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We found the toughest iPhone XR case - CNET

Posted: 2019-01-29 01:15:02

Original link: https://www.cnet.com/news/tough-iphone-xr-phone-case-drop-test-best/#ftag=CAD590a51e

If you've just spent your hard-earned dollars on a brand-new iPhone XR, iPhone XS or Galaxy Note 9, you'll definitely want to get a tough case to protect it against accidental drops, bumps or scratches. Just check out some of our drop tests to see what happens if you drop a phone without a case, like the iPhone XR that suffered from a cracked camera from a 5-foot drop. Our regular drop tests for phones are done in more real-world scenarios, but to find the toughest iPhone XR case we took our testing to the extreme.

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The challenge

We invited the top case makers in the market to take part in our drop test at CES 2019.

Ten manufacturers took us up on the offer: Gearlock by Spigen, Caseology, PureGear, Griffin, OWC, Skech, Catalyst and last year's winners from our iPhone X drop test, Zizo, Pelican and i-Blason.

Each brought a brand-new iPhone XR and its toughest case to face our challenge: dropping them from various heights onto a hard surface covered in paving tiles. We also had a special force test involving a ball bearing just in case we had a tie on our hands (like we did in 2018's drop test, which was a three-way tie).

We only allowed screen protectors to be used on the phones if they were included in the retail packaging with the case.

Round 1

We started off the first round dropping phones from 6 feet (1.8 meters). That's a foot more than the height at which the iPhone XR cracked without a case in our earlier drop test, so we thought it was a good place to start.

Each case was dropped screen side down onto the tiles. These were the results:

iPhone XR cases, round 1

After each drop, we assessed the phones. If there were any cracks on the back, or damage to the screen and camera, the case would be disqualified. But all of the phones survived our first round without any scratches.

Round 2

This time, we took them to 10 feet. Vanessa hopped up on the scissor lift and made her way up to the set height.

iPhone XR cases, round 2

Manufacturer	Name	Price	Survived?
Zizo	Bolt	$18	Yes
i-Blason	Ares	$25	Yes
Pelican	Shield	$60	Yes
Gearlock	Classic (bike mount)	$30	Yes
Caseology	Nero Pro	$19	Yes
PureGear	Dualtek	$35	Yes
Griffin	Survivor Endurance	$40	Yes
OWC	NuGuard KX	$38	Yes
Skech	Echo	$40	Yes
Catalyst	Impact Protection	$40	Yes

Again, we inspected each phone after each drop and there was no damage to any of the phones.

Round 3

Originally, we had planned to take the phones to 15 feet. But in the interests of time, we decided to go straight to the last round. Vanessa took the 10 phones all the way to the roof, which was approximately 19 feet.

iPhone XR cases, round 3

Manufacturer	Name	Price	Survived?
Zizo	Bolt	$18	Yes
i-Blason	Ares	$25	Yes
Pelican	Shield	$60	Yes
Gearlock	Classic (bike mount)	$30	Yes
Caseology	Nero Pro	$19	Yes
PureGear	Dualtek	$35	Yes
Griffin	Survivor Endurance	$40	Yes
OWC	NuGuard KX	$38	Yes
Skech	Echo	$40	Yes
Catalyst	Impact Protection	$40	Yes

All the phones survived from our highest drop, even if some weren't rated for that extreme height. We genuinely didn't expect all the cases to survive this last drop height. Seeing as we couldn't raise the roof any higher, we had to take it to the next level.

Bonus round

Enter the force test. We had a long length of plastic tubing standing by with a 2.5-pound steel ball bearing that was going to help break the tie -- literally.

Rather than dropping the ball directly onto the screen, which would definitely break the phone, we flipped each one over and let the case take the impact of the ball. This meant the screen was face down on the paving tile.

We dropped the ball bearing from 4 feet, down the tube onto the backs of the phones. Here's what happened.