I just received this one. It is a bit bulkier than my TPU case, but it looks to provide good protection, and is available with any of about 20 or so pictures on the back. Plus it is very inexpensive.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VFFUWFW/ref=cm_cr_thx_view
"The design has two parts - a rear that you fit the phone into, and a front part that snaps in. The company provides an "opening tool" (it looks like a guitar pick) that slips into part of the case on the right side, to pry them apart if needed. The advantage of this design is that the case can be rigid while still fitting well. The material is somewhat rigid, but not totally - it does have some flex, particularly in the front "bezel" part, but I think it will do a great job protecting the phone. The plastic is not shiny at all, and grips well - the phone will not slip out of your hands. All of the cutout holes match the M9 perfectly, and there is a "lip" around the screen to protect it when laying flat. Additionally, the rear is thick enough that the camera lens is also well protected when set down. So no matter how you lay your phone down, the glass (well, technically sapphire crystal for the back camera) will be protected.
The rear picture (I chose the black tree) is exactly as pictured, and very well done. I love the look of the case.
The only thing that you should note is that the case is a bit thicker than a TPU case. This means it provides very good protection, but will be somewhat more difficult to fit into a belt pouch (which is how I carry it). Mine fits, but just barely. If you carry yours in a pocket or something like that it won't matter."
Related
I ordered one of these off of Amazon Friday when I got my Nexus
goo.gl/qpBr
I ordered through DayDeals. I received the two halves that snap together, but no belt clip
I want to note that the sides not shown in the picture are white, and it makes viewing the sides inconsistent and kinda ugly. It fits like a very tight glove except for the top left corner. It doesn't snap down all the way.
The case is very light, and in my opinion flimsy. I don't care too much about protecting it from light scratches, as I've ordered a full-body skin from Zagg to do that. I want to protect it from accidental drops, and I don't think this case can do that for me.
It flexes easily and unnecessarily.
I do like it shape, if it were to snap down completely. It leaves the entire screen open for my fingers to fing, and all controls are easily accessible, no ports or holes are covered up.
I also noticed that having a case prevents my hand from touching the screen and screwing up the points at which the screen recognizes input.
However this is overshadowed by the fact that the case provides less friction or grip than the phone without the case. I found the phone would slip slowly out of my palms while trying to type in horizontal mode.
Pros:
Nicely shaped
Doesn't cover holes or controls
Very light and unobtrusive
Improves accuracy with touch screen
Cons:
Did not include belt clip
Flimsy
Slippery
Does not fully fit over the phone
Unlikely to protect the phone in case of accidental drops
Overall I would give this product 3 points on a scale of 10. For less than $10 I didn't really expect much. I'd much prefer a Body Glove hard shell case similar to the one I had with my MT3G.
I got the same case and have the exact same issues. Already ordered a TPU case to replace it.
I have the same case as well, and would have to say that I agree with all your points... one thing (maybe the only thing) I like about the case is that it didn't add a whole lot of bulk, and still fits in my Case Logic holster which already had a snug fit for the phone.
I got two of these off ebay and both fit the phone perfectly. I know what you're talking about with regards to fit though. I ran into the same problem with similar cases for the G1 several times.
Got this case from ebay (HK seller) for US$8 inclusive of international shipping. Received it quite fast on the 6th day after i placed the order.
There was no proper product packaging when I received it, kinda expected from a no brand ebay case, but it does come with a screen protector.
The design of the case is subtle and low profile, yet carry a distinct look with the bold white borders. It looks thin, and it felt thin in the hand too. There is little lip on the front, so when you leave you phone face down the screen wont touch the surface, but it is too small to prevent a face-down drop. However the lift around the lens i thought is just nice to protect the lens from scratching.
The body of the case is matte translucent tpu, you can still see the samsung logo and even the back cover texture with the case on. The white borders and kick stand are painted plastic - feel a bit cheap,especially the kick stand. Cut outs are correctly positioned - mic, speaker, ir, earphone jack. buttons are ok but not great, you can feel it and it is not hard to press, however it is not clicky.
More about the kick stand since it is the main reason I got it - as mentioned it felt cheap; the hinge and the catch are 'loose', don't give you a solid secure feel. when closed, the kick stand can be pressed inwards slightly, again another sign of not solid design. The only plus perhaps is the angle when the kick stand is opened.
if you want a thin case with kickstand that is not expensive, then this may be an option. if not there are probably better choice out there.
I was sent a sample case by Poetic to review.
The first thing that strikes out is how durable and rugged the case is. It consists of two pieces, one internal that the phone snaps into, and an external one that hugs the first one and provides very solid protection from drops etc. It comes assembled and it takes some effort to disassemble (i.e. separate the two pieces). Then assembling it as well is tricky as you have to press gradually all over the case to make the two pieces stick together. On the upside, this ensures that the protection is solid and the phone stays snug inside. There are proper cutouts for the camera, including the proximity sensor in the back, the fingerprint reader, and all the ports, with nice rubber flaps to only have them open when access is needed.
The inside part also has a plastic screen protector over it, which is quite underwhelming. While it provides some extra protection, mainly from dust, it makes the phone more difficult to use, as the touch functionality is slightly impaired. The reason is that there's a slight gap (less than 1mm) between the plastic cover and the actual screen. That's with a (very thin) tempered glass screen protector already applied to my phone. I don't know if the screen protector has an impact (positive or negative) to this issue. It would be better if the plastic screen cover was removable as it's not fully water-proof and dust-proof anyway, because of the cutouts for the speakers.
That said, for the intended customers of this case (people that want to use their phone in adverse outdoors conditions, for example construction workers, etc.), the ruggedness and protection of the case makes up for the slightly reduced functionality.
Two extra nice touches are the built in stand, that works in both portrait and landscape mode, and the corner lanyard clip, which seems durable enough to make you feel comfortable, combined with the overall ruggedness of the case, to have the phone hanging from there while you are cycling for example.
Overall, while for most city dwellers, it's clearly overkill, I would recommend the case for these special occasions where the extra protection is really needed or for people that are in an environment that makes it necessary. It would be a five star product actually if the screen protector was of higher quality and didn't reduce the touch sensitivity.
This review is of the Schnail Savior Series Clear Case with Aluminum Frame Military Grade Full Body Protective Rugged Cover in Black for the Google Pixel 4 XL.
Overall I really like this case. I have been using it for the last few days, and I have to say that I am surprised. I normally use Spigen, Caseology and Otterbox cases, but I really liked the overall appearance of this case and wanted to try it out.
When I first received it, it came in two main pieces. The outer frame, which is a combination of aluminum and TPU, and then a hard plastic inner frame. Assembly is pretty straight forward. Clean your phone really well, insert the phone into the plastic inner case, and then nest it into the aluminum and TPU outer case. You will want to get a small flat tool of some sort to help the lip of the TPU surround on the aluminum frame to clear the plastic inner frame. I wish that a tool had come with the phone in order to do so, but I found that a toothpick worked just fine. Once nested together completely, the case has a extremely solid feel. There is no movement like I have experienced before with other nesting phone cases. While this means it can be a pain to disassemble and reassemble, it also means that if you drop it the case isn't likely to come apart.
The quality construction and build seems to be on par if not better than other well known brands that I have owned and used in the past. The use of the aluminum frame is implemented nicely, which just the right amount of exposure, but not so much that it makes the case slippery. The clear backing is nice thick, and the lens cut out accents the raised camera lens very well. The lip provided by the aluminum frame and the rubber/plastic surround gives ample distance from the glass, which means should I accidentally drop the phone, it should avoid cracking the screen unless I happen to land directly on a sharp corner or raised object that strikes the screen directly. If there is one con to this case, it would be the raised lip, especially if you are using the new "swipe to go back" feature that Google has implemented in Android 10. You can still swipe to go back, but there is a bit of learning curve as you will need to press your finger into the edge of the lip before attempting to swipe. I use my thumb to do so, and found that if I attempt to use the edge/side of the my thumb, it doesn't work as well as if I press my thumb flush before swiping. A small sacrifice to make in order to ensure if I drop this phone that the raised edge will protect the screen from harm.
All in all, this is a case that I can highly recommend and will be my daily driver over my Spigen Tough Armor.
So I was sent this case for review as well, and if OP doesn't mind, I would like to 2nd a lot of what is said here.
The case is difficult to put on, but once the case is on I feel like I could throw it off my roof, and have it survive. Not that I actually did that... I had to use a butter knife to get the inner frame under that lip all the way around the front/top, but once the case was on, it felt very solid. Its difficult to disassemble so hypothetically a big drop shouldn't split the case in 2 like some other 2 piece cases have a tendency to do. If I had JerryRigEverything money, I would have loved to test it like that. The camera is well protected by raised edges, but not actually covered. The screen isn't covered either (like a lifeproof case), but I'm ok with that, it means I can bring my own glass screen protector.
As far as look and feel, it is a bit bulky, but thats the price you pay for this much protection. I like the clear back, since Google makes such a big deal about their colors, its nice to still see the back of my phone. The buttons line up properly, and are a little mushy, but nowhere near as bad as some other big cases. I might be the only one who appreciates the little loop holes on the bottom right of the case for adding a wrist strap or something. A Peak Design anchor is probably going to live there forever now. Wireless charging still works, but your mileage might vary, it does add a tiny bit of distance between the charger and the phone. Like OP, I also found the raised lip around the edge of the screen to be a bit annoying, especially since gestures is the new Pixel default. The gestures are harder to use, and there is a learning curve, or just go back to using the soft buttons at the bottom.
Overall, if a lot of protection is what you're looking for in a case, I have no problem recommending this one! Pictures to come, I just haven't had time to get out my real camera and take any.
Display + Buttons
Oblique angles
Rear, Texture, Hump, repeat Hump
Corners
Cutouts
What is aramid fiber? I don't know, please go look it up and be mindful of marketing.
Synthetic materials like carbon fiber, fiberglass, composite, aramid, kevlar, etc are just fun names for the same concept. You take strands of something really strong in one aspect but catastrophically fails if twisted or sheared or rubbed against itself. That's why you lay out all the fibers in certain directions then glue them in place and hope the glue prevents situations where the fibers are weak.
When you see aramid, think amine-based (nitrogen). Carbon alone (like in carbon fiber) blocks radio frequencies so no-go for phones. Nitrogen helps the fiber form similarly strong chains without RF obstruction that pure carbon sheet linkages cause. From what I've read, aramid is closer to kevlar but doesn't require the same tension for strength. Being 0.7mm thick, it's definitely not protective and you should only think of this as an alternative skin. From what I've read, the shock absorption is somewhere between glass and plastic. You are def getting worse drop protection than any real case.
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Ordered 2/7, received 2/26 (19 days, if math hard). I didn't take a picture of the box, but think fauxfiber-wrapped cardboard with foam inside. Sturdier than your Amazon package, closer to particle board tbh.
I paid $26 on aliexpress and would not recommend it if you need a case. I like the slim case but need a lip. I don't lay my display face down but still ... I love the rear, the button cutout is tolerable, and the lack of lip is a dealbreaker. I don't see any suitable alternatives so it's my daily for now.
Texture: the plastic feels amazing. Soft and grippy enough. My XPS 13 9360 has 1/10th the texture and is grippier. I have no complaints about the texture or grip and would not adjust either. It can be slippery for those concerned about that. After a week, it still looks and feels new. I'm not sure how scratch-resistamt this material is, but it definitely still feels superlative.
Finish: Minor variation/bumps at the corners. In general, straight lines are cut perfectly while rounded edges have small imperfections (<0.5mm). If you're struggling to see it in the photos, trust your eyes. I chose the camera cover variant for piece of mind (also comes in no-top/-bottom or camera-cut-out or both). You can see that small space, which I really don't like. I can feel the case creak a bit in that area, and am certain that harder-than-glass particles will accumulate and scratch the lens.
Installation: it's not terribly hard to install, but removal can be scary. The small bridge of plastic over my 3.5mm port shows some visual strain. It's not quite a crack, but the aramid plastic is clearly discolored in a fracture pattern. It only appeared when I began to very gently remove it (to take inside pics for you...).
Ergonomics: I don't like the exposed buttons but feel like cutouts would have caused problems. Hard to install/remove, prone to stress fracture were avoided by just cutting that section out. This is why we see so many cheap hard cases just omit the top and bottom. You lose a little protection and also lose a little headache.
Personally: I didn't just buy a case to protect my phone. I was rocking the very protective and great-feeling case temporarily while the aramid fiber was en route. It's big and bulky, but it feels amazing in the hand and I highly recommend it if you can grab it for under $10. This aramid fiber one is basically a skin, and I like the look and feel despite the lack of protection. I'm going to keep using it while I seek an alternative or addition for some screen protection. I don't hate screen protectors, but would prefer just an ultra-minimal 3d-printed bumper or something. This is a lot of concession and effort for a case I paid $26 for. I don't think a skin would be a suitable alternative, but for anyone interested I implore you to reconsider a slim plastic that that has top/bottom coverage. How do I truly feel: god damn does this case feel good. Forget a skin, the in-hand feel during use is amazing and I recognize that my phone is basically caseless. I'll put the rugged case over this one rather than risk breaking it from frequent removal.
Things I would change: LIP, smaller button cutout . I paid $5 for a small sheet of fake carbon fiber for wrapping cars and plan on using it to pad the gap in the camera hump. It may be too thick, or just right. I might just cut a tiny ring to "seal" the camera holes. I originally intended on surrounding the buttons so it would be more flush, but think the effort is not worth the payoff.
Other: I had the Totallee leather case for the last couple months on my 3 XL (was $8 new on amazon) and the cutouts were atrocious. After several hours with an exacto knife and a small flame, I made the buttons easier to use and the USB-C port accept my big, thick plugs. I think with those mods, that was my ideal case. Very slim but stiff, ~0.3mm lip (1mm would have been nice), and the leather rear feels fantastic while the edges are more durable plastic for daily use.