According to new research by protective case manufacturer tech21, Australians have a harder time than most when it comes to holding on to their smart devices, stating that over one in five (21 percent) of us will damage our smartphones within the first six months of purchase.
Survey results suggest that the most common way for people to damage their phones involves dropping them in water or spilling liquid on them at 40 percent; a statistic that should see a decrease with the rising popularity of water-resistant phones like the iPhone 7 and Samsung Galaxy S7.
Phones being dropped on the ground was the next big cause at 35 percent, followed by damage caused by partners (11 percent), kids (also 11 percent) and pets (6 percent).
Interestingly, 23 percent of Australian parents hand their kids fake phones so that they won't damage their real ones.
Phone, meet toilet
Of all the people in Australia who are guilty of damaging their expensive handsets, millennials are by far the worst, with 50 percent of people aged between 18 and 35 breaking their phones at one time or another, either due to the influence of alcohol, dropping their phone in the toilet or from accidents accidents that occur while on holiday.
Surprisingly, beard oil-related slippage was not listed as a factor in any of these incidents.
Of these millennials with broken phones, 37 percent are surveyed as having damaged them within the first six months of purchase.
The research, unsurprisingly, has surfaced just in time for the release of tech21's latest range of protective phone cases for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, which they'd very much like you to buy.
- Alternatively, the Motorola Moto X Force has a shatter-proof screen
