A Surprising Thumbs-Up on an Unusual Phone Case

Like most people, I have been using cell phones for quite a few years. I don’t renew my phone very often, typically every 3-5 years. I have had enough accidental phone drops to know I need some protection beyond a bare phone. I have several generations of cases. The last few have been the clear silicone, thinking it will accentuate the phone color inside, but it really doesn’t. Descriptions typically say they resist yellowing, but I tend to own them long enough they will eventually yellow.

Those cases do help with the drops that end up on the floor. But I have always hated the feel of the case and the extra room it takes when pulling your phone in and out of your pocket. They are also a pain for getting in and out of clamps on tripods. It has always been a necessary inconvenience.

My old iPhone is 4 years old. For the last year and a half it has been miserably cracked/shattered on the back, not from a drop but just being in a back pocket–cases don’t really protect for torsion twists. This past year I added a large crack on the from from being in my pocket during a rigorous hike in the Needles. Silicone cases don’t really help here either. The phone still functions but I have been waiting for the inevitable day where it stops working.

My new purchase of an iPhone 16 Pro was necessary on two fronts: the video camera and the satellite messaging (for me one of the greatest features added to cell phones in recent history but no one talks about it). I struggled with the case options, thinking it would be irresponsible going “commando” with my phone, especially in all the places and conditions I expose it to (e.g. I purchased white not because it is my favorite but when out paddle boarding in warm weather, dark phones can quit working from absorbing too much hot sun). While looking through a dozen different case comparison/reviews, I came across the Arc which is so different that it is hard to refer to it as a case.

I was immediately torn with interest and nervousness. If it worked as advertised, it would be a big improvement over the silicone cases, but can something that minimalist really protect it? Another hesitation–can it really be worth the expense?

I have only had it a month so far but I am extremely impressed. The case is two aluminum parts, engineered to be as minimal as possible yet do the job of protecting the phone from drops. I doubted it could stay on tightly with only two points of contact, but it is finely engineered enough to be just the right fit to stay snug. Note the back is tall enough to protect the camera lenses, and the front has just enough rise to protect the screen.

While I am not going to throw the phone in the air as some videos portray, I have treated my phone roughly tossing to a counter or even the floor often enough to see it really protects the phone, in spite of the minimalist design. I now have confidence it protects better than my old silicone cases. I am a heavy user of MagSafe, so any case has to handle magnetic mounts or pucks; this works great with Arc unless the mount is abnormally large or the charging surface is flat (like my car). Also, phones without cases are slippery–the Arc gives just enough surface edge to make in-hand gripping manageable.

The Arc keeps my phone sleek and thin as possible. It is so much easier to fit in a pocket. This was important to me as I switched from a Pro Max to the smaller Pro size phone entirely for that reason. I love how it is not intrusive in my pocket, which I never experienced with my old Pro Max in a silicone case–you were constantly aware of any pocket you put it in. It is interesting when I show the Arc to people, the facial reaction being “You really trust that to be enough? I don’t think so…” I understand, I was skeptical myself in the beginning.

So what are the use cases where this minimalist design doesn’t work? There are two that I can envision: 1) If you typically throw your phone in pockets shared with other things like keys, or an open purse/backpack with lots of loose objects to rub against the phone, then this is not the case for you. I learned early on to dedicate a pocket (pants or backpacks) even with my old cases, so this is not a problem for me. 2) If you drop your phone on anything not a flat surface, say concrete stairs–you have the potential to hit a protruding edge outside the reach of the case. From my experience, 99% of my drops are on flat surfaces, and the Arc excels with these mishaps.

Will Arc help with the torsion damage like I did to the last phone? No, but nearly all cases are helpless against this. The ones that can protect in that scenario are too bulky for me to consider.

Frankly, I am surprised I am writing about the Arc case/protection–it was too different to expect it to work well. I may change my mind in a year, but right now I firmly believe it is better protection than all my previous cases (understanding the potential exceptions described above). One hesitation for recommendations is the cost. I would expect this case to cost more with the precision engineering needed for the snug fit. I purchased the lowest cost flat-black model, but if you want the more stylish looking ones then be ready to pay significantly more. I now firmly believe the lowest cost model is worth the money–you will have to decide if the extra dollars for style are worth it to you. I did come across one review site that arranged a special 10%-off discount, you can search and see if those kinds of specials are still available.

Arc Pulse Phone Protection has change my perception of what a phone protection should entail!