Agree 100%. My phone gets bumped around in my shop and on job sites fairly regular, and as I stated up thread, the only thing the Gorilla Glass didn’t like was hot steel from welding. On my last phone, an iPhone 5, the screen had a few places where very tiny pieces of steel had melted into the screen. Other than that, like you said, a nail would scratch it, but a person would almost have to try to put a scratch in it.
I would suggest purchasing used phones off of eBay. Got a pristine IPhone 5s for $120 and an i6 like new for $300. Coming off some entry androids that drove me crazy. I had resisted even getting smartphones but I will concede they are pretty neat.
What I like about the Iphones is their similarity to the iPad I am using right now.
Two new Otterbox covers ordered and in the mail.
Although I have all three under a Verizon contract I was told it is possible to insert your own SIM cards and get the Straight Talk monthly cards (like Tracfone) and use out of a contract although I am not sure that really saves any money. It might be worthwhile to look into unlocked phones if you want to change carriers. I’m not an expert in that area.
In the meantime try not to drop the phones or into the toilet and you are probably good to go until you get a decent cover. My $0.02.