Most cases say that they offer impact protection. What exactly do they mean? Are they referring to the fact that the case will prevent the droid from being scratched upon impact, or do they mean that it will help prevent the hardware breaking.

Has anyone dropped their droid without a case? I don't mind if my droid is scratched upon impact, but if a case can prevent my droid from breaking, that would be very nice.

Thanks.

no case will ensure screen protection, all will HELP though.. some are just better than others. there have been plenty of people that have dropped their droid with a case and broke the screen, and more who have managed to scratch the screen..

to me, a hard case is not an impact protector since any shock will transfer DIRECTLY to the phone. i would opt for the silicone/rubber ones if you are worried about dropping. Oakley makes a rubber one for the iPhone that practically makes it a tank - would be nice to see one for Droid, but i suppose the QWERTY would put a limit on that possibility.

Thank you for your reply. I didn't realize the screen was so scratchable/breakable. I've seen some torture tests of the screen on youtube, that initially led me to believe it was pretty reliant to scratches.

Thank you for the clarification. I was looking at a seidio case for my droid, which is hard case, but if it does not offer impact protection, I think I'll just leave my droid naked.

I'm really not concerned about the droid showing wear and tear/scratches, I was just hoping that there was something that would offer impact protection without adding too much bulk.

I appreciate the time everyone took to answer my post!

Resilient to scratches-yes, impervious to drops-no. I dunno but it seems like the droids screen is a little bit more susceptible to screen cracking for some reason maybe it has something to do with the design.

Im in the same boat with the hardcase situation. I was looking at seidio but decided not to buy a hard case as I have a dock and I didn't think it'd protect against shock from falls too much, which is what I'm most concerned about. I'm trying to find a good durable pouch that could protect it from falls though. Unfortunately I haven't found any .

yeah, mine lives naked, always has. not a scratch on the screen, though i haven't dropped it yet. /knocks on wood

had my first heart-stopping droid drop yesterday at target but it survived... using a body glove case

I have the Verizon silicone case for now as I thought it would give a little bit of shock protection. The case is texturized so it does feel a bit more secure in hand.

I didn't want to spend much as I am not sure what I will do for a case in the long run. Thinking that the dock looks pretty sweet and it won't work with a case. But for now I want the drop protection while I get used to the phone.

@Takami

Did you drop it from your pocket or while speaking on the phone?

Thanks for all the comments. I pushed my droid of my desk a couple of times, on to carpeted floor. No problems to speak of.

Of course dropping it while using the droid as a phone, onto hard floor is a whole other story.

Droped mine about 3 feet on vinyl covered concrete...almost had a heartattack....but no damage....naked too....

My Droid was dropped once -- cat knocked it off the desk onto the hardwood floor. No damage. I don't own a case or a protector of any kind... I carry the phone in my pocket when I go somewhere -- the only precaution I take is keeping my keys in the other pocket, just in case they might be able to scratch the screen. But other than that, I've taken no special care of my Droid, and it still looks brand-new.

I dropped mine 1st day and many times since. The battery cover goes one way, battery the other & dead Droid somewhere else.
Put it all back together & continue.
It has survived me so far.

At least I can insure the Droid (just in case)

Pulled out of pocket, got bumped by some out of control kid and clattered to the floor.