We’ve all been there. You drop your smartphone and watch helplessly as it tumbles toward the floor, hoping the case does its job.
Phone protection brand RHINOSHIELD took that familiar moment to a considerably greater extreme. On June 24, its AirX Ultra-Cushioned Phone Case completed a near-space drop test at Esrange Space Center in Sweden, earning a Guinness World Records title for “The Highest Drop of a Mobile Phone in a Phone Case (Natural Landforms).”
During the test, a phone protected by an AirX case was released from the stratosphere at an altitude of 30,607 meters (100,416 feet) above ground and, as Guinness World Records put it, recovered “completely unscathed.”
“We were not content to stop at conventional military-grade drop protection; we wanted to go further and take on the challenge of ‘space-grade protection’,” said Eric Wang, Co-founder and CEO, RhinoShield.
“For us, this world record is more than a validation of our product’s performance. It demonstrates to the industry that circular design does not have to mean compromise—it is a path worth pursuing, one that can drive innovation and set even higher standards.”
RhinoShield partnered with UK-based aerospace company Sent Into Space to carry out the test. Following a year of preparation, the teams developed a custom test payload equipped with a remote-release mechanism, GPS positioning, and a flight-tracking system.
A high-altitude balloon carried an iPhone 17 Pro fitted with a commercially available AirX case into the stratosphere, reaching an altitude of 30,607 meters (100,416 feet)—more than three times the typical cruising altitude of a commercial airliner. After footage of the AirX against the backdrop of Earth was captured, the remote-release mechanism was activated, sending the test phone into free fall toward the ground.
No heating equipment or additional protective products were used during the mission, leaving the AirX case exposed to temperatures ranging from –40°C to –60°C and atmospheric pressure at approximately 1% of standard sea-level pressure. After a 25-minute descent, the test phone struck the ground in free fall.
“No one could know for certain before the test whether the phone case would withstand such extreme conditions,” said Dr. Chris Rose, Co-founder, Sent Into Space.
“In addition to the extreme cold, low pressure, and high-speed descent, the team also had to overcome challenges including communication interference, remote terrain, and post-landing tracking and recovery. Only by successfully recovering both the AirX case and the phone could we truly verify the test results.”
Following the landing, the test team tracked the GPS signal into the Swedish wilderness and recovered the test phone. After reviewing video evidence, witness accounts, and the condition and functionality of the device, a Guinness World Records official adjudicator confirmed that all essential phone functions remained fully operational.
