NHL Forward Dakota Joshua Puts D3O® Phone Protection Through the Ultimate On-Ice Gauntlet
SPORTSMARKETING
The British ingredient brand put its phone protection to the test on the ice, teaming up with pro hockey player Dakota Joshua and Coach Jeremy to see how D3O®-infused cases hold up under elite-level impacts.
Full D3O Ice Hockey Test video.
You might think your phone case is tough because it survived a drop from the kitchen counter. But how would it fare against a professional slap shot? D3O®, the leading developer of advanced impact protection materials, decided to find out.
Known for testing its technology in the world's most extreme environments, from military applications and mountain biking gear to elite sports, D3O® took phone protection to the ice. The British ingredient brand teamed up with professional hockey player Dakota Joshua and Coach Jeremy from the How to Hockey YouTube channel to see how D3O-infused phone cases perform under genuine, professional-level impacts.
The Science of Extreme Impact
The experiment, conducted on the rink at Upper Canada College, was designed to push far beyond typical industry standards. Standard lab drop tests involve heights of 1–3 meters, generating around 8 joules of impact energy, the measure of a phone hitting a hard surface.
The team quickly proved that the ice rink is a much tougher testing ground:
Stick Handling: A 268-gram phone case hit with a hockey stick at 40 km/h generates 16.5 joules of impact, double the standard drop test and equivalent to dropping a phone from over 13 meters.
The Slap Shot: A regulation puck hit at 120 km/h carries roughly 94 joules of energy. This is 12 times tougher than the hardest standard drop test, comparable to dropping a phone from a 14-story building.
“It was an awesome way to test phone cases,” said Dakota Joshua. “I was amazed at how the phones held up against some hard hits. The D3O cases clearly provide effective protection as I was hitting them across the ice with the same force I use in a game.”
Surviving the Game-Day Hits
The four-part experiment, featuring cases protecting iPhone 16 and 17 models, showcased the technology’s ability to dissipate energy effectively. The phones survived fast stickhandling drills, high-speed passes, and shots into the goal at 74 km/h.
Only when a full-speed puck was fired directly at a phone strapped to the net did the back glass finally crack on impact with the ice.
“At D3O, we test our products differently,” said Stuart Sawyer, CEO of D3O. “Our materials are trusted by special forces, elite athletes, and the world's leading phone case brands. This ice hockey test shows how effectively D3O dissipates energy far beyond conventional drop tests.”
D3O® materials are used worldwide by leading case manufacturers including EFM, Hama, SBS, and AXS. By subjecting consumer electronics protection to the same extreme standards used for military and elite sports gear, D3O is proving its technology delivers peace of mind, even when your phone takes a hockey puck to the face.