‘Military grade’ and ‘rugged’ are marketing. A drop test is only meaningful when you know what it consisted of.

Height without a surface tells you nothing

A phone dropped from head height onto plywood experiences a fraction of the deceleration of the same drop onto concrete. Any drop claim that omits the surface has omitted the harder half of the test.

Ask for both. A supplier who has really tested will have both numbers to hand.

Orientation decides everything

Corner-first drops are the ones that break phones, because all the energy arrives at one small area. Flat-back drops are comparatively harmless.

That is why a good tough case has thickened corner sections rather than an even wall, and it is a thing you can see on the sample.

Once is not the same as repeatedly

A case that survives one drop from a given height may not survive twenty. Materials fatigue — TPU takes a set, polycarbonate develops micro-cracks around the corners.

For a field workforce, ask about repeated impacts rather than a single headline figure.

What the case cannot do

No case prevents a screen cracking when the phone lands face down on a stone with the glass exposed. A raised bezel helps on flat surfaces and cannot help on a point.

If screens are what break, the honest answer is a folio that covers the glass, plus a screen protector — not a thicker shell.