The market for phone cases is huge. Waterproof cases, leather cases, silicon cases, stick-on screen protectors, plate-glass screen protectors. Enough. It's time to lose your cover for good, and let your phone roam free, nude, as nature intended.


There are as many reasons to toss your case in the garbage as there are grains of sand on an ugly, gaudy, expensive beach. So let's just go with the big three:

It's Unnatural

First, your phone wasn't designed to be covered up. Sir Ive didn't sit in his plush little Apple office, slaving over a drawing board for you to wrap it in an awful faux leather folio case that you found on Amazon for $20. Neither did the poor bastard who spent the last three years pooping out a hundred million HTC handsets. Or Samsung or Moto or any other designer who gives a singular damn.


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No, they spent those hours slaving so that your phone looks beautiful, so you'd be proud every time you took it out of your pocket. The iPhone 4, in particular, is a design icon. The same is true for plenty of other devices. The only exception I might be willing to make is for a battery case, because at least that's arguably practical. Then again, it's also double-ugly.

Putting a case on your phone is a little like painting your Ferrari with rust-proofing paint, then wrapping it in burlap. Sure, you're less likely to scratch it. But you obscure every beautiful detail of the bodywork. "It's sensible," you say. Lies. It's not more sensible. It defeats the point of designing the phone in the first place.

It's Not Worth It

Okay, so yes, your phone deserves to be seen. But on the other hand: It's not a work of art. Yeah, it may have cost you a few hundred dollars. And yes, that's a lot of cash. But let's face it you're going to upgrade as soon as your two-year contract is up. Your phone can only develop so many minor scratches in that period of time. Worried about the resale value? Even if you have to sell your (again, two year old) slightly scratched phone for $40 less than you would a mint model, well, that's how much you'd have spent on a case in the first place.


If you're a real worrywart, the money you save by not buying a case go towards insuring your phone in case you drop it on tarmac or it gets stolen. You can even go so far as to keep it in a pocket in which you don't have keys or loose change. But remember that a few knocks along the way add character. Those little scratches will remind you of things that actually happen in your life. I have a ding in mine from when I walked into a wall drunk. That was a good night. I like that it reminds me of it.

But then, maybe things don't actually happen in your life, given you spend so much time worrying about protecting your damn phone.


Our Official Endorsement

So: Cases are ugly. They're a bad investment. But there's one more reason that we're decidedly anti-case, that we didn't realize until just this morning.


A quick survey reveals that every phone in the Gizmodo office is nude. That's right; we're not just talk. Our phones run naked and free, as nature intended, and haven't yet had occasion to regret it. Neither will you.

Go on, take the cover off. See how much more natural your phone feels in your hand. Shove the cover in the trash can. Let your phone feel the fresh air on its body; the breeze on its screen. You'll thank us for it.