Though Wirecutter has long tested drop protection and scratch resistance for our guides to phone cases, I was never interested in those practical concerns. I spend hours on my phone every day (groan), and I want a case that makes me smile at least some of that time. So since 2015, I’ve carried a custom case emblazoned with an iconic image from the horror classic The Shining, (At least, it’s iconic to me—some people have asked me if snarling Jack Nicholson is my boyfriend.)
Even though I prioritized form over function with my case selection, I still got one that keeps my phone safe and scratch-free. The customizable case I love is actually a Wirecutter pick: the dependable, inexpensive Smartish Gripmunk.
Smartish makes Gripmunk cases for virtually every version of the iPhone and generally offers some array of monochrome options plus a couple of colors. If you’re slightly more adventurous, they offer some standard prints, like florals, animal prints, stripes, and geometrics. But if you want to feel something—anything!—when you pick up that exorbitantly expensive digital brick you so wholly depend on, allow me to make the uh, case, for bedecking your phone with your own joy-inducing image.
For Al Pacino, that image is Shrek. For me, it’s Jack Torrance’s snarling face as he axes through a bathroom door. Though it depicts a scene of absolute terror, it actually dispels my greater fear: quotidianism. I’ve had versions of my Jack case going back to my iPhone 4, and whenever I take a mirror selfie, (as membership to millennial-hood sometimes demands) the photo is immediately elevated thanks to Jack’s screaming face in the reflection. When I meet new people, Jack triggers an instant conversation when he peeks out of my pocket. While chatting into my phone as I walk down the street, I notice that people sometimes point at it and laugh (whether that laughter is with me or at me is unclear).
If you’re reading this on your boring-looking phone and thinking, “It would take me forever to design something,” or “I don’t want to spend my hard-earned doll-hairs on something so frivolous,” think again . You can customize the Gripmunk in mere minutes on Smartish’s website. Just choose your phone model, upload an image you own or have received permission to use, crop it, and the company will mail it out in under a week. You can buy the plain versions for about $15 on Amazon, but the custom version is just $35.
That price is a good deal considering the quality of the case you get, custom or not. Though I’ve admitted to being more concerned with the aesthetic drama of a phone case rather than its durability, my colleagues—who have tested hundreds of them— insist that the Gripmunk also keeps your device safe against drops, dings, and scratches better than the competition. And they didn’t specifically test for this, but from my own absentminded experience, I can also promise that the case keeps your phone safe from melting if you accidentally leave it on an active hot plate overnight. (Nothing will keep you safe from the embarrassment of such a blunder, however).
You can trust us about the case itself, but when it comes to choosing the best pic to cover your phone, only you know exactly what image will consistently inspire positivity. If a photo of your pet will instill some calm before you doom scroll, put Fido on your phone case. Maybe a picture of the Milky Way will help remind you that in the scheme of the infinite universe, your email signature doesn’t really matter.
And if you ultimately decide you prefer your smartphone to be as forgettable as possible, that’s fine too—all that matters is that it makes you happy.
This article was edited by Mark Smirniotis and Catherine Kast.
