Yeah I’ve always been a little skeptical that a hard case does much to protect a phone from a drop. But I pretty much never drop phones so I wouldn’t really know. If that’s the main thing people are concerned with I don’t know why these things aren’t thick bouncy rubber or whatever.
But that design I did is pretty damn thicc and heavy duty. I think you’d have to work hard to break the thing… and if it does, there’s a physical gap between much of the case and the phone. Very little of the phone even touches that case because of the “standoff” parts. If the case did break from a fall, maybe the case itself would have the only damage? Not a drop test expert so this is all just wild speculation!
If someone was up for a bit of DIY and drop protection is the main focus (as opposed to heat control like my main goal), I suppose in theory you could try putting some soft material into the air gaps at the bottom and the edges before the case is closed.
Where does damage typically happen on a dropped phone? If it’s the corners - the corners of the phone are actually not in contact with the case at all. If it’s the screen, the front bezel is raised much more than an injection molded case.
If I had to guess what might happen, the main risk is that it’d fall off the phone (not broken, just unsnapping like when you remove it yourself). But at that point the phone’s already at ground level.