

The best case is the one that fits how you treat your phone. If you drop it often, you want reinforced corners and a hard back. If you use MagSafe, a built-in magnet ring. If you want to carry your cards with your phone, a book case or a card holder. This is how I ask about it at the counter:

1. You drop your phone regularly (kids, building sites, sport): the Protective Case Premium or a silicone case with raised edges, plus a screen protector. Silicone handles a fall fine, but its real advantage is grip: your phone is less likely to slip out of your hands.
2. You want to keep your phone looking good for trade-in: a clear case with a hard back and a screen protector. A scratch-free phone is worth a lot more when you trade it in.
3. You use MagSafe accessories: the Protective Case Premium with MagSafe, silicone with a MagSafe ring, or Alcantara.
4. You want to leave the house without a wallet: a leather book case or a slim case with a MagSafe card holder.
5. You want your hands free: a phone strap; the attachment strip fits under almost any case, and there’s also a case with strap eyelets and a detachable strap.

Choose your device at the top of the page in the shop and you’ll only see cases that fit: for iPhone, Samsung and iPad. Every case in our shop has been tested for fit by one of our specialists: do the cut-outs line up, does the silent switch work, does every common cable fit, is there enough clearance for MagSafe. Only when all of that checks out do we add it to the range.

And if you combine your case with a screen protector and a camera protector, you pay for two of the three: the cheapest one is free. That exact combination is our Protection Kit, but the 3 for 2 applies to all accessories, online and in our stores.

3 for 2 on all accessoriesOnline and in our stores. Mix & match: combine whatever you like, the cheapest one is free.

If you come in with a screen that’s already broken, we turn it around: first we repair it, often within 30 minutes, and then you choose the case at the counter that will absorb the next fall.

About ThePhoneLab

For more than ten years, ThePhoneLab has been repairing phones, tablets and laptops, every day, throughout the Netherlands. Every repair starts with an honest diagnosis, no cure no pay, and then you choose what suits you: original parts or a more affordable alternative from our own brand, for every budget. Because repairing is almost always smarter than replacing, for your wallet and for the planet. No wonder customers give us a 9.5, in tens of thousands of reviews.

View all repairs or find a store near you.