Phone drop causing future issues?

[Android Central Question]

I recently dropped my phone (in a case, from not too high) onto the floor. It is fine, no physical damage or other issues. Camera, speaker, everything works fine. However, do I need to be worried about internal damage that could show up at a later date? In other words, can dropping a phone just once cause "delayed" damage?

 

[Rukbat]

Depending on the case, yes. The motherboard can crack. If you have any curve to the screen at all, there could be a microcrack in the screen that will start spreading from "shocks" such as putting the phone down. A wire or component pin that was barely making contact could have been knocked just a little looser - and will become disconnected in the future.

But if you have a good case, with thick TPU, you probably have nothing to worry about. My phone was sitting on a wireless charger plate when my leg caught the wire going into the charger, and the phone was catapulted into the wall about 6 feet away. Not just thrown - catapulted. It was in an Otterbox Defender case. No damage, even now, years later. Not even a mark on the wall. (All my phones get Otterbox Defender cases - if they don't make a case for that phone, I don't buy it. Especially with today's prices. I'm going to spend $800 on a "cheap: phone, put it down on the table just a bit too hard, and have to pay $200 to get it replaced? Not me.