You do have a point, but i also recall some of the older phones also being fragile back in the day. If i recall correctly, the first mobile phone that i had was

You do have a point, but i also recall some of the older phones also being fragile back in the day. If i recall correctly, the first mobile phone that i had was a Nokia 5110: https://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_5110-7.php https://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_5110-7.php From the outside, it looked like it should be pretty tough, yet when it fell off of a table and on the floor (not even hardwood, i think it was linoleum), it just straight up died. I bet that the thicker plastic frames of those old phones still absorb impacts better than most of the modern thin ones, yet a proper rubberized frame/case will almost always be even better. Plus, IP68 (which was described in IEC 60529 in 2001, a few years after that first phone came out) now being available in consumer hardware at an affordable price point is pretty nice! So it's mostly a matter of supporting the manufacturers who create the devices that you actually want. Maybe shopping around for a phone with a removable battery AND the aforementioned ruggedness would be a good move on my part.