doogald
Trusted Member
It continues to amaze me that in 2015, we still see so many broken device screens. I can see getting scratches, if carry with keys, etc, but to break from a simple fall. It just doesn't make sense.
More and more, phones are being built with edge to edge glass. Through about two or three years ago, there was always at least a small bezel around the phone to protect the glass from fracture when it was dropped or struck, to absorb some of the shock. Glass cannot absorb very much shock before it will fracture. Also, as displays have grown larger, they have been subject to more flex stress (sitting down with phone in your back pocket; leaning against a stone counter with the phone in your front pocket; as you mention, falling with the phone in your pocket; etc.) And hardening glass to reduce scratches (which is generally good, as scratches introduce small weaknesses for future fracture) creates a more brittle glass.
I prefer a good bumper style case with a good shock absorbing gel-like material (like the Tech21 case, which is too bad that it isn't a true bumper, but the edges are great protection) over anything like Otterbox or Lifeproof myself, as I think those cases make these large phones even larger and I'm not sure that they absorb shock as well anyway. And I always put a Zagg or Skinomi style skin over the glass so that if it does fracture I can still use the screen until I have a chance to replace it.