The iPhone 7 Plus is one of the most expensive phones in the world that doesn’t come encrusted with diamonds, or inlaid with real gold – so if you scratch this palm-filling wonder a week after buying it, you won’t be happy.

There’s no way around it: you need a case.

A case may alter your phone’s lines a bit, and separate your hands from all that lovely aluminum, but let’s be honest: do you really trust yourself to keep a phone this pricey in good nick?

That’s what we thought – and that’s why we’ve created this list of 12 brilliant iPhone 7 Plus cases.

Note: we've ranked these from cheapest to most expensive according to prices at time of writing.

The only thing better than a case is no case, at least until you drop your phone, and this Dockem sleeve aims to combine the best of both worlds, by giving your iPhone 7 Plus a cosy case when you’re not using it, and leaving it naked and free when you are.

The inevitable downside of this is that your phone also has no protection when in use, but if you’re more concerned about your phone’s safety when it’s out of your hands than in them this could be a good option, and it doesn’t hurt that it looks suitably classy too.

Wooden cases are arguably among the most stylish around, and definitely among the most unusual. This YFWOOD case mixes things up further though by using three different shades of wood for a distinctive patterned finish.

Like most other wooden cases the edges are still plastic, which slightly spoils the look when viewed from an angle, but viewed from the back this is a stunning case and one that won’t break the bank.

Simple and classy, the Cygnett UrbanShield is the kind of case we can get on with. This year Cygnett has dumped the cut-out for the Apple logo too, and the case looks a lot sleeker as a result.

It’s a basic case – a clip-on plastic shell designed to avoid dings to your iPhone’s aluminum frame, but it has some sweet finishes tailored to match the classic pink, silver and black colors.

The two silvery versions have a thin plate of brushed aluminum on the back, while the black uses carbon fiber, and the pink a panel of silicone for a soft-touch feel.

We’ve shied away from featuring too many super-tough iPhone 7 Plus cases, because they tend to add so much girth to the already-large phone’s thickness and width. However, the X-Doria Defense Gear is one of the slimmest cases to boast of having ‘military-grade’ protection.

What this means in practice is that you can drop the phone case’d-up from a height of 6 feet 6 inches and it should survive.

The case is made from a mixture of rubber, hard plastic and anodized aluminum. The special sauce is what X-Doria calls DropShield. Like most advanced materials used in cases, this hardens on impact, a state change that absorbs a lot of energy.

If you want a simple leather case but don’t want to be an iSheep and buy Apple’s own one, take a look at the Knomo Snap-on case. It looks great and is much cheaper than Apple’s, partly because the leather is just an inlay in a fairly standard polycarbonate shell.

It’s still real leather, however, and this means the parts that will take the brunt of abuse will be plastic, which don’t rip as a leather veneer can after serious mistreatment.

Knomo makes the Snap-on case for iPhone 7 Plus in five different shades, ranging from a pretty eye-popping orange to a much more interior design-inspired “lido” blue-gray.

Torro makes funky-looking leather flip cases that double as stands, and a stand comes in particularly handy with an iPhone 7 Plus, with its big screen just begging to be used for a bit of movie-watching while you’re bored on a long plane or train journey.

The case is made of real leather, and there’s neat stitching along the sides for a hand-made look. The black version has red stitching, while the tan one uses thread that blends into the leather much more.

Other notable features include a magnet to stop the screen cover flapping about, and a pouch on the front that’ll hold a travel or debit card.

If you want your iPhone to look serious and professional, you can’t go far wrong with a Cygnett UrbanWallet Flip. It’s a simple folio case that uses a real leather ‘lid’ and a plastic shell into which your iPhone 7 Plus clips.

There’s a metallic finish on this part that holds your phone, in a semi-successful attempt to trick your eyes into believing the shell is actually metal. The main draw here is that it’s a flip case, though, and a fairly smart-looking one at that.

The tricky part of designing a case is to find ways of sucking up impact damage without effectively wrapping the phone in bubble wrap.

Belkin’s Air Protect SheerForce tactic is to use arches in the case’s bumper sides, creating little compressible air pockets that absorb force rather than transmitting it to the aluminum sides of the iPhone.

It’s a cheap, low-bulk way of protecting the phone. This is a deliberately low-key case, with a transparent or translucent finish. The non-clear ones are tinted to match the various colors of iPhone too. This is a good pick if you want protection without lots of bulk or weird style influences.

The Spec Presidio Grip case doesn’t just to try to make dropping your phone no big deal, it wants to stop those drops in the first place. As well as some basic protection, this slimline case makes your iPhone much grippier, using embossed strips of rubber across its back.

If you do drop your iPhone 7 Plus a layer of – don’t laugh – Impactium will reduce the force transferred to the phone. This compressible material, which sounds like it was nicked from the Marvel universe, sits underneath a hard polycarbonate exterior.

OtterBox is best known for its ultra-protective cases. But unless you have hulk-like hands, you’re not going to want to live with a brute of a case on your iPhone 7 Plus. It’ll just be too much of a handful.

The OtterBox Symmetry does its best to find a middle ground. It’s a slim-ish case, but one with a chunky lip above the screen and dual rubber and plastic construction, to put more layers between the pavement and your iPhone. It comes in a selection of finishes, including the funky pattern you see here.

One of the classic iPhone cases is Apple’s own leather model. On the surface, it seems as simple as they come, a clip-on cover that keeps the phone’s aluminum exterior looking good as new without downgrading the look. Leather is as classy as aluminum, right? There are some touches that deserve a mention, though.

First, the finish is real “French” leather rather than a synthetic alternative. This means it’ll wear and age naturally rather than starting to peel off six months in.

The case also has its own buttons, sitting on top of those on your iPhone, and has a microfiber lining that hugs your phone. It comes in a whopping seven colors too.

The Portlandia of iPhone cases, the Grovemade Walnut & Leather is all-natural and, as it happens, made in Portland. Its frame is made of walnut wood finished with vegetable oil, its leather rear tanned with vegetable extracts.

It’s delightfully artisanal, and pretty delightful all-round actually. As Grovemade says, though, “the wood used in this product may be damaged by drops or other impacts. If a case that may break is not for you, please consider a rubber or plastic case.” You’ve been warned.

Grovemade also makes bumper-style cases, an all-walnut standard case and a flip case.

• Make the most of that big screen with the best iPhone games

Read More…