Lifeproof Next Galaxy S10+ case Hands-on: This case saved my phone

I don’t drop phones. I don’t break phones. I don’t need a case. Does that sound like you? Because that’s what I would have said up until Sunday evening last week, I also hadn’t previously dropped or broken a phone, lately anyway. All I can say is thank goodness I was reviewing the Next case from Lifeproof.

It was 7 pm on Sunday night, I was interstate with my family trying to get home from a very mediocre dinner when my 6 year old announced her latest spat of faulty legs, and thus her inability to mobilise back to our apartment. The solution was at hand, the Lime e-bike parked not 25 meters away, just up a hill. I unlocked the bike and jumped on to ride down the hill back to my family.

Image my immense surprise when the brakes did not work, imagine the mix of fear and anger as I veered out of control, down a hill, towards my family, heading for an intersection. Somehow I stopped the out of control electric powered death wheels, but not without sacrificing the phone I was previously holding to unlock the said murder bike.

I secured my trusty rusty wheels and slowly walked back up the 10m to where I was expecting to find the smashed remains of my Galaxy S10+, but no. What I found was a case split in 2, but nestled firmly in the main part of the Lifeproof Next was a completely intact, undamaged, scratched or even smudged phone.

OK, yes don’t ride untested bikes down a hill at night whilst holding a phone, this is now added to my don’t do it list, but had the S10+ not been firmly ensconced in its armoured vest it would have been smashed into a thousand not working pieces. And the case itself, what injury befall it you ask? A slight injury to one of the rubber bumper corners, that’s it.

Considering I dropped it at some velocity, travelling downhill, and as it was described to me I basically threw it from my hands in an attempt to stabilise the Lime I would assume it was travelling at a significant velocity, relatively speaking!

Why did I choose the Lifeproof Next? As I said before I’m not a big case guy, when I looked at the range of protective cases I was looking for something that would be unobtrusive, allow wireless charging and have easy access to the ports if I needed them. The Next’s clear case, unobtrusive black bumpers, and smaller size compared to some protective cases made it the clear choice for me.

Would I recommend a protective case? Last week I would have said no in a very polite way, but following my murder bike experience, It’s so easy to see how quickly you can go from having an expensive phone to getting an expensive replacement bill.

If you use a case anyway, and you’re not a regular user of USB C docks, e.g. Android Auto dock in your car, then I have to recommend that you consider life-proofing your phone!

Are you after this kind of protection for your Samsung Galaxy S10+? The LifeProof Next case retails for $99.95 and is available in a range of colours online and from popular retailers including JB HiFi, Harvey Norman and Good Guys.