iPhone 5 case impressions: STM Harbour, Splash Medley, Photive Natural Slim

Tried three cases on my iPhone 5 so far.

STM Bags Harbour:

http://www.amazon.com/STM-Bags-Harbour-Case-iPhone/dp/B008YRIXOQ/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

This one's a hybrid material case with TPU and rigid rubberized plastic. It's a touch bulky, about equivalent to my previous Incipio NGP, and probably about the same as any full-coverage TPU case.

The Harbour is hinged at the bottom, and the phone slides in with the hinge open. The fit is very tight, and it's a little difficult to get the phone back out of the case. In particular, you need to pry away the side with the buttons, since they stop the phone from sliding out.

The hinged portion also fits snugly, but was a little loose on one corner. The phone was in no danger of popping out of the hinge, but it does let it creak/move a little on that corner.

The rest of my impressions are in my Amazon review, but reposting here:

The "hard shell" part of it doesn't feel all that dissimilar to the TPU, since it's soft-touch, but it's a bit stiffer. Case (in black and grey) doesn't show fingerprints very much--they show in oblique light, but they're not obnoxious.

I'd say it compares very favorably with my previous iPhone 4 case, the Incipio NGP. In fact, aside from the hinge and the inlay contrast design, it's very similar feeling once on the phone. The Harbour is stiffer, so perhaps a little more protective.

Qualitywise, I'd say pretty good. There were a couple of plastic burrs where the two materials meet, but they scraped away without issue.

Only dig on the case is that the contrast strip in the back isn't flush; it's raised a fraction of a millimeter. Since it's off-center, that means the phone doesn't quite sit flat on a tabletop. Because of how it angles, only one edge of the raised bit hits the table, and it's very near the center.

Upshot is the phone wobbles back and forth slightly depending on which side of the screen you're hitting. To most people, guessing this won't matter much. I'm OCD enough that it may end up mattering to me, and I may end up with a different case eventually.

But for a launch day case, and particularly since I bought it largely with Amazon credits I had sitting around, it's pretty good. I'm not sure it's $35 good, especially with the balance issue, but I'd say it's definitely $20-25 good. Soft recommendation now, solid recommendation with a sale/price drop.

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Splash Medley:

http://www.amazon.com/splash-MEDLEY-Dual-Layer-Hybrid-iPhone/dp/B0095ZAWBS/ref=sr_1_2

This case is also a hybrid material case, but works differently than the Harbour. It consists of an inner TPU case with a polycarb shell that snaps over it.

I didn't like this case. A lot of the Amazon reviews, including mine, complain that the case is too thick over the buttons, and in particular makes the power button very hard to press.

Rest of my impressions, copied from the Amazon review:

Case is a touch on the bulky side (about the same as the Harbour) though I suppose that's a necessary tradeoff for protection. It's attractive enough, but I had two problems that ultimately made me take the case off again.

The first is the infamous power button. With only the soft part of the case on, it's pressable but has no tactile feeling (this is true for the volume buttons as well). With the hard part of the case on, it's barely pressable--there just isn't enough poking up above the hard shell to press down on.

The second may explain some of the first: the fit at the bottom of the case was a bit off, with the shell not quite filling in the matching indention on the soft bit. I don't know if the case itself is slightly irregular, warped, or what, but it's just not a good fit.

-If- the case fit right and didn't have the button issues, I think it'd be OK. I don't think it would be better than the Harbour, which isn't much more expensive. But with the issues...it's a bust. Given the range of reviews on here, I'd suggest that Splash has a quality control issue.

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Photive Natural Slim:

http://www.amazon.com/Photive-Natural-Apple-iPhone-Designed/dp/B0097BZNPK/ref=sr_1_1

This is by far my favorite of the bunch. It's a very thin polycarb snap case. The sides are well-covered. However, the top and the bottom are left almost completely open. This doesn't bug me, and is very similar to other polycarb snap-on cases like the Ringke Slim (http://www.amazon.com/iPhone-Feeling-Premium-Verizon-Unlocked/dp/B00993E8B6/ref=pd_sim_cps_5).

Photive advertises a raised bezel on the case for a lay on table design. It does have the bezel but it is very slight. For me, this is a plus. For others, they've been surprised that it's not the typical 1-2mm bezel and have reviewed it as such.

The rest of my impressions, copied from my review:

This is the slimmest case I can imagine putting on the iPhone, with just a thin plastic shell covering the back and sides. For me, the fit is perfect, no bowing or anything as reported elsewhere. Photive may have some inconsistent quality going on, but no complaints about mine.

Regarding whether the design is "lay on table" (i.e. raised bezel comes up above the screen), it is--slightly. You can do two tests to prove this:

One is put it on a flat surface, like a book or your iPhone box, face down then hold it up to sunlight. You can clearly see a slit of sunlight beneath the phone. The other is to put it face down and slide a strip of paper underneath it, which you can do with this case.

It's definitely not a mm of screen clearance (maybe a third of that), and I wouldn't count on this case to protect against a drop at all--it has no padding. But I think it will prevent scratches to the back and side no problem, and will keep you from scratching your screen on the front. You may pick up some dust on the screen still laying face down, but it won't grind into the surface if it slides. The case does raise it up that much.

This case is the top contender for being a keeper right now, and that's after having tried two other $30+ cases. I just really love the slim fit.

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I haven't posted pictures on these cases because they look pretty much just like the promo photos, and because my primary camera is the one sitting inside the case! If someone really feels the need and can catch me before I return the STM and Splash cases, I can take a picture or two.

I have one last case on the way, the Poetic Atmosphere. I'll post impressions once it comes in. It'd have to be pretty awesome to displace the Photive though.