The Great iPhone Case Search

Looking for a new iPhone case should not fill me with an overwhelming sense of anxiety. Yet as I begin the process to look for a new iPhone case, I find myself doing more research than I would if I was buying a car. It's the same crossroads that do me in each time, style vs function. I don't want my nice iPhone to be inside a candy colored plastic brick, nor do I want something that looks like it can survive reentry. I want something with some style, a kick, a little personal touch. Sometimes the biggest issue with style over substance is that most of the stylish cases simply snap on and cover the iPhone, offering very little protection.

I'm a little odd in the sense that I both quite like technology, yet I'm something of an old fashioned type. This is why when I discovered that iPhone cases made of actual wood were a thing I became excited. There's actually more than one company making wooden iPhone cases. All of the language on the company's webpages all say the same things “cover your iPhone in a truly unique case, no case is the same, thanks to each having an individual wood grain pattern.” There's the wood case that covers the entire phone in wood, then there's another that is a rubber base with a wood panel on the back, and yet another made out of recycled skateboards.

Buying a wooden iPhone case is something that does seem a bit hipster, one company actually offers a free airplane ticket to Portland with purchase. However, the unique look aside, the simple fact is many of these cases do not offer much drop protection. I'm not clumsy, per se, but the few times I have sent my phone flying across the room, the case I've had on has really saved the day with it's raised bezel. In actuality, the case I'm currently using I've gone through two of. I once dropped my phone in the grocery store, and the case cracked opened. Much to my shock, the iPhone was perfectly fine.

I never had a case on my phone before I had my iPhone, I've been using an iPhone 4 for quite some time and on purchase the salesperson looked at me and said “It's glass, get a case.” I bought a simple snap on case that is two pieces, and a nice pattern on the back that looked sharp and not like a candy brick. New to the world of phone cases, I just assumed that little raised lip around the front of the phone was there simply as a part of how the case worked to adhere to the phone. Only after the third “That's it, I know I've cracked the screen” drop did I realize that the lip was actually saving the screen from smashing.

I think I may just stick with what I know, as much as the style centric person in me would love a wooden iPhone case, I just know that I'd drop it that one time and smash my new upgrade all to bits. Practicality will win out here, and I will get the least offensive candy colored brick I can find, then perhaps customize it with stickers or get a talented friend to draw a Hitchcock profile on the back for me. I'm sure with time some cases with style will be out, and then I may upgrade to something that looks more like the case my phone deserves, instead of the case my phone needs. Yep. Let's end with that “Batman” reference.