(tl;dr : I bought a Ballistic Tungsten Tough case and Otterbox Glass screen protector)
My iPhone 5c was about one year old and I switched from an iPhone 4s then, also switching from the 30 pin connector to the Lightning connector. When I got the iPhone 5c, I bought another Otterbox Defender case at the same time as I bought the phone.
It was poorly designed, apparently to be first to market. People were cutting out the screen protector because it was too far away from the screen it was supposed to protect. I swore I'd never buy another case from Otterbox.
I'd seen a load of Ballistic brand cases in another store near the Sprint store, and I was close to buying something else. A couple of months later, I ordered an SG MAXX case from the company directly, as the local store was almost out of them. It was just as good as that other brand, but it was easy to take off and put on the phone. Something that was practically impossible with the Defender case.
Okay, so, here I was buying an iPhone 6 with no Ballistic case in hand and I couldn't find a store ahead of time that carried them. I ended up with a Griffin case than claimed 3 feet for drop protection, and an Otterbox screen protector made of glass.
The screen protector was of great significance since that was a huge problem with the iPhone 5c cases. As I wrote earlier, many people cut out the Defender screen protector because of the gap between it and the screen. Ballistic had an add-in screen protector that made it difficult to see the screen. A corner of the protector would slip out on occasion. I ended up with an Invisible Shield protector, as it seemed an early and popular choice.
After that year, the Invisible Shield protector had become rather nasty. The instructions recommended installing it again from time to time, I guess so that you could clean the phone's display. Even when new, it seemed a bit wrinkled, and that seemed normal. Even car tint carefully installed can look like this because of the various layers.
The glass screen protector is practically perfect. There is some adhesive keeping it tightly attached, and it feels as though I'm directly touching the device.
While I could appreciate the Griffin case for its minimalistic design, I prefer not to break my phone if I drop it. No phone is attractive when it's in more than one piece. I also don't care to advertise the Apple logo out the back of the case. Why invite trouble?
So, I was in a Best Buy a few days later during the Christmas rush and found three Ballistic cases that were not on the company's website. I'm guessing that these are higher profit, lower cost cases made specifically for Best buy. I'm cynical, but is that wrong?
$34.99, $39.99, or $49.99? I wasn't sure what to trust. I still wasn't sure if they were fakes. I chose the $39.99 Tungsten Tough case, labeled 7+ feet drop tested. It's not as thin as the $34.99 case, but I had been using a case with a holster previously. I'm thinking that I still want that extra protection, although it's a pain to get the phone open quickly to answer a call.
How much is $849.99 worth to you? If you don't have enough protection and need to have the device fixed or replaced, what if that cost exceeds $49.99? Is a pretty case worth the extra cost of repairs?
Update 2015.04.03: The Ballistic brand case has been as good as the previous case for the iPhone 5c. I've dropped the iPhone 6 a few times and the case has kept the phone safe, and even the case seems to be fine. In fact, it is incredibly difficult to separate the phone and case. That's almost a good thing, although there was dirt inside of the case. It's surprising how good the iPhone 6 feels by itself but I'd hate to see it smashed on the floor.
It was a while later that Ballistic's web site showed the Tungsten-branded models that are apparently only available at Best Buy. That gave me a better feeling about spending US$39.99, because I'm not always trusting of Best Buy.
I still miss the holster clip, so I may buy one of those. I've noticed a problem with the phone further down in my pocket--lint. It's having more trouble with charging than usual. Some cables aren't working 100% of the time. The car charger sometimes stops charging during a trip, so I find that the phone is at 50% or less. I guess that's the problem of not having a case with a flap over the Lightning port.
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