As I leaned over the railing, coronary heart pounding and arms shaking, I questioned how I ended up right here. A flagship $699 cellphone in hand, able to be hurled to its dying. Let me clarify.
I am huge on cellphone circumstances and take a look at them for a dwelling. Some of the frequent enterprise techniques employed by case makers is to promote their drop safety. Buzzwords like “affect absorption,” “heavy-duty,” and even “army grade” are thrown round on a regular basis.
Do they really imply something? And what even is army grade? I made a decision to make use of my Pixel 8 because the sacrificial lamb and put 4 extremely well-known and respected manufacturers to the take a look at.
I wished to bump these circumstances round and fling them from the heights the manufacturers declare they will survive, going so far as driving over the hardest case that I discovered.
The 4 circumstances I selected for this drop take a look at are the Poetic Revolution, Dbrand Grip Case, Quad Lock MAG Case, and BURGA Robust Case. These circumstances vary from mid-range to costly pricing.
Poetic ensures 20ft military-grade drop safety and full-body rugged defenses.
BURGA guarantees dependable, on a regular basis safety in opposition to drops, bumps, and every day put on, which I would say must be your common unintended cellphone drops out of your arms.
Quad Lock guarantees the identical on a regular basis safety from its MAG Case.
Lastly, Dbrand assures us that the Grip Case has military-grade affect resistance, however gives no actual figures when it comes to drop or affect resistance.
A tumble and roll within the sack to examine scratch resistance
To start out off, I grabbed just a few heavy objects, random issues like my energy financial institution and keys, and chucked them in a bag together with the Pixel 8. I shook the bag prefer it owed me cash and repeated the method with every case.
I will not lie, I used to be just a little nervous concerning the pointy keys and energy financial institution as they’re fairly stable steel objects and I normally hold them in separate compartments of my bag to be protected. I used to be blissful to be taught that the scratch-proof claims are correct, however clearly solely the again of the cellphone is protected. Poetic was the one exception to this rule, because it comes with a built-in display screen guard. I had a display screen protector on, so there have been no scratches on the display screen with any of the opposite circumstances both.
In reality, the one bother I had throughout this a part of the take a look at was taking off the darn robust circumstances. Poetic gave me probably the most bother, and I ended up cracking a nail taking it off.
The actual take a look at — dropped face first onto tiled flooring
Lastly, the enjoyable half arrived. I made a decision to drop the robust circumstances providing on a regular basis safety from 5ft onto onerous tiled flooring. That is truly greater than the standard “army customary” of drop safety.
Knowledgeable case maker SUPCASE detailed this customary, the place “the cellphone case undergoes 26 drops from a top of 4 toes onto a plywood floor laid over a concrete base with a metal backing” to qualify.
Every one of many 4 circumstances survived unscathed, so I moved on to the hardest contender: Poetic.
Not like BURGA, Dbrand, and Quad Lock, Poetic takes issues so much additional and guarantees heavy-duty 20ft drop resistance, which is about two flooring of a mean constructing.
With a mighty heave-ho, I hurled the Pixel 8 within the Poetic Revolution case from the second flooring of my dad and mom’ home.
The built-in display screen guard stayed glued to the highest of the cellphone even after such a horrible drop, however the case itself got here off from the affect. Nonetheless, the Pixel 8 nonetheless labored completely afterward, with not even a scratch or crack to be discovered.
The one harm was a barely discernible dent in digital camera bar within the entrance, however it didn’t intrude within the useful operation. The aesthetics of the cellphone have been largely intact too.
Unbelievably, the cellphone was nonetheless working. The digital camera lenses did not shatter. I may nonetheless take footage and make calls.
I made a decision to check simply how impregnable the Poetic Revolution cellphone case actually is and perhaps took issues too far with the ultimate problem.
I drove over the Poetic Revolution heavy-duty cellphone case with a automotive
(Picture credit score: Namerah Saud Fatmi / Android Central)
And for my final trick, I made a decision to actually run the Poetic Revolution case over with a automotive.
My coronary heart was in my mouth as I watched my dad drive over the cellphone in his MPV that seats seven. I used to be hesitant earlier than chucking the cellphone off the second flooring, however this was much more horrifying.
As soon as the deed was carried out, I picked up the cellphone and…
Hallelujah! The cellphone was nonetheless working! The touchscreen responded because it ought to, I took just a few footage, despatched a voice be aware on WhatsApp, and watched some YouTube movies.
Positive, the cellphone was just a little dusty, however I washed off the dust. The whole lot was appropriately — till I took the case off and checked the bottom of the Pixel.
(Picture credit score: Namerah Saud Fatmi / Android Central)
It damage to see the underside a part of the glass again with spiderweb-like cracks spreading up. Clearly, the Poetic Revolution case has its limits. One should not drive over it with a automotive, however that is on me. Poetic by no means mentioned you possibly can.
I’m nonetheless impressed that this was after a number of back-to-back drop assessments, that too within the searing sizzling 45°C (or 113°F) Arabian summer time. I can nonetheless use the Pixel 8 to do the whole lot it must do. I even washed it with water, although I don’t advocate you to try this with a cracked glass again.
It expenses high-quality, the display screen works, the cameras are useful, the mic information correctly, and the audio system sound as they need to. The Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules are working usually too.
All my ruthless drop testing proved {that a} good case can save your cellphone from catastrophe. The underside line is, at all times get a superb high quality cellphone case. These drop safety numbers clearly will not be advertising and marketing slop. Simply ensure it is a dependable model like Poetic, not some off model knockoff, so you’ll be able to belief that the model truly drop examined their case.
