I remember the very first phone case that I ever had. Well, it wasn’t so much of a case as it was simply a white sticker with a pattern of green dots all over it that I got to place on my blue Pantech Blitz phone. Compared to the iPhone I have today, that little slider looks absolutely hilarious. But for middle school, me, who just wanted the ability to text her friends, that phone was all I had ever dreamed of! We have come a long way over the past 13 years, though. Today, my cell phone has the coolest phone case with pressed flowers and pieces of citrus fruit inside. And, of course, it keeps my phone safe!

How did phone cases go from simply protecting our valuable electronics to being literal accessories? Perhaps it stemmed from our desire to turn everything we own into something cute and aesthetic, from license plates to interesting phone cases. Or maybe we just wanted a way to express our personalities, considering how often we have to pull our phones out nowadays. “Oh, this old thing? It’s just a croissant on my phone! No big deal!” Wherever this desire to upgrade to weird phone cases came from, I’m completely on board with it.   

As much as I love a cool phone case that looks like a piece of artwork, I would be remiss if I didn’t touch on the original, intended purpose of cases. Thinking back on some of the most popular iPhone cases from a decade ago, I distinctly remember phone protectors that were extremely simple in their aesthetics but actually kept phones safe even from the most intense falls and drops into toilets. We all knew smartphones were expensive, and we were not about to take the risk of shattering a screen or ruining a phone due to water damage.

While protecting our precious phones is still a priority for many today, it seems to have taken a back seat to outward appearances. And that’s perfectly fine, but you might want to be reminded of just how often phone screens shatter. According to a study conducted by OnePoll, one in three Americans have a crack in their cell phone’s screen, and Phone Arena reports that Americans crack 5,761 phone screens every hour.    

To learn more about what makes an excellent and cool phone case, we reached out to the experts at BURGA, and lucky for us, Ruta Daunoraite was kind enough to chat with Bored Panda. First, we wanted to know what their process is for designing cool-looking phone cases.

“All of our designs are created by our design team,” Ruta shared. “The whole process usually looks like this - our creative team constantly follows and researches all the recent fashion/tech trends and tendencies to be on top of what's popular currently. Of course, not all trends get a chance to be shown on our phone cases, as they has to be on brand, look aesthetically pleasing once placed on the phone cover itself and at the same time be versatile enough so they can unite the whole collection.”

Ruta went on to share that BURGA’s collections typically correlate with different seasons or celebrations. “For instance, this year we had our first Valentine's Day collection, ‘Amor,’ which was full of hearts and pinkish colors. And for our newest Summer'23 Collection, ‘Oceanic,’ we were inspired by the raw beauty of water and its hidden treasures as during the summer season most of us really enjoy being by the sea, ocean or just water in general,” she explained a bout their cool phone case designs. “All of our creative lines come from our experienced design team that takes all the inspiration around them and transforms it into stylish designs on our daily accessories.”

We were also curious about which cool phone cases are most popular amongst BURGA’s beautiful collections. “Our all-time best-sellers for years have been Emerald Pool, Almond Latte and Full Glam designs,” Ruta noted. “Almond Latte and Full Glam are more neutral prints, so they're loved by our feminine audience. Also, Almond Latte design looks really catchy and just great in photos. Men (but women as well) really like our Emerald Pool design, its deeper green tones look mesmerizing in real life.” 

“Celebrities go for more fun designs,” Ruta continued. “Taylor Swift rocks our Golden Taupe phone case, and actress Lucy Hale wears our Ivy League print all the time. I personally really enjoy black/white themes, so my all-time favorite design has to be Imperial or Night Sky. With more colorful outfits, I just love our Ride the Wave design.”

When it comes to what makes the perfect phone cases with cool features, Ruta says, “Protection is a very important aspect. Also it has to be lightweight, not too bulky and just feel great in your hand. Of course, I really enjoy good-looking phone cases that can complete or complement my outfit and just look cool in mirror selfies or when I just take it out of my pocket or purse. So protection and style are key here.”

We also asked Ruta what her team has planned for their upcoming interesting phone cases. “We have so many different cases planned already,” she shared. “Everything is in the process still, but I personally would like to explore more textured phone cases, for instance, we have a Celestial phone case that looks like a cow's skin. It would be really cool to have a case with some actual fur texture/imitation. But we'll see, maybe it's coming sometime in the future,” she added with a smile.

“In terms of our new collection, our second summer drop is launching next week (the 15th of June), so we'll have a great mix of colors and neutrals. Very excited about this collection, and I think it will be really liked by our BURGA family.”

If you’d like to upgrade your phone’s case, be sure to check out BURGA’s website right here!

Nowadays, there are plenty of experts in the coolest phone case game, as this list makes very clear. So we also reached out to Jess at CORECOLOUR to hear more about how their gorgeous designs come to be, and she was kind enough to have a chat with us as well. “Our design team conducts research to ensure that our upcoming designs are on trend and hot in the current market,” Jess explained. “We also have our signature series, which our team continuously improves to ensure our customers get the best quality product.”

We were also curious if any particular cool looking phone cases from CORECOLOUR are more popular than others. “We’ve seen a huge spike in our glitter range, as the design is extremely unique with the design being embossed individually on the back of the case,” Jess shared. “The glitter phone case is also 10ft drop certified along with being super grippy! We believe this is the bestselling range as it caters to all the requirements customers are looking for when purchasing a case for their phone.”

When it comes to what makes the coolest phone case, Jess says, “There are a few key elements: certified drop protection (shockproof), doesn’t slip out your hands easily (super grippy) and a unique head turning design.”

She even shared that CORECOLOUR is currently “working on a project which has never been done in the phone case industry before and will also shape the way people shop for phone cases in the future, so you’ll just have to stay tuned for more updates.”

If you’d like to browse through their cool phone case design collections, be sure to check out CORECOLOUR’s website right here!

Is your cell phone suddenly feeling inadequate after viewing this list, pandas? Don’t worry; there’s always time to elevate it into a much more fabulous look! Enjoy scrolling through the rest of these phone cases with cool features and awesome designs, and feel free to seek out some of these sellers online. I’m sure they would be happy to help your phone undergo a gorgeous makeover. Keep upvoting the cases you find most brilliant, and then, if you’re interested in viewing Bored Panda’s last article featuring incredible, awesome, and a bit weird phone cases, you can find it right here!