Mobile Phones – Victims of Abuse?
How many of us have been the perpetrators of terrible crimes resulting in dead or damaged mobile phones? Desperate (and often futile) attempts to revive them by drying them in tubs of rice or blow-drying them with a hair dryer? Or if we are able to resuscitate them, left using a battered and broken phone – no longer the glamorous hi-tech item we were once so proud of.
I know I have – many times.
That’s why I was delighted to be asked to review the tech21 Evo Xplorer case by challenging it to some messy play.

Is it really possible that there is something out there that will prevent our mobile phones from suffering such devastating fate at the hands of us or our children?
The Challenge
The challenge kit arrived. It consisted of a dummy iPhone 6 and various items to re-enact the crimes a mobile phone may be subjected to throughout its day-to-day life (such as food, water and sand splatterings or being drowned in a toilet or swimming pool). A set of clear instructions for how to test it out was included and I was encouraged to use as many children as I could get my hands on for the experiment.
Delighted by the prospect of some messy play I had 7 very willing young participants and their 3 Mums (one of whom I was actually with the day her 2-year-old son threw her phone into the swimming pool and we grieved her loss together as all of her photos and contacts were lost forever).
First things first…. I needed to figure out how to put the phone into the case.
Instructions in one hand, phone in the other it only took a couple of seconds to get it set up and challenge ready. The only thing I was a little unsure of related to the mute dial needing to be turned to a certain position…even though the instructions showed an image of where the dial needed to be turned to it wasn’t 100% clear to me.
Challenge One – Drool and Baby Food

The children smothered the phone with baby food and water. They then took it in turns to drop it on the ground from various heights.
The phone survived!
Challenge Two – Beach
The children poured sand over the phone and loved using the spades provided to bury it further. They then squirted the phone with sunscreen and popped it into a bucket of sea salt water.
The phone survived!
Challenge Three – Toilet Fishing/ Swimming
A bucket of water was filled up and the phone dropped into it. The children took it in turns to fish the phone out of the bucket with the fishing net provided but found much more enjoyment in throwing it back in again.
The phone survived!
Now for the real test – could I get the device out of the case and if so what state would the phone be in?
I followed the instructions and within a couple of seconds the device was back in my hands.
I don’t have an iPhone 6/6s therefore we used the dummy phone provided. Whilst I couldn’t turn it on to check it actually worked I could see that:
- Despite the children’s best efforts to destroy it by soaking it in water, sand, baby food and sun cream, nothing had seeped through the case to the phone. We had even left it in the toilet (bucket of water) for about half an hour whilst the children ran around and my friends and I chatted. It was bone dry.
- Regardless of how many times the children had dropped the phone onto the floor or from what height, they had been unable to damage it. The screen was intact, not smashed or scratched and no other parts of the phone appeared to be damaged.
The phone…it would seem…had survived the abuse!
The Solution
The tech21 Evo Xplorer case could be the answer to save our phones from future abuse. It’s time to act before further damage is done.

My friends were also happy with the tech21 Evo Mesh case and Impact Shield screen protection they received as a thank you for assisting me with the challenge.
This is a product review. I didn’t receive any payment for writing this review however I was gifted the challenge kit which included the tech21 Evo Xplorer case, a selection of tech21 Evo Mesh cases and Impact Shield screens.
COMPETITION TIME
Tech21 would like to give one of my lucky readers the opportunity to win a tech21 Evo Xplorer case valued at $139.95.
All you need to do is write in the ‘leave a reply’ section at the very bottom of this article telling me:
What was the worst crime you or your child committed to your mobile phone in 25 words or less?
This is a game of skill and the winner will be announced on this post and on the lucyslifeslessons Facebook page on the 28th May at 9am AEST.
You must have an Australian address to claim your prize and must be aged 18 or over.
Mine constantly tweets the videos she is watching on YouTube. Really cements the mummy blogger image!
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I didn’t realise my friend kept receiving random texts from my phone along the lines of bhjgfbjsdbfkjegubhebfjenf 😉
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I lost my phone after a big night out. I found it using find my iphone…in a drain!
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was it still working???
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teenage daughter left hers in her jacket, I washed it, thoroughly. I was very unpopular 😦
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I can imagine 😉
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Luckily for me – we haven’t had any phone damage incidents with Miss 3 using it (her dad lets her use his phone – but mine is off limits since I got a new 6S!!)
But if I had this handy case then I’m sure I’d let her play with it. Phones can be a lifesaver sometimes.
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I can’t imagine life before phones!
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Left it in a port-a-loo.
LUCKY for me Not “in” the port-a-loo but I was in “deep shit” when I couldn’t find it
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ha ha…brilliant!
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My daughter once dropped by brand spankin’ new phone onto the floor and cracked the screen. I had to put up with this crack for the next two years until my contract expired and I was able to get a new phone! The OCD in me was not happy!
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oh nooooooo! you poor thing…
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Not me, nor the kids, but the dog buried it in the garden, discovered only on hearing the muffled ring tone!
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oh my goodness..naughty doggy!!
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I had my first girly night out in 2 years and got a little excited about the free drinks and canapés. Unfortunately I left my drinking boots back in the 90s so I had soggy elbows after 3 drinks. It was all fun and games until I went to the loo. Peeled my jeans off and heard the sound of my phone ka-chinking at the bottom of the toilet bowl. Expensive night out…..
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oh my goodness, I hope it fell in before you ‘went’ to the loo 😉
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I went for a run, came home and jumped straight into the pool without thinking, I was so knackered I didn’t even realised until my daughter came in for a swim and noticed my phone at the bottom of the pool
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oh nooooo…was it too late for rice to work??
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taking a picture of me on the loo and sending it to my dad in the uk
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whooooops!
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I tried to take some photos as a friend took me flying in his Tiger Moth. My iPhone lives in Port Phillip Bay now…
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love it! hope your iPhone is happy and didn’t bump anyone’s head on its way to it’s new home 😉
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Rather than thrilling, I took selfies when a friend took me flying in his Tiger Moth. My phone is in Port Phillip Bay now…
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Are you the same person as Jennifer B. or is this the same friend who takes you out flying in his tiger moth?? See previous comment 😉
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Yes – same person! My first entry didn’t seem to register so I tried another way. There’s obviously been a delay somewhere or a mistake on my part. Please delete one!
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I’m an avid reader and I was out of town for a work meeting, silly me didn’t bring a book, so I decided to do a little reading via my phone. In the bath. Long story short, let’s just say that the pages of a paperback are easier to get dry than a mobile phone 😦
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Put phone on roof
To buckle baby in
Heads to highway
110km spin
Phone flies off, never to be seen
Devastated more I’ve never been
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ha ha! love this 🙂
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Congratulations Peta Bourke….you are the winner!! Thank you everyone else for all your fabulous and entertaining entries, I really enjoyed reading them. Peta please email your address details to me via my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/lucyslifeslessons/ as a private message.
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I used to keep my phone down my bra when I went out, so I didn’t have to carry a bag and I could dance, it got a bit hot and bothered down there and I couldn’t bring it back to life!
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ha ha..sweaty phone…niiiiiiiice 🙂
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It falling out my back pocket and in to the toilet
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I’ve so nearly done that sooo many times!
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once i didnt realise i had dropped my phone out of the car and ran over it with the car and amazingly is still sort of worked with a badly cracked screen
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Congratulations Peta Bourke….you are the winner!! Thank you everyone else for all your fabulous and entertaining entries, I really enjoyed reading them. Peta please email your address details to me via my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/lucyslifeslessons/ as a private message.
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