If you treat an iPhone like a piece of technology, scandals like “Bendgate” with the iPhone 6 shouldn’t matter. The problem is we don’t treat our phones like technology. Smartphones are dropped, submerged, smashed and cracked, and it’s going to stay that way until manufacturers find a way to economically build phones like bricks (looking to you, Nokia).
But that doesn’t mean you have to surrender to the fate of an unprotected iPhone. In fact, even the users who never drop a phone (or at least claim not to) buy a case. For protection, yes, but also to hide unsightly features like the protruding camera lens.
There are only three things you need to protect your iPhone and everything inside it. With these, you could toss your phone off the side of a mountain (assuming you were willing to go down and get it), and you would have no worries.
AppleCare
Before selecting any case, covering or shell, every consumer should buy AppleCare+ when they purchase an iPhone. AppleCare+ is Apple’s warranty and service plan for the iPhone, covering repairs and tech support for two years as well as giving customers two replacements ($99 each for the iPhone 6S) for incidental damage.
AppleCare+ costs $129, and there is debate over its value. Pay for the coverage and replace the phone twice, and you’ve spent nearly $330 on a warranty — not worth it to some people. But if you consider yourself a technology klutz, this plan could save you a lot of money. The cheapest iPhone 6S costs $649 — break it just once without Apple’s protection, and you could spend more than $1,000 between the original purchase and a replacement just to have a new phone. Some damage, however, is fixable and less expensive. AppleCare+ is almost always worth it.
Cloud Storage
What’s inside an iPhone is usually more valuable than the hardware itself. Pictures, videos, emails, text messages, documents and apps — all the money in the world can’t get these back if they’re lost. Apple covers the typical consumer with iCloud, which automatically backs up user data in the event a phone takes a dive into the pool.
But what about power users who carry around massive amounts of data? iCloud offers 5GB of storage for free, but many power users need much more. Companies such as Mozy specialize in big backup from both desktop and mobile devices and are a good option for files that just won’t fit onto iCloud.
The Right Case
For the truly clumsy, there’s only one case, and that’s the LifeProof FRE (and FRE Power). Forget the $79 price tag because this enclosure could save you hundreds. It’s water, dirt, snow and drop proof, plus it features a scratch resistant screen covering.
And if you’re as worried about your battery life as you are the integrity of your hardware, LifeProof makes an extended battery version of the FRE for just $60 more — also water, dirt, snow and drop proof.
