{"id":595839,"date":"2026-04-11T00:00:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T00:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/595839\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T00:00:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T00:00:17","slug":"i-was-wrong-about-3d-printed-phone-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/595839\/","title":{"rendered":"I was wrong about 3D printed phone cases"},"content":{"rendered":"

After you have had a 3D printer for a while, you start to see things and think, \u201cI could make that.\u201d However, there\u2019s one thing that I use every day that I have never attempted to print: a phone case. I decided to finally give it a shot, and I was surprised by the results.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d seen models of phone cases that people had made, but I just didn\u2019t think a 3D printer could do as good a job as the mass-produced manufacturing process. The good news is I was mostly wrong. I\u2019m pretty impressed with the cases you\u2019ll see in this article, and I even tried my hand at making my own.<\/p>\n

I thought 3D printed phone cases would suck<\/p>\n

Hard to beat injection molding<\/p>\n

\"Apple
\n Credit:\u00a0Tim Brookes \/ How-To Geek<\/p>\n

Most phone cases are manufactured with a process called \u201cinjection molding.\u201d Molten plastic is injected into a hollow mold cavity, which allows it to be extremely precise and thin. I wasn\u2019t confident that an FDM printer<\/a> could make a phone case that rivaled the fit and feel.<\/p>\n

My first concern was thickness. I really don\u2019t like big, bulky phone cases. In fact, I\u2019ve been using my Pixel 10 almost exclusively without any case at all. I know first-hand how fragile thin 3D printed parts can be. I worried a phone case that was think enough for my liking would snap when trying to get it on.<\/p>\n

\"Pixel<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tBrand \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGoogle<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tSoC \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGoogle Tensor G5<\/p>\n

Looking to upgrade to a Pixel but not sure if you need all the bells and whistles of the more expensive models? You won’t be disappointed with the standard Pixel 10 model. Coming in striking colors, Gemini features, and seven years of updates, you can’t go wrong with this purchase.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tBrand \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSpigen<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tMaterial \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPolycarbonate, Thermoplastic Polyurethane<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tWireless Charging Support \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tYes<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tScreen protector included \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNo<\/p>\n

The Spigen Liquid Air case weighs just over one ounce, yet it offers scratch and drop protection and a textured frame for enhanced grip. Year after year, it’s my go-to case.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The second part I was worried about was feel. A popular material for phone cases is TPU, and that\u2019s a material that can be used with 3D printers as well. However, I very much dislike the feel of TPU cases\u2014always have. I\u2019ve also heard TPU isn\u2019t very easy to print with.<\/p>\n

Part of my holdup was due to my 3D printer, too. For the last couple of years, I\u2019ve been using a cheap, basic 3D printer, and while it\u2019s helped me make some awesome stuff<\/a>, it struggles with detailed prints. Recently, I upgraded to a Bambu Labs P1S, and I decided it was time to try printing a phone case.<\/p>\n

\"3D<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\tI 3D printed my own smart display because Google’s wasn’t good enough
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

When the product you want doesn’t exist, make it yourself.<\/p>\n

It went better than I thought!<\/p>\n

Experimenting with phone cases<\/p>\n

For my first attempt, I downloaded a Pixel 10 case designed by Joak1m<\/a> on MakerWorld. I chose this case because it looked decently thin, had full cutouts around the buttons and charging ports, and the separate camera ring allowed for easier printing (and color fun).<\/p>\n

I printed the case with 0.16mm layer height and no supports. The print only took 50 minutes\u2014including a filament color swap\u2014and came out looking great. To my surprise, it snapped on my phone easily and felt very secure. I will say it\u2019s not the easiest case to get off, but that\u2019s not unusual for many of the cases I\u2019ve purchased, either.<\/p>\n

The case is about 1mm thick, which is actually thinner than the last case I used\u20142mm. I was curious, so I looked through my collection and found that the thinnest case I own is a 0.65mm Aramid fiber case. 1mm is certainly thin enough to get my stamp of approval.<\/p>\n

With the first case out of the way, I decided to have some fun. I thought it would be cool to have a minimal \u201ccase\u201d that looks like a Monstera leaf wrapped around my phone. I didn\u2019t feel like spending several hours measuring and testing every detail of my Pixel 10, so I used a Fusion model from Printables user The Kwijibo<\/a> as my starting point.<\/p>\n

What I did spend several hours doing was use an SVG of a Monstera leaf as a cookie cutter on all sides of the case. It took a lot of finagling to get just right\u2014I\u2019m still not 100% happy with it\u2014but as a first prototype, I think it came out pretty cool. I was surprised by how well it stayed on despite some pretty flimsy sections.<\/p>\n

Lastly, I had the idea to make a back \u201ccover\u201d for my phone. Rather than a full case, it\u2019s just a flat, thin sheet that sticks on the back of the phone purely for looks. I made some simple cutouts for shapes and printed them in multiple colors. Honestly, I\u2019m not that happy with this one. I didn\u2019t factor in the rounded edges of the Pixel 10, which means the plastic sticks out too far\u2014and it\u2019s kinda ugly.<\/p>\n

3D printed cases aren’t perfect<\/p>\n

You can feel the filament<\/p>\n

Everything I\u2019ve said so far is positive, and that\u2019s my overall experience, too. 3D printed cases aren\u2019t perfect, though. My main gripe is the actual feel of the material.<\/p>\n

All of the cases in this article were printed with PLA, which is not known for being flexible. In fact, it\u2019s generally considered pretty brittle. So far, I haven\u2019t noticed any issues with that. The Monstera case has some nice flex to it, and the full-body case is easy enough to snap on.<\/p>\n

That being said, PLA doesn’t have the best feel\u2014it’s sort of a waxy, milk carton-like finish. The bigger issue is the slight roughness from the layer lines and some sharp edges straight off the printer. The good news is that all of this can be fixed with some light sanding if you’re willing to put in the effort.<\/p>\n

The main issue with 3D printed phone cases is durability. I have no doubt that a PLA or even a PETG case would shatter upon impact if I dropped my phone. TPU is clearly the best choice if protection is your main goal. However, as I said, I wasn\u2019t using a case at all on my Pixel 10 before this, so that\u2019s not a big concern for me.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s nice to be surprised<\/p>\n

3D printing your own phone case is clearly a possibility if your printer can handle it. This experience has taught me just how limiting my old printer was. My case came out looking great and didn\u2019t take very long to print. If you want a quick case or something you can\u2019t find in a store, it\u2019s worth a shot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After you have had a 3D printer for a while, you start to see things and think, \u201cI…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":595840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[49,48,190,61],"class_list":{"0":"post-595839","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-mobile","11":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=595839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/595840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=595839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=595839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=595839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}