Like many of us, as soon as I ordered my iPhone 5, I started looking for cases. My search began with cases that I had for my 4 and thought were quality products. While I will have a Griffin Survivor for when I'm in areas where I'd see the most likelihood of dropping it, or getting it dusty, I wanted a smaller everyday case and thought I'd take a look at the new version of the Casemate Toughcase since I liked the one I had for my iPhone 4.
Originally with the iPhone 4, I had an Otterbox Commuter. While the Commuter offered good protection from most drops and you could set it face down on a desk or table if you wanted without contacting the surface of the screen, I hated it for one reason, a little plastic lip at the top of the case that would grind into the side of my head and ear if I leaned on the case for any length of time while talking. I did a little research at the time and found the Casemate Toughcase to be almost a clone, but not quite. Both cases for the iPhone 4/4s had a rubber liner that surrounds the phone, with a hard plastic shell that goes on the outside of the liner. The only minor difference I found between the two was that the plastic shell on the Toughcase did not have the little ridge that dug into the side of my head like the Otterbox did.
I used the Casemate Toughcase as an everyday case for my iPhone 4 for a long time and loved it, as it seems to offer a pretty decent level of protection while not being a giant, bulky case like the Griffin Survivor and the Otterbox Defender.
After my preorder went through and I knew I was going to likely be replacing my 4 with a 5, I was pleased to see that the Toughcase would be available before launch, and utilized the code "Tough" to save 20% on the purchase. I just got the version of the case for my 5 today in the mail, opened it and was immediately disappointed. I don't have the 5 to try it out on yet obviously, but the version of the case for the 5 has 3 problems with it that may make me look elsewhere for an everyday case, or go naked altogether.
Problem 1: The stupid plastic ridge is there now, the one I was trying to avoid when I went away from the Commuter. While the rubber liner is less pliable than version for the 4, it still may slip and have the plastic ridge digging into the side of my head.
Problem 2: The rubber liner which used to cover all 4 sides, plus the back, now only is a rubbery bumper that only covers the sides of the phone, offering less protection than years past. The bumper then snaps into the hard plastic outer shell. I realize the 5 has an aluminum back, but losing this level of protection, while keeping the same price point just doesn't seem right.
Overall, this case looks like it is a cheaper version of the one for the 4/4s. It feels like a rubber bumper that you could get on ebay for a dollar that is snapped into a plastic shell that you could get for 2 dollars. As far as my complaint about the plastic ridge on the top, it may not be a problem at all because of the harder rubber lining than the previous model, but I won't know for sure until I have my hands on the new phone on Friday.
Included are pictures of the two cases next to each other, then each of them with the liner separated from the plastic shell, and finally one showing the bottom of both cases with the new port configuration cutouts. I was going to reduce the size of the pics, but figured people would like higher resolution shots so they can zoom in on any of the parts of the case if they want.
Originally with the iPhone 4, I had an Otterbox Commuter. While the Commuter offered good protection from most drops and you could set it face down on a desk or table if you wanted without contacting the surface of the screen, I hated it for one reason, a little plastic lip at the top of the case that would grind into the side of my head and ear if I leaned on the case for any length of time while talking. I did a little research at the time and found the Casemate Toughcase to be almost a clone, but not quite. Both cases for the iPhone 4/4s had a rubber liner that surrounds the phone, with a hard plastic shell that goes on the outside of the liner. The only minor difference I found between the two was that the plastic shell on the Toughcase did not have the little ridge that dug into the side of my head like the Otterbox did.
I used the Casemate Toughcase as an everyday case for my iPhone 4 for a long time and loved it, as it seems to offer a pretty decent level of protection while not being a giant, bulky case like the Griffin Survivor and the Otterbox Defender.
After my preorder went through and I knew I was going to likely be replacing my 4 with a 5, I was pleased to see that the Toughcase would be available before launch, and utilized the code "Tough" to save 20% on the purchase. I just got the version of the case for my 5 today in the mail, opened it and was immediately disappointed. I don't have the 5 to try it out on yet obviously, but the version of the case for the 5 has 3 problems with it that may make me look elsewhere for an everyday case, or go naked altogether.
Problem 1: The stupid plastic ridge is there now, the one I was trying to avoid when I went away from the Commuter. While the rubber liner is less pliable than version for the 4, it still may slip and have the plastic ridge digging into the side of my head.
Problem 2: The rubber liner which used to cover all 4 sides, plus the back, now only is a rubbery bumper that only covers the sides of the phone, offering less protection than years past. The bumper then snaps into the hard plastic outer shell. I realize the 5 has an aluminum back, but losing this level of protection, while keeping the same price point just doesn't seem right.
Overall, this case looks like it is a cheaper version of the one for the 4/4s. It feels like a rubber bumper that you could get on ebay for a dollar that is snapped into a plastic shell that you could get for 2 dollars. As far as my complaint about the plastic ridge on the top, it may not be a problem at all because of the harder rubber lining than the previous model, but I won't know for sure until I have my hands on the new phone on Friday.
Included are pictures of the two cases next to each other, then each of them with the liner separated from the plastic shell, and finally one showing the bottom of both cases with the new port configuration cutouts. I was going to reduce the size of the pics, but figured people would like higher resolution shots so they can zoom in on any of the parts of the case if they want.
