I have gone case free with my phone for two years because cases make it too bulky for my pocket. My screen has survived, but not by luck. I do a few cheap things that cut the odds of a cracked screen way down, and none of them involve wrapping the phone in rubber.

Screen protector is non negotiable

Skip the case all you want, but put a tempered glass screen protector on. It is a few dollars and it takes the hit instead of your screen. When mine cracks, I peel it off and replace it. The screen underneath has never broken, and a protector is way cheaper than a repair.

The habits that save screens

• Never put your phone in the same pocket as your keys. Keys scratch glass with tiny hard points. My phone lives in a pocket by itself, always.
• Lay it screen up on soft surfaces only. Screen down on a table sounds fine until a grain of sand under the phone turns into a scratch when you slide it.
• Keep it off the edge of tables. This sounds obvious, and it is also how most drops happen. I put mine in the middle of the table now, or in my pocket.
• Use a pop socket or a ring grip. A grip means you hold the phone with two points of contact instead of one, which is the real reason phones fall.

If you do drop it

Let it fall. Do not try to catch it midair. Catching a phone usually means swatting it into a wall or a harder floor. I learned this after breaking two screens by batting them across the room trying to save them.

When it lands, check the protector before the screen. If the protector cracked, it did its job. Order a replacement and move on.

The phone I have now has been dropped three times in two years, and it has zero cracks. No case, just a protector and some boring habits.