Case, protector, and prayer are the ways to go with the fragile phones of today (results)

What do you prefer - a clunker, or a phone you have to always baby?

I never worry about my phone, be it expensive or fragile

17.55%

I'd rather settle for less, than have to always mind a phone

31.17%

Case, protector, and prayer, where's the problem?

51.27%

We asked you last week what would you prefer now - a phone you always have to baby, or a relative clunker that can take some abuse without extra worries? After all, some midrangers are still made out of metal, while last year's glass flagships are now much cheaper, so you wouldn't have to pay utmost attention to your grip, or the handset's position in your pocket or purse.

It turned out that more than half of our 1373 respondents have to slap cases and protectors, and be careful with their gear to reach the non-worried state of mind. That still shows that the phones are on the back of their minds, though. There are some elitists with money to burn, too, who don't baby their phones at all, even the expensive ones, while more than 30% agree that they can settle for slightly less, which can range from a good metal phone like Nokia 7 Plus, to last year's Galaxy S8, or even the 2016 iPhone 7, all of which won't break the bank for you, and yet will do a very good job as daily drivers.

If you want a durable yet capable phone, you'd have to now settle for the midrange

Let's face it, glass phones fare way worse than metal ones in drop tests, no matter the Gorilla Glass generation on their bodies. Granted, the vast majority slip a case on it, negating the beauty argument, but a glass phone is still to be babied at all times, rather than the set-it-and-forget-it ones in full metal gear.

Before wireless charging became in vogue, one could still find flagships with stellar cameras, top-notch specs, and premium metal designs, but, again, look around - all major phones are now made of glass, and some happy exceptions are at best in the upper midrange category.

Manufacturers never asked us whether we approve of this trend for the sake of slower wireless charging with dubious convenience advantages, but rather a me-too feature. To top it all off, the glass-y flagships are ever-increasing in price, but even if you get last year's model, clad in Gorilla Glass, repairing them when dropped and cracked may get to half the price of the phone itself, even if they don't land on their screens.