Yeah, I felt that earlier phones had more flex in the shell vs innards, which absorbed the impact; my Galaxy S2 and S5 were also famous for scattering parts all over the floor upon impact (case, battery, etc:), which was hilarious but I also felt (perhaps wrongly) it helped dissipate the energy of the impact. They also tended to have a very very tiny "lip" where the shell of the case would touch surface rather than screen if you put them upside down.