Ask HN: Does your smart phone survive with out a protector

I've never used a protector since my first smart phone in March 2010. I've had an iPhone 3G, a nexus 5 and a nexus 5X.

I once dropped the nexus 5 and it hit a paving slab on the corner and broke it, but it was already getting old. I'm fairly certain if it hadn't hit at that particular angle it would have been fine as I occasionally drop my phone from time to time.

I have seen multiple friends with shattered screens though (still working), so I think it depends on you. One friend had a habit of putting his phone on top of the toilet when he went to the loo, and more than once had to fish it out. It really depends on your habits, care and clumsiness with your phones.

I have a Moto G4 with no protection. I've dropped it a few times on broken/jagged concrete over the past year. I've also fallen sleep on a chair, dropped it and kicked it on waking up. It slid across the tiled floor screen-down until it got wedged under a door. It's got a few scratches on the screen, but you can't see them while it's on. The only minor annoyance is feeling a scratch as my nail slides over the screen, but that's about it.

Well, also a piece of the volume buttons (which is plastic) broke an fell off, but it's such a small piece, it doesn't really affect its use.

Important to note is that the G4 uses Gorilla Glass for its screen, so that's really why I dared to put no protection.

It may also be that part of the reason it's held up so well is that I've many times been able to break its fall with my foot.

It's been very comfortable, and has held far better than I expected considering all the abuse I given it. I have no regrets.

I've never used a protector before and I had my first screen breakage just a few days ago. It's repairable, but I decided I wanted a new phone (it's been a while).

I just cannot believe the utterly idiotic designs on the newest phones. Who thought it was a smart idea to put glass on the back? This phone doesn't even do wireless charging. It has no physical requirement to have glass on the back, and yet here we are. My new phone has fallen off the couch twice now -- all by itself. I'm now conscious about how I hold it in my hands because I feel like it might just slither out.

It feels like phones today are designed to be broken easily. So, yes, now I have a protector that makes my brand new phone look like a piece of crap.

My early smartphones (Samsung Instinct, Note 2, Note 5) seemed to be more durable and I never needed a case. I never cracked a screen until Samsung introduced curved screens. My Galaxy 6 Edge and 7 Edge both shattered in the corner after a mild drop. So my Note 7, Galaxy 8, and Note 9 have all had screen protector and spigen cases

I’m an iPhone user. Haven’t had a case on any phone I’ve ever used. So far just one cracked screen and they aren’t that expensive to repair.

My son cracks the screen of his phone every six weeks or so. Expensive cases haven’t made any difference.

I've broken one screen in about 9 years using phones without any case. And the one I broke was by dropping it screen down on a cobbled street so I doubt a case would have helped.

Two years with a Huawei P9-Lite and no case. It's clearly "used" but otherwise as good as new.