Today I’m taking a look at the Phoozy Apollo II phone protector, which was featured on Shark Tank. It supposedly protects your phone from heat, cold, drops, and sinking in water. I put all four of those claims to the test, and here are my results.
Where to Purchase
There are several Phoozy models and sizes, and you can buy them from Amazon or direct from the manufacturer. Prices range from about $30-$40, depending on the size and model you want.
Phoozy Apollo II Review
Phoozy is a line of phone cases, which are more like protective phone pouches than traditional cases that fit snugly onto a phone. It is said to have insulative properties to protect phones from heat or cold, as well as drops from up to 9 feet. Phoozy also floats, so – while it is not waterproof – it will prevent a phone from sinking to the bottom of a lake or ocean. I decided to put all four of their claims to the test for this review.
First was the heat test. When Phoozy was on Shark Tank, they had two phones side by side under a heat lamp. One was in the Phoozy and one was not. The phone in the Phoozy was supposedly cooler than the phone without. With an abundance of heat here in Las Vegas, I knew that would be easy to duplicate. My test was simple: Place a phone in direct sunlight for 30 minutes and measure the phone’s surface temperature, then repeat the test with a phone in the Phoozy and compare results. When I placed my unprotected iPhone on a table in direct sunlight, the phone’s external temperature read 86 degrees F (30C) and the air temperature was 95 (35C). After 30 minutes, the phone had heated up to 126.5F (52.5C). After the phone returned to room temperature, I repeated the test with the device in my Apollo II case. The phone was again 86 degrees to begin my test, and the air temperature outside was 101 (38.3C). After 30 minutes, the phone’s temperature read 130.8 degrees (54.9C). Even factoring the slightly warmer outside temperature when I started the Phoozy’s heat test, it doesn’t seem to have provided any significant heat protection whatsoever.
That was merely one of four tests, however, so next it was onto the cold.
Phoozy is supposed to protect a phone from cold weather, which typically drains batteries faster. It took me a couple of attempts to get a test to show any meaningful results. At first, I just tested it out by placing a phone in the freezer for 30 minutes, with and without the Phoozy, but the results were the same both ways. Eventually I realized that if I had a battery-intensive app running in the background (the game Pokemon Go was my choice), I did see a significant different with and without the Phoozy. Both tests began with the battery at 95%. After 30 minutes in the freezer, the unprotected phone had dropped to 52% battery life, while it only dropped to 92% when using the Phoozy. After removing the phone from the freezer, I used two apps (Pokemon Go and YouTube) for three minutes to see how quickly the battery would drain while the phone was still cold. The battery dropped to 46% after 3 minutes without the Phoozy and 91% without. The external temperatures of my phone after 30 minutes in the freezer read about 21 degrees F (-6.1C) without the Phoozy and 38F (3.3C) with the Phoozy. Thus, while the insulation seemed to work against the Phoozy in my heat test, it clearly helped the phone in the cold.
For the drop test I wanted to see if the Phoozy could really protect a phone from a 9-foot drop, as claimed in the packaging. There was a viral video floating around social media a few months ago in which a Phoozy containing a phone was dropped from a balcony. Of course, that drop “test” was onto grass, and part of a paid promotion, so I view that demonstration with a sizeable grain of salt. I figured it would be easy to test out, so I went to a nearby park and used a basketball net to help visualize a 9 foot (2.7 meter) drop – and to my surprise, the phone inside the Phoozy remained unscathed. I decided to test it again from a height beyond their claims – around 15 feet (4.6 meters) – and again the Phoozy protected the phone from any damage. I actually had to repeat those two drop tests due to a technical issue with my video equipment, so the phone survived two 9-foot drops and two 15-foot drops. I was so sure that the Phoozy would not pass this test that I went to a pawn shop to buy a phone I could break – and it did not break.
My last test was a quick dunk test to see if the Phoozy floats as advertised – and it does. It won’t keep your phone dry, but it will keep it from sinking like a rock. I even filled it up with water and it still floated back to the surface, albeit slowly.
In the end, I’d say the Phoozy is great for cold weather, drops, and dunks in water – but I would probably not get it if heat protection is your primary concern.
