Choosing a protective case for your mobile can be daunting.  Seriously, there about as many models out there as there are individual phones.  Contrary to popular belief, too many choices can be overwhelming and anxiety-inducing.  You may wonder – what if this case isn’t as protective?  What if I could have gotten the same protection for less money?  Is it stylish, or am I ruining the meticulous design of this high-tech gadget? Well, fear not, for I have seen the best device-protecting cases the world has to offer.  Even better, I’m willing to share this info.

For a long time I wasn’t a “case guy”, it’s not like I was using my phone on a construction site.  My thought was that Apple put a lot of time and money into the design of my phone, and I wasn’t going to ruin it by bolting on some cheapo plastic afterthought.  This mentality, combined with the lack of insurance options for iPhone (and the likelihood that I wouldn’t purchase insurance anyways), ended in broken phone sadness.  My confidence in the durability of Apple design was as shattered as my device’s screen.  My next phone wore a knock-off rubber case that I bought for 5 bucks in Chinatown. It more or less did the trick, keeping the phone in good-enough condition that I was able to sell it on Cragislist for a decent price at upgrade time, but I was never sure if this was because of the case or just dumb luck.

My next phone was the iPhone 4.  In response to the criticism of the brittleness of the glass front and back, for a short while Apple gave away free cases with the purchase of iPhone 4.  My phone is still wearing this Belkin clear plastic case right now, and it’s sitting beside the keyboard as I type.  I believe it protects the phone just fine, but I still feel it adds too much to the size and weight, and takes away from my tactile experience, when I’m using the phone.  Similar to TheBra for your car, it improves resale value but in some ways takes away from the ownership experience.

So, obviously this is something I over-think.  After quite a bit of research though, I definitely know which case I’ll choose next.  No question, when I buy my next device case it will be from Tech21.  Several booths at a recent conference showcased protective and/or stylish cases for mobile devices.  Although there were a lot of interesting designs, only Tech21 had something new and impressive in the technology of protection.  From what I saw, Tech21 has demonstrable impact protection.  D3O® is their patented material that makes this happen. With some high-tech chemistry and engineering techniques, Tech21 products have high performance shock absorption and impact protection for nearly every type of mobile device.  These cases should be available in the US in the very near future.

The D3O material in its raw state flows freely (pictured).  It’s a liquid, but on impact it locks together to absorb and disperse energy.  It becomes solid and then instantly returns to its liquid state. When the material is impacted, it spreads like a net, reducing and spreading the force over a larger area, minimizing the risk of injury or equipment damage.

To test this out, I put about 2 inches of this material on the back of my hand and hit it hard with a big framing hammer. Although I knew something had happened, I certainly wasn’t hurt and would never have guessed that I had just been hit with a hammer.   In drop tests these cases consistently out-performed every case on the market.  In price comparison these cases are less costly than the most expensive cases like Otter Box, coming in at about 25-30 dollars depending on your device.  And for bragging points, the D3O  technology is also used by the US Special Forces and Ministry of Defense as well as in sports like skiing and motorcycling.