Work at height and own a smartphone? Survey..

I think your survey misses a point or two if you are thinking what I assume you are....

Firstly, you ask if I use a case. I don't. But am I likely to? In my case, very unlikely, I hate them. They add a ton of bulk, often make buttons a pain to use, don't fit in my phone holder in the car as well, and generally look terrible.

And your question about do I know that not all cases are designed to withstand drops from over 3m again skips a point. Yes I do know that not all cases protect against large drops, but I also know that cases that specifically are designed to protect against just that do exist, it's just that I have to look specifically. In fact there is an advert constantly on my Facebook stream at the moment demonstrating an iPhone being dropped from a crane.

I'm aware that my view point will be negative because I hate cases, and clearly lots of people don't. But if you are thinking of inventing some smartphone case designed to withstand extreme drops, I can already buy one today. Waterproofing his usually covered and increasingly now devices are coming with more protection built in, with dust and water resistance starting to become a standard.

 

Buy an older style Nokia...best phones made

 

It's not a case, it's a fall arrest harness for the phone ... or is it an airbag?

As it happens I caught a video on Youtube a few days ago about a bumper case with a guy dropping his phone 22ft without any problems. If you can invent something that adds little to no weight / size to the device I'm interested, if it's another clumsy case, no thanks

 

I have an Urban Armour phone case

• Feather-light impact resistant core
• Water resistant tactile grip
• Holds up to 3 credit cards
• Easy access to touchscreen and ports
• Meets military drop-test standards (MIL STD 810G 516.6)

Case is so tough, it withstood my man sized dog running into me at near 30mph. The phone was in my pocket and suffered no damage but this is the mark on my thigh 2 weeks after the impact. You can still see the outline of the phone case. If it can withstand an impact like that and it is available cheap from Amazon why buy something else

 

Unless its cheap, you won't get much interest. JCB, DeWalt etc produced ruggedised phones designed for "Trades" people, admittedly slightly limited but they have had very little market penetration.

Now produce a comfortable set of knee pads that not only protect but are comfortable to wear and don't pinch the back of the calf then people will beat a path to your door.

 

You know the fall arrest harness isn't a terrible idea. Consider this...

I could take an off the shelf phone case and add a piece of string to tie to my belt, but then my phone always has a piece of string stuck to it. So it would prevent my phone being dropped from a height because it wouldn't fall. So if you could design a case where a lanyard or safety bond of some kind that fixes to my belt, and can then easily and simply attach and detach from the case whilst being strong enough to withstand a drop, then you might be onto something. Something like a rare earth magnet - I have one on the back of my phone already that mounts it in the car. Should be strong enough to take the weight of the phone dropped about 2ft, would easily break away in the case of a snag so you don't get caught on it in event of an emergency, and would be easy as pie to attach and detach without needing to accurately align anything (I.e. Work glove friendly). So what you need is a magnet on a string.

Thinking about the problem logically, phones don't need protection from long drops. They need to not be dropped at all.

Not to mention that opens up other markets that tough cases don't cover. I spent some time sailing in Greece last year. It doesn't matter how tough or waterproof the case is, if it falls in the sea it isn't coming back.

 

I just have a cheap Moto G , I don't care if I drop it- it's durable enough to handle it, I'm listening radio/music on it all the time(like almost everyday...) , if I want to switch station/song and I have dirty hands or paint on hands- I don't care, I can just put it under tap and wash it off. Yeah I have destroyed the phone once, so what, I think I bought it used for like 50pounds(the first generation moto g) , sold it with smashed screen for 25pounds some 2years later, bought a new 3rd gen Moto g for 50pounds again a year ago , If I destroy it again I won't really cry about it, will just get another one...
Would I want to buy your special super-duper case that could protect my phone and which comes in a fancy packaging and costs some 30pounds? hahah,no...I can buy a whole phone for that and I don't have to use a stupid bulky case...

You could try to sell your idea to the crowd who owns 700quid phones with 40pound/month mobile plans and watch p0rn on them all day long, yeah they will be really disappointed if they smash it...