iPhone 16 Cases

They do different jobs, so for most people yes. A screen protector handles scratches and spreads the force of a point impact across its surface. A case absorbs the energy of a drop before it reaches the display at all, and it covers the corners and edges that a protector can't.

The common failure is a phone dropped on a corner: the case is what stops that becoming a crack across the panel. If you're only going to buy one, buy the case — but the two together cost less than one screen repair.

Most will, eventually. Clear TPU discolours under UV as the polymer breaks down, and heat accelerates it. Cheaper cases can show a visible tint within a few months; better ones use UV-stabilised material and hold out considerably longer.

Nothing cleans it off, because the change is in the material instead of on it. Treat a clear case as a consumable with a life of roughly a year, or choose a frosted or coloured case if that irritates you.

Only if you use magnetic accessories. A built-in magnet array means chargers, car mounts and wallets snap on and align themselves, which matters most for wireless charging. A misaligned coil charges slowly or not at all.

If you charge with a cable and never use a mount, you're paying extra for nothing. Note also that a plain case with a stick-on magnet ring is a poor substitute: the ring blocks part of the charging coil and the adhesive fails over time.

It depends far more on where you use it than on the device. On a building site, in a workshop, or with a child in the house, a rugged case with reinforced corners is proportionate. In an office and a coat pocket, it's bulk you'll resent daily.

Be sceptical of drop-height claims. There's no consumer standard behind most of them, and a case tested onto plywood tells you nothing about a paving slab. Reinforced corners and a raised lip around the screen are better signals than any number in the listing.

They are genuinely convenient, phone and cards in one — and the cover protects the screen when it's closed. The trade-offs are real, though: losing the phone loses your cards with it, the flap gets in the way on calls, and stacked cards can interfere with contactless payments.

A magnetic detachable wallet is the middle ground: card storage when you want it, a normal case when you don't.

Between about £12 and £35 covers nearly everyone. Below roughly £10 the materials are thin and the fit is a lottery, cases that stretch, buttons that stop clicking properly, cutouts a millimetre out.

Above £35 you're paying for a specific material, a mounting ecosystem, or a genuine engineering claim. Those can be worth it, but the step from no case to a competent £15 one is far larger than the step from £15 to £50.