The most useful tool in your shop might just be right in your pocket. In order to protect it from bumps, falls, dust, and tools you should consider one of these smartphone protectors.
Smartphones have become indispensible tools in the workshop and on the job site. They’re the one device most of us now carry around all the time, simply because they enable us to do so much. They’ve replaced a slew of once-popular devices, including MP3 players, voice recorders, cam-recorders, eBook readers, calculators, and GPS trackers.
Smartphone apps now turn your device into a flashlight, compass, barcode reader, credit card scanner, level, measuring tape, light meter, decibel meter … the list goes on. And, there are apps that make it a lot easier to manage your business. Among other things, you can access your customer data, schedule appointments, manage your marketing and advertising, do the majority of your invoicing and ordering, manage your inventory, and quickly access technical information.
You’ve spent a lot of money on the phone, so it’s worth spending a bit extra to protect your investment, especially considering how relatively fragile it is and how frequently during the day you use it. Drop a phone onto a concrete or tile floor and you risk damaging the external case, the internal components, the display screen, or all three. It’s not just the risk of dropping your phone. Fine dust can infiltrate the power charging and sound ports, while coarser materials, such as metal filings, can scratch the display screen.
There’s a wide range of phone cases on the market – we looked at four different styles that provide varying degrees of protection. The case that’s best for you will depend on the nature of the work you do, and personal preference. We’ve stayed away from cases made from polyurethane, as they’re not very durable, and from metal cases, which can interfere with digital signals.
The four case styles we looked at protect your phone from inadvertent bumps and knocks. The ToughBuilt and the Hand and Hide are essentially ‘carry cases’ – you remove the phone from the case to use it. While in the case, both provide very good protection. Outside the case it’s a different story. The Otterbox and UAG provide drop protection, as the case remains on the phone all the time. Both of these cases also provide screen protection. The Otterbox incorporates screen protection into the case frame, while the UAG has a separate add-on screen protector. If your phone has a screen that uses Corning’s Gorilla Glass, a toughened, hard glass with high scratch resistance, then it likely doesn’t really need extra screen protection, unless you work in an environment with a lot of contaminants in the air. Some phones have a camera lens flush with the back, which makes them more susceptible to scratching. On others, the lens is slightly recessed into the housing, which provides more protection for the lens. However, none of these cases offer protection for the camera lens.
There are cases for every level of protection, and oodles of colours and styles to choose from. If protecting your investment matters, get one and use it.
