Dropping expensive electronic devices onto hard surfaces often ends in tears, but not all drops are equal. Though device and case manufacturers are going further than they ever have in a bid to protect your smartphone, there are some surfaces around which you should exercise additional caution.
Ceramic Tiles Are Bad News
You probably have tiles in some of the hardest-wearing spaces in your home, and for good reason. Tiles are made from ceramic, an “inorganic, non-metallic material” (thanks, Wikipedia), which is characterized by its noteworthy hardness and resistance to heat and corrosion.
If you drop a plate in your kitchen onto tile, the plate is almost certain to come off worse. I have floating hardwood floors throughout my house, and I’ve dropped bowls and plates only to have them bounce. This is not what happens with tiles. Many ceramics are harder than the concrete on which they sit, and some are even harder than steel.
Metals tend to bend under pressure, whereas ceramics do not. This lack of “give” is what makes them incredibly hard. This is why ceramic blades are commonly used to cut softer material, and why ceramics offer excellent scratch-resistance. However, this hardness comes at the cost of durability. Ceramics are more likely to shatter under sudden pressure, just in case you needed a reminder that hardness and durability are two very different things.
While we’re on the topic of hardness, modern smartphones make use of strengthened glass as part of the screen construction. You probably remember the early days of touchscreens, when dropping your phone face down on almost any surface was enough to give you a few moments of panic before slowly picking it up to see the results.
These days, with products like Gorilla Glass Victus (as used by Samsung) and ever-improving Ceramic Shield technology (as used by Apple), you’ve probably given up worrying too much about dropping your smartphone, even without a case on it. That’s because the glass used in the screen construction (and sometimes the back too) is harder and more durable than it ever has been.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean much when you drop your device onto an unforgiving ceramic tile floor. Because these tiles don’t have any give, like wood floors or carpet, there’s little to lessen the impact of a drop. So what can you do about it?
Be Extra Careful in the Bathroom and Kitchen
You’re probably well aware that the kitchen and the bathroom are the most dangerous rooms in your house. The kitchen is full of knives and fire, while the bathroom is slippery and steamy. Both rooms also commonly feature tiled floors. Falling on either is bad news for you, and terrible news for your smartphone.
Nobody gets up in the morning with the intention of dropping their smartphone (I hope), so it feels redundant to remind you not to do it. That said, it’s worth being particularly careful when the ground underfoot is especially hard. You probably already do this when you’re using your smartphone on the beach or taking a picture from a moving vehicle, so it’s a matter of subconsciously training yourself to grip a little tighter when you’re reaching for your iPhone in the bath.
There are some things you can do to minimize the risk. You could get or 3D print a smartphone holder for use in the kitchen, which is especially useful for anyone who uses their smartphone to follow recipes, video call while they cook, or who watches YouTube while doing the washing up. Keeping your device away from grease, spices, and hot surfaces isn’t a bad idea either.
You can also be a little more careful elsewhere. Have you considered making a “no smartphones in the bathroom” rule for yourself? Not only is this a good idea from a hygiene standpoint, I’m sure you can survive for a few minutes without doomscrolling. If you can’t, maybe it’s time for an intervention anyway.
A Case Will Help (Somewhat)
I wish I could say that a case offers absolute protection for your device, but there’s a reason that case manufacturers don’t back their products with a money-back guarantee if something goes wrong. Most of us aren’t walking around with military-grade enclosed Otterbox cases, and nor should we be. You have to strike a balance between pocket space and paranoia.
Cases with cushioning should fare better than those that transfer all of the impact to your iPhone, whereas soft cases might not go far enough in resisting an impact. You generally get what you pay for with a case, so don’t expect much beyond scratch resistance from a thin piece of plastic. Screen protectors will help avoid scratches, but they won’t stop your screen from shattering if the impact is severe enough.
There’s always that one awkward drop that will cause your phone to scratch or dent. Anecdotally speaking, there appears to be a growing number of iPhone 17 Pro users who are finding out just how soft the aluminum is in the latest models. There are numerous reports (like this one and this one) of the iPhone 17 Pro sustaining damage to the unibody chassis even when dropped with a case on (including Apple’s pricey TechWoven case).
- Brand
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Apple
- Material
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Polyester, TPU, anodized aluminum
The Apple iPhone TechWoven iPhone Pro case is available for iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max models in five colors. It features a woven polyester fabric back made from recycled material, a tough TPU outerbumper, and cutouts for charging ports, speaker and microphone holes, lanyard loops, and a window on the back for the camera plateau. All buttons are covered with anodized aluminum covers except for the capacitive Camera Control button which sits flush with the bumper.
This issue helped give rise to PopSockets all those years ago, attachments that stick on the back of your case to make your smartphone feel a little more stable in the hand. The rise of MagSafe PopSockets for iPhone (and now Pixelsnap accessories like Google’s official ring stand) let you safely add and remove these grips without worrying about gluing something permanently in place.
You should also give your device a wipe down every now and again, not only to sanitize it (since it touches all the nasty things that you do), but to remove grease that makes it more prone to slipping out of your hands. I once replaced a case for my old iPhone 13 Pro, which was polished to a dazzling gloss finish after three years of use (the case started out matte).
Selecting a phone model that’s not too big for your hands is also a good idea, though this is an increasingly difficult task with smartphone manufacturers emphasizing giant phablet devices over all else. We’ll probably never see another iPhone mini, for example, but at least flip foldables like the Galaxy Z Flip 7 are small in their closed state.
- Brand
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Samsung
- SoC
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Samsung Exynos 2500
A wider shape and a new edge-to-edge FlexWindow make this the most usable Flip yet. It’s compact, customizable, and packed with smart AI tools right on the cover screen.
You can wrap your smartphone up in something incredibly resilient like an Otterbox Defender or the Monarch Pro from UAG—both of which will run you around $100—which might be worth it if you’re routinely braving the elements (or maybe you install tiled floors for a living).
For the rest of us, a bit of situational awareness can go a long way. Don’t worry so much about babysitting your smartphone while you’re lying on the sofa, but maybe give up your habit of browsing Reddit in the bath.
