How to use a custom case to make your phone uniquely yours

Phones can be boring. With a few exceptions, the bright and exciting colors are limited to the budget or mid-range segment. New models in long-running series, like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, look the same as their predecessors. However, there are ways to make your phone unique, and you can do so with the phone you have right now. Phone cases can be as anonymous-looking as the phones they protect. Still, when you know where to look, you can make a quirky, practical, and fun case.

This article was produced in partnership with Supcase, but its contents were not shown to the company beforehand. All content is written independently and meets Android Police's stringent editorial standards.

Add some flare to your phone

Skin your phone or your case

An easy way to add life to your phone is with a custom skin or case. Dbrand is the most well-known place to get skins, but there are other companies. For example, my Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 has an XtremeSkins white carbon skin on the back, hiding that I cracked the back glass a few weeks ago.

Skins are great if you're happy to forego a case. However, there are options if you need protection along with style. Dbrand has made its Grip case for years, and you can customize it with any of the skins Dbrand sells for your phone.

Many cases offer unique or custom designs. Rhinoshield's Solidsuit cases are available in dozens of curated designs. You can also make your own by uploading images, patterns, and text to make a case that's uniquely yours. If you feel less creative and want to show off your love of a TV show, band, or sports team, Casetify has many brand partnerships that allow it to sell licensed cases.

Some smartphone manufacturers make up for the meager color options on their phones by offering colorful accessories. Samsung is one of them, and it has experimented a lot in the last few years. Its Flipsuit series is a clear case that has swappable backplates. There are dozens of backplates, even branded ones from Star Wars. The party trick of the case is that it communicates with the phone and can change your wallpaper to match the case. There's a version for the Galaxy Z Flip 6 that also pulls a small amount of power from your phone to light up.

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Stand out with function over form

Kick back with a kickstand

Another way to make your phone stand out is to add functionality you wish had come with it. My Fold 4 is another excellent example of this. I love using the S Pen with it, but I don't like not having a convenient place to store it. So, I use the i-Blason Halo to keep the phone safe (especially after cracking the back) and store the S Pen somewhere easily accessible.

Looking beyond foldables and Samsung devices, you can add a kickstand, hand grips, port protection, MagSafe compatibility, and more if you use the right case. Supcase, Spigen, and Otterbox all make cases with kickstands, and they're perfect if you consume a lot of video on your phone.

My favorite feature to add to a phone is MagSafe/Qi2 support. I got some MagSafe wall mounts from Moment a few years ago, and they're dotted around my house. The bathroom, for example, has a mount so that I can watch podcasts while I get ready for the day. Another mount is next to the bath to provide easy music control without picking up the phone with wet hands.

MagSafe is for more than sticking phones to walls. An entire ecosystem of accessories exists, from power banks to cardholders and wireless chargers. Qi2 wireless charging integrates support for these accessories into phones. The downside is that outside of the iPhone only the HMD Skyline has implemented it so far, with popular brands like Google and Samsung skipping it this year.

Accessories can make all the difference to your smartphone experience

Most of us use a case to protect our phones, so choose one that makes your phone more useful or stand out from the crowd. I will buy one of Rhinoshield's Solidsuit cases for my S24 Ultra. It will allow me to make my phone look how I want it to, and it also includes MagSafe so that I can continue using those accessories. I also plan to set a reminder on my phone to remove and clean the case to avoid problems like dust and lint building up.