As I leaned over the railing, heart pounding and hands shaking, I questioned how I ended up here. A flagship $699 phone in hand, ready to be hurled to its death. Let me explain.
I’m big on phone cases and test them for a living. One of the most common business tactics employed by case makers is to advertise their drop protection. Buzzwords like “impact absorption,” “heavy-duty,” and even “military grade” are thrown around all the time.
Do they actually mean anything? And what even is military grade? I decided to use my Pixel 8 as the sacrificial lamb and put four incredibly well-known and reputable brands to the test.
I wanted to bump these cases around and fling them from the heights the brands claim they can survive, going as far as driving over the toughest case that I found.
The four cases I chose for this drop test are the Poetic Revolution, Dbrand Grip Case, Quad Lock MAG Case, and BURGA Tough Case. These cases range from mid-range to expensive pricing.
Poetic guarantees 20ft military-grade drop protection and full-body rugged defenses.
BURGA promises reliable, everyday protection against drops, bumps, and daily wear, which I’d say should be your average accidental phone drops from your hands.
Quad Lock promises the same everyday protection from its MAG Case.
Lastly, Dbrand assures us that the Grip Case has military-grade impact resistance, but provides no exact figures in terms of drop or impact resistance.
A tumble and roll in the sack to check scratch resistance
To start off, I grabbed a few heavy objects, random things like my power bank and keys, and chucked them in a bag along with the Pixel 8. I shook the bag like it owed me money and repeated the process with each case.
I won’t lie, I was a little nervous about the pointy keys and power bank as they are pretty solid metal objects and I usually keep them in separate compartments of my bag to be safe. I was happy to learn that the scratch-proof claims are accurate, but obviously only the back of the phone is protected. Poetic was the only exception to this rule, as it comes with a built-in screen guard. I had a screen protector on, so there were no scratches on the screen with any of the other cases either.
In fact, the only trouble I had during this part of the test was taking off the darn tough cases. Poetic gave me the most trouble, and I ended up cracking a nail taking it off.
The real test — dropped face first onto tiled floors
Finally, the fun part arrived. I decided to drop the tough cases offering everyday protection from 5ft onto hard tiled floors. This is actually more than the typical “military standard” of drop protection.
Expert case maker SUPCASE detailed this standard, where “the phone case undergoes 26 drops from a height of 4 feet onto a plywood surface laid over a concrete base with a steel backing” to qualify.
Each one of the four cases survived unscathed, so I moved on to the toughest contender: Poetic.
Unlike BURGA, Dbrand, and Quad Lock, Poetic takes things a lot further and promises heavy-duty 20ft drop resistance, which is about two floors of an average building.
With a mighty heave-ho, I hurled the Pixel 8 in the Poetic Revolution case from the second floor of my parents’ house.
The built-in screen guard stayed glued to the top of the phone even after such a terrible drop, but the case itself came off from the impact. However, the Pixel 8 still worked perfectly afterward, with not even a scratch or crack to be found.
The only damage was a barely discernible dent in camera bar in the front, but it did not interfere in the functional operation. The aesthetics of the phone were largely intact too.
Unbelievably, the phone was still working. The camera lenses didn’t shatter. I could still take pictures and make calls.
I decided to test just how impregnable the Poetic Revolution phone case really is and maybe took things too far with the final challenge.
I drove over the Poetic Revolution heavy-duty phone case with a car
(Image credit: Namerah Saud Fatmi / Android Central)
And for my last trick, I decided to literally run the Poetic Revolution case over with a car.
My heart was in my mouth as I watched my dad drive over the phone in his MPV that seats seven. I was hesitant before chucking the phone off the second floor, but this was even more frightening.
Once the deed was done, I picked up the phone and…
Hallelujah! The phone was still working! The touchscreen responded as it should, I took a few pictures, sent a voice note on WhatsApp, and watched some YouTube videos.
Sure, the phone was a little dusty, but I washed off the dirt. Everything was as it should be — until I took the case off and checked the backside of the Pixel.
(Image credit: Namerah Saud Fatmi / Android Central)
It hurt to see the bottom part of the glass back with spiderweb-like cracks spreading up. Clearly, the Poetic Revolution case has its limits. One must not drive over it with a car, but that’s on me. Poetic never said you could.
I am still impressed that this was after multiple back-to-back drop tests, that too in the searing hot 45°C (or 113°F) Arabian summer. I can still use the Pixel 8 to do everything it needs to do. I even washed it with water, though I do not recommend you to do that with a cracked glass back.
It charges fine, the screen works, the cameras are functional, the mic records properly, and the speakers sound as they should. The Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules are operating normally too.
All my ruthless drop testing proved that a good case can save your phone from disaster. The bottom line is, always get a good quality phone case. Those drop protection numbers clearly are not marketing slop. Just make sure it’s a reliable brand like Poetic, not some off brand knockoff, so you can trust that the brand actually drop tested their case.