I never use a case. Never have, never will. I follow four simple rules:
- Front left pocket is dedicated to the phone. Nothing goes in there (not even receipts) except my phone and my hand.
- I never set the phone down on hard surfaces.
- I don't drop my phone. Since I don't use a case, my mind is more aware that my phone is vulnerable, which, I'm sure, leads to me not forgetting it's in my hand, holding it more protectively while in a crowd, etc.
- I don't hand my phone to people if there's any chance they will violate any of the above rules.
Because of that, my phones are essentially 'like new' when I go to sell them/trade them in each year. I recognize these kinds of rules would be too cumbersome for a lot of folks, and they'd prefer to use a case, and that's a perfectly valid modality (indeed, it's the majority of phone users I would assume). But for those of us that value the ability to hold and interact with the phone in its natural state (instead of touching/feeling a $30 case all the time) more than the inconvenience of those rules, it works out great.
ps. there have been two times since June of 2006 that I damaged my phone. In neither situation would a case have helped.
