Phone Cases Worth Buying (and the Ones I'd Never Buy Again)
I have, over the last twelve years, owned twenty-three different phone cases. I have bought cheap ones, expensive ones, ones recommended by my daughter, ones I've found at the gas station out of desperation, and one made of literal wood. I am the wrong man to ask if you want neutrality. I am the right man to ask if you want to skip all of that experimentation and just buy something good.
Here's how I sort them for the people in my Wednesday class.
The category that matters most: grip
The number-one reason a senior breaks a smartphone screen is not impact — it's dropping it because their hand can't hold onto the phone. Hands change. Mine are not what they were in 1995. The case you choose makes more difference here than anything else.
Two of the women who come to my class have arthritis severe enough that a smooth-backed phone is genuinely unsafe for them. The case I steered them to fixed the problem within an afternoon.
What I recommend, in order
OtterBox Defender Series. About $50 to $60. Heavy. Ugly. Bulletproof. Has a textured grip on the back that genuinely does not let go of your hand. If you've broken phones before, or if you have any kind of hand-strength issue, this is the case. I have used one for the last three years. I have dropped my phone perhaps fifty times. I have replaced the screen zero times.
The downside: it adds bulk. The phone becomes about half an inch thicker. If you carry your phone in a small clutch handbag, this case may not fit. For most people that's not an issue.
Spigen Tough Armor. About $20 to $25. The OtterBox light. Decent grip, decent drop protection, less bulky, less ugly. The kickstand on the back is more useful than you'd think — props the phone up for video calls. This is what I recommend when someone wants something protective but lower-profile.
Apple Silicone Case (if you have an iPhone). $49. The official Apple case is genuinely good — soft-touch silicone with a microfiber lining, decent grip, slim, available in nice colors. It's the case my daughter uses. Costs more than it needs to. Worth it if you like things to look like they belong with the phone.
Samsung Smart View Case (if you have a Galaxy). About $45. The flip-cover style. The front cover protects the screen entirely; the cover has a small window so you can see notifications without opening it. Less grippy than the OtterBox but the screen protection is excellent. Good for people who put their phone in a pocket with keys.
What I would no longer buy
Wallet cases. The ones with three card slots on the back and a flip cover that holds cash. Sounds great. The reality: when you drop the case, the cards fly out. When you make a phone call, the cards press against your face. When the phone is on a wireless charger, the cards block the signal. Beautiful idea, miserable in practice. I owned two. Both ended up in a drawer within four months.
Clear cases. They yellow within about eight months. By month twelve the case looks like it has been kept in a smoker's living room. You can spend $40 or $5 — same result. The expensive clear cases yellow slightly more slowly. They all yellow. Skip them.
Magnetic ring holders. The ones you stick onto the back of an existing case. They work fine until you drop the phone onto a hard surface, at which point the ring breaks off and the case fails. The pop sockets are slightly better but I still don't love them.
Anything from a brand whose name you don't recognize, sold on Amazon for $8. Half of them work. The other half have wrong cutouts that block the camera or microphone. The savings aren't worth the lottery.
The wood case I once bought. It was beautiful in the photograph. It split along the grain the third time I dropped the phone. The wood was real. The protection was not.
One thing nobody mentions about cases
Take the case off the phone twice a year and wipe out the inside. Dust, lint, the tiniest grain of sand — they all collect in there. Over time they scratch the back of the phone, which doesn't matter aesthetically (the case covers it) but does matter for resale value when you go to trade it in three years from now.
I learned this the hard way in 2023. My trade-in offer for an iPhone with a heavily-scratched back was about $80 less than the same model with a clean back. Two minutes of dusting twice a year would have prevented it.
And for what it's worth
I run my class without a phone in my hand most of the time. The phone is in an OtterBox in my back pocket, where it has been for three years. The case is no longer attractive. I don't care. The phone behind it is still fine, and that's the only thing the case ever had to do.
Spend the thirty to sixty dollars. Get something with real grip. Replace it every two years when the silicone goes a little soft or the corners get worn. You'll thank yourself the first time you drop the phone in a parking lot — and that day will come, and probably sooner than you think.
Written by Robert Sandoval. Last verified 18 June 2026.