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Comment by notRobot | Hacker News Reader

I've been using my current phone since December of 2019. I have a "rugged"/"bumper" case on the phone.

I drop phones a lot. At least a couple times a month. I can't help it. I'm super clumsy. Because of the case (and a screen guard) my phone has zero scratches on it. I guarantee that without them it wouldn't have lasted two months.

I'm also a student and broke as fuck. I have to save up for several months to buy a $250 phone. I can't afford to replace my phone more than once every couple years. Hence I can't imagine using it without a case.

> Liberate your iPhone. Liberate your Android. Show the world that your phone is gorgeous. Show the world that you trust yourself enough not to drop your phone in such a way as to smash it. Believe in you, people.

Many people can't afford this "liberation". A phone is first and foremost utilitarian, not an object of beauty. If it breaks, my life gets seriously harder for months.

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> Show the world that your phone is gorgeous.

This is really annoying attitude for making a phone. I want high performance phone but never want weighty fragile luxury looking. It's upselling.

> Show the world that you trust yourself enough not to drop your phone in such a way as to smash it. Believe in you, people.

More like "show the world I forgot the number of I've had my phone in my lap and stood up." My phone has a case for the same reason I have 3 pairs of glasses: ADHD.

Eh, get a phone with Gorilla Glass. It's damn near impossible to scratch. I've launched my phone directly into pavement many times without any damage. If AT&T weren't dirty POS who cut off service to force me into using a spyware-ridden Samsung garbage phone that has a soft screen that scratches when you look at it, I'd never need a new phone.

Most of Samsung's flagships also use Corning's Gorilla Glass, and I don't think it really offers the same degree of shock protection as a case. It holds up to scratches about as well as a tempered glass screen protector, but it doesn't protect the back of the device or the sides. Gorilla Glass or not, I still use a case.

This isn't remotely true. If you happen to wear diamond earrings you'll realize this real quick. My SO got a brand new Pixel 6 Pro and within a month the upper portion of the screen was visibly scratched up after some earrings received as a gift. Gorilla Glass still scratches with daily use, even outside of diamond.

Visible when you turn screen off and look for it. No way it’s visible when in use.

I’m never wearing a case again, it’s pointless.

Are you really complaining that gorilla glass can be scratched by the hardest substance known to man?

Well, I've had multiple phones with gorilla glass 6 and victus(?). No scratches. Then I bought a Garmin fenix with "diamond like coating", and suddenly my phone had a gigantic scratch. Turns out it scratches even with the lightest touch of the watch. Hard things make scratches with just a slight touch on any modern phone, but most things won't.

Aside from the other replies to your comment, phones with Gorilla Glass tend to be more expensive.

And if I'm buying an expensive phone, I'm definitely putting a case on it because I can't have it last less than a few years.

Meh, my OnePlus 8 is still scratchless and in perfect condition. Rubbing diamonds on glass is going to scratch it, I'm not sure why anyone found that surprising at all. The hardest known material is obviously harder than Gorilla Glass. Pavement isn't made from diamonds though.

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