Last week I was filming a vertical video of myself with the iPhone 16 Pro Max propped up vertically on an elevated surface. The wind was strong that evening and thus my iPhone fell off the platform and onto concrete floor. But much to my surprise the iPhone didn’t have a single noticeable damage — not a scratch or ding.
And I have this rugged iPhone case to thank for it.
The case in the photo above is one of three new cases Shenzhen-based accessory maker ESR has developed for Apple’s new iPhone 16 series. The one above is the toughest (and priciest) case, named CyberTough. It’s constructed out of two pieces: a flexible rubbery sleeve that wraps around the iPhone, and an outer hard shell made of polycarbonate material.
Inside the soft sleeve is also poron lining, which are like sponges for additional shock absorption. ESR says this case is tested to withstand drops up to 23 feet. Although my drop was only from about 5 feet, I think I believe the 23 feet claim due to how many layers are wrapping the iPhone.
I do, however, find the case a bit too bulky, as it adds significant width to what is already a pretty wide iPhone. This is where ESR’s two other cases come in. My favorite one is probably the Cloud Soft case. As the name suggests, the case is constructed from liquid silicon with a soft texture that’s silky to the touch, and it only adds about 2.1mm of additional thickness to the device.
If you want the slimmest option and to show off your iPhone’s colors, there’s the Classic Hybrid. This one is pretty conventional: a clear see-through plastic case with a rubbery bumper that wraps around all four sides of the iPhone.
But what sets this apart from the generic plastic cases you find all over markets is the Classic Hybrid has raised corner bumpers that ESR calls “AirGuard”—these are soft cushions that absorb impact if the phone were to hit corner first.
As you can see from the photos already, all three lines of ESR’s cases are available for all four iPhone 16 models, and the Cloud Soft and CyberTough comes in various colors. All the cases protect the power button and volume rockers, but leave the new Camera Control button uncovered because that button supports swipe gestures.
All cases elevate over the screen so the display won’t be touching the surface even when placed face down, and all three cases have additional magnets to supports MagSafe gripping.
Perhaps the best feature that you can’t find on many phones is all three cases also have camera bumpers that offer raised protection for the camera lenses, and these double as kickstands.
The kickstand can hold the iPhone at angles ranging from 15 to 85 degrees, and thew way it clever hides itself as part of the camera bumper is one of the smarter designs I’ve seen in a case yet.
I don’t always use cases on my phones because I find them too bulky and unsightly, but ESR’s new cases, particularly the Cloud Soft, are sleek and useful enough they’ve earned a spot in my rotation.