| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Outstanding button feel | Very bulky design |
| Excellent MagSafe strength | Flimsy inner structure |
| Great corner protection | Edges feel noticeable in hand |
| Strong camera-lump impact results | Poor customer service reputation |
| High overall drop performance | Heavier than the average case |
When a company known for stickers decides to build a “Tank,” we honestly weren’t expecting much. But after dropping this thing over 30 times, the dbrand Tank Case for iPhone turned out to be one of the wildest cases in our entire 50-case review lineup.
How We Test
30+ drops per case | 6+ metrics recorded per impact | 100% independently tested
Our goal is to find out what cases are actually best for your iPhone. We don’t base our reviews on any of the marketing a company wants you to believe. We’re reviewers, not influencers.
Our case testing procedure for the iPhone 17’s:
- Buy the case ourselves
- Measure all the physical dimensions of the case:
- Weight
- Size
- Back rigidity
- Corner/Back Thickness
- Corner compression
- Rank the handling and access of the iPhone in the case
- Perform magnetic strength tests using a force meter
- Perform audio tests (if needed using a DB meter)
- Perform 30 corner, face and camera lump drop tests. This data is collected from the iPhone’s accelerometer and gyroscope. We’ve built custom drop rigs to ensure every drop almost identical. To gauge the iPhone’s protective abilities, we measure:
- Average peak deceleration
- Average decay rate
- Average impulse
- Average max rotation
- Average angular displacement
- Average settling time
- After we collect all the data, we then run it through or scoring formula to figure out how well the case ranks.
We’ve got a few more ideas to implement for the next round of iPhone’s including more data collection during drops as well as high speed camera photos of the initial impacts.
Design
| Metric | Value | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 60 g | 45 g |
| Added Case Thickness | 67% | 51% |
| Added Overlook Bulk | 90% | 66% |
The Tank looks absolutely unhinged in the best way. There’s so much going on. It has strange markings, coordinates that feel like they point to Area 51, fancy material labels, even what looks like braille along the back. The edge is lined with massive ridges that you’ll definitely feel, and the screen lip is impressively uniform all the way around.
Despite the aggressive aesthetic, the case itself feels surprisingly flimsy for something called a Tank. The inside includes a slab of binary that probably spells “dbrand.” In terms of bulk, this case adds 60g to your iPhone, well above our testing average of 47g, and it increases the phone’s overall size by roughly 90%. It’s loud, it’s weird, and it’s unapologetically over-engineered.
The Tank’s corners hit 4mm at their thickest points, and the back hovers around 3mm at the raised sections. The flexy back panel only required 17.2N to bend 8mm, which is 38% below average. But then the case surprises us: it takes 49N to pop a corner off, nearly double our group average of 25N. It stays tight and locked in during torsion.
The Tank has a stiff outer frame paired with softer material across the middle sections, giving it a strange hybrid feel. Structurally, it’s inconsistent but weirdly effective once we move into the drop data.
Accessibility & Handling
| Metric | Value | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Grip | Amazing grip; tons of anchor points from ridges/doohickeys | – |
| Buttons | Massive floating buttons; some of the best ever tested | – |
| MagSafe Strength | Pull 11.9 N / Push 15.0 N | 10.1 N |
The grip on this case is fantastic. Even though the finish is smooth and matte, all the little ridges and doohickeys give your fingers natural anchor points. The buttons, though, are the real highlight. They look like giant integrated slabs, but they’re actually huge floating buttons, and they’re legitimately some of the best we’ve tested over the years. Camera controls are covered as well.
Screen access is decent, but those chunky edges make themselves known. The port cutout handled our biggest cable without issue, and oddly enough, our pinkies liked the smooth finish along the bottom. MagSafe performance was strong: 11.9N to pull and 15N to push, which is 36% above average andone of the strongest we’ve measured in our reviews
Protection
| Metric | Value | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Back Thickness | 3.0 mm | 2.4 mm |
| Corner Thickness | 4.0 mm | 2.9 mm |
| Air Pockets | Present | 10.1 N |
| Rigidity | 17.2 N | 29 N |
| Initial Impact | 9.065 G | 10.3 G |
| Rotation Rate | 275.61°/s | 300°/s |
| Time to Settle | 0.410 s | 0.53 s |
| Settling Rate | 0.101 s⁻¹ | 0.24 s⁻¹ |
| Total Force | 1.256 Ns | 1.5 Ns |
In corner drops, the case handled the initial impact well at 9.1G, which is 11% better than average. Rotation rates were basically average, but because this case is basically bouncy rubber wrapped around a rigid frame, it took the iPhone 56% longer to settle. Still, the total force was 14% lower than our test group average. It’s a solid performance for such a chaotic-looking case.
Face-first drops were similar: 18% better initial impact control and 14% better overall force reduction, though again the settling rate was 16% slower. Sticky rubber has its pros and cons.
The wildest result came from the camera-lump drop. The raised ring around the camera is made from a surprisingly rigid material, and that layer alone pushed the Tank far above average. Initial impact was 37% better, settling was 28% slower, and total force was an impressive 32% lower than average. This is elite camera-side protection.
Value
If we’re talking pure performance, the dbrand Tank Case for iPhone absolutely earns its place near the top of our 50-case list. The button feel, MagSafe strength, and drop data all back it up. But long-term value gets messy because dbrand’s customer service historically takes ages to respond. If you’re the type who expects quick warranty support, that’s something to keep in mind.
Verdict
Would we buy the dbrand Tank Case for iPhone if we weren’t reviewers? Honestly, probably. If we were retired reviewers? Maybe not, mostly because of dbrand’s slow customer service. But feelings aside, the Tank is one of the most impressive tough cases in our entire group of 50 this year. Beneath all the marketing flair and meme energy, there’s real protection and thoughtful design where it counts.