Mid- and high-end Android phones (e.g. Google-owned Motorola era) used to have a soft-touch plastic casing which was incredibly grippy, and felt and looked great. Then some phone reviewers decided that in order to be "premium", a phone must be made of slipperiest materials known to man. And so here we are, with everyone covering up their "premium" phones with cases, so they're both uglier and thicker than they used to be when they had soft-touch casing and headphone jacks. Progress.

Nexus 5 was the pinnacle: the weight of the charger cable pulled it off with it, due to the insanely slippery glass front/back.

Yes! I didn't need a case with my iphone 7 since it had a metal back that created friction in my pocket. My iphone x is glass and slips out of my pocket constantly so i had to start casing it.

TBF how many people don't use cases?

At least wit rounded edges the after-case size can be smaller.

One could also ask the question "how many people would prefer to have a phone that didn't --need-- a case"?

Given the choice between a thin phone that needs a case and a phone that is as thick as a thin phone with a case that is more durable, possibly has a headphone jack and a slightly larger battery, I would personally go for the latter.

If a phone is designed so the screen always breaks when it hits the ground unless it's protected by a case, it would make more sense to manufacture the phone inside a case already, no? I.e. make a raised rubber bezel around the screen's edge part of the standard design.

Oh for sure. But does such a phone exist? The previous design with square sides certainly wasn't that.

They used to be more plentiful before everyone started copying Apple.

When I had an iPhone 3G and iPhone 4, I did not use a case. All I used was a vinyl decal to protect the back, and I was fine.

IIRC, my Moto G and Moto X Play were fine without an add-on case. All I used on those was a tempered glass screen protector.

I try and avoid cases because a non trivial part of the phone price is the industrial design of the object and a case immediately hides that.

Hah. But that non-trivial price is what I have to pay if it breaks!

I agree the look and feel is WAY better without a case, but after breaking multiple screens, it's a case-life for me :(

I usually use the case that comes with the phone until it falls apart, then I don't use any case until the phone itself falls apart. ️

I've never had a phone come with a case? Strange. But these days I just use the 10$ minimal rubber cases. It's enough to protect were the screen and case meet which is the source of all my breaks.

The last few Android phones I bought have all come with a minimal wrap-around case (maybe not the iphone se, don't recall).

I’d never used a case until I got the iPhone 8 and had to buy one because of how slippery it is! Unless you put it on a perfectly flat surface it will just slide off on to the floor.