Where to buy "thin" iPhone 5 Apple bumpers?

[christof]

Originally Posted by RichardC300

They work perfectly.

Any additional feedback with Pinlo Bladedge after you've had it for a week? I've read that it cracks easily. Where did you buy?

[jettrue]

Originally Posted by christof

Any additional feedback with Pinlo Bladedge after you've had it for a week? I've read that it cracks easily. Where did you buy?

I still love the look of it. The feel of it I'm getting used to. Actually, it's the feel of the square iPhone that I'm getting used to. There's no grip, and it's so thin and light! Lol. I haven't dropped the phone yet though. No cracks on the pinlo yet. For thinness and for looks I love it. For potential protection and grip I'm debating trying something else. I ordered it from pinlo.com. They had an odd ordering system. You basically create the account and order, then go back in and pay for it. It's from China and came registered mail, took 12 days. I've seen them on eBay as well, from China. If I ever see it stateside and cheaper, I'll think I'll order a clear one.

[JNGold]

Originally Posted by jettrue

I got the Pinlo Blade Edge II, I'm really liking it. talk about thin!

I'm also using ********** decals on the back.

Curious about this case. Does it have a front and back lip for lay on table? I can't tell from your pics. Thx.

[jettrue]

Originally Posted by JNGold

Curious about this case. Does it have a front and back lip for lay on table? I can't tell from your pics. Thx.

Not really, it's *almost* flush. It protects the chamfered edges though. You can kind of push it forward or backward a tad and one side can have a tiny lip. But I have a screen protector and the stickers on the back.

[ioi32]

Here are some interesting bumper , Link

[xx01]

Originally Posted by Radiating

I went ahead and ordered two of the black ones, less than $10 shipped. I'll review them once I get them. They appear to be to correct high quality slim version (based on the pic of the blue version which has plastic around the lightning port, a unique feature of the slim high quality version).

I actually received one black-clear and one all-black bumpers from the link I asked Radiating about, for £2.99 shipped. I can tell you that the black-clear is the thinner, contoured version while the all-black is thicker hackjob version. The following picture clearly shows the height difference. The all-black is also more rounded:



This ones shows the differences in the bottom section. Note the combination of plastic and sillicone on the black-clear bumper:



In terms of build quality, both are rather flimsy, made of cheap plastics molded on cheap machines. There are untrimmed finishes here and there, and buttons are not quite responsive. Well you get what you paid for, that's it. I really hope some decent manufacturer will pick up the design and do a high-quality one, but for the moment I haven't seen any real good thin bumpers.

I will stick with my Gear4 Tread GT case, as shown in the picture below (the left one). It is made of TPU and is about the same height as the all-black hackjob bumper, but offers much higher build quality, better fit, back protection and superb button fitment. The Belkin Grip Sheer comes close, maybe a tad thicker, and I may try the air jacket from Power Support, which is a hard plastic case.

[Radiating]

Originally Posted by xx01

I actually received one black-clear and one all-black bumpers from the link I asked Radiating about, for £2.99 shipped. I can tell you that the black-clear is the thinner, contoured version while the all-black is thicker hackjob version. The following picture clearly shows the height difference. The all-black is also more rounded:

Image

This ones shows the differences in the bottom section. Note the combination of plastic and sillicone on the black-clear bumper:

Image

In terms of build quality, both are rather flimsy, made of cheap plastics molded on cheap machines. There are untrimmed finishes here and there, and buttons are not quite responsive. Well you get what you paid for, that's it. I really hope some decent manufacturer will pick up the design and do a high-quality one, but for the moment I haven't seen any real good thin bumpers.

I will stick with my Gear4 Tread GT case, as shown in the picture below (the left one). It is made of TPU and is about the same height as the all-black hackjob bumper, but offers much higher build quality, better fit, back protection and superb button fitment. The Belkin Grip Sheer comes close, maybe a tad thicker, and I may try the air jacket from Power Support, which is a hard plastic case.

Image

That's interesting both the white and grey and white and clear high quality bumper I got has had perfect button fitment since day 1, I've used one or the other every day. They both did lack some minor finishing due to some "flashing" or extra rubber left from the molding process but that can be removed with a razor blade and a steady hand. Other than that it's been perfect, and much much better than similar products.

How have the buttons been unresponsive on the slim bumper? Do they just not feel expensive or do they actually not work from time to time?

[KeithLilja]

Originally Posted by Radiating

That's interesting both the white and grey and white and clear high quality bumper I got has had perfect button fitment since day 1, I've used one or the other every day. They both did lack some minor finishing due to some "flashing" or extra rubber left from the molding process but that can be removed with a razor blade and a steady hand. Other than that it's been perfect, and much much better than similar products.

How have the buttons been unresponsive on the slim bumper? Do they just not feel expensive or do they actually not work from time to time?

I got my "hong kong" bumper (the one you got that was AWFUL, and mine is definitely the "good" slim one for sure just like "Richard"s but the sleep/wake button does not work whatsoever!

[Radiating]

Originally Posted by KeithLilja

I got my "hong kong" bumper (the one you got that was AWFUL, and mine is definitely the "good" slim one for sure just like "Richard"s but the sleep/wake button does not work whatsoever!

That's interesting. I bet what these manufacturers do is they have a bunch of different suppliers for their buttons, their rubber bands and the plastic band. I've already noticed two different types of rubber bands. So that means there are a few different types of cases:

Slim plastic with:

High quality contoured rubber band or low quality depressed rubber band

Buttons that work or buttons that don't work.

When I get my replacement Hong Kong case in a week I'll try to figure out what's wrong with the buttons and if there is a way to identify them. It's probably possible to just swap the high quality and low quality buttons.

[xx01]

My problem too is with the power button. It just doesn't register unless you press really really hard, even then there is no feedback whatsoever. The volume buttons, in contrast, work well.

[KeithLilja]

Originally Posted by xx01

My problem too is with the power button. It just doesn't register unless you press really really hard, even then there is no feedback whatsoever. The volume buttons, in contrast, work well.

Same here! It's awful.

[c0venant]

which bumper do you think provides the best drop protection? Spigen's Neo Hybrid Ex maybe? need help here. Thanks

[KeithLilja]

Originally Posted by c0venant

which bumper do you think provides the best drop protection? Spigen's Neo Hybrid Ex maybe? need help here. Thanks

Yeah I would think so, but I have seen people talk about it getting pretty loose over time.

[teddmelody]

Originally Posted by Radiating

The site is:

http://www.iphone-5case.com

Actually it looks like that site does carry a few of the "9.5mm low profile style" high quality bumpers, example:

http://www.iphone-5case.com/double-c...ck-p-1213.html

http://www.iphone-5case.com/double-c...ck-p-1212.html

But some of their bumpers are also the "10.75mm hack job" low quality style:

http://www.lineglory.com/aluminum-bu...-iphone-5.html

http://www.iphone-5case.com/yellow-t...e-5-p-701.html


I'm looking for the first bumper in black on black... still no luck

These ultra-thing seems too slim and doubt if they do good job on protection or just a decoration...?$3 case will makes iPhone 5 a low-class mobile impression ？

[Radiating]

Originally Posted by teddmelody

These ultra-thing seems too slim and doubt if they do good job on protection or just a decoration...?$3 case will makes iPhone 5 a low-class mobile impression ？

Actually the ultra thin bumper is the BEST bumper for protecting the phone.

The slim high quality bumper was the only bumper I've seen out of 50+ designed with the iPhone 5's real shape on the inside of the rubber so it makes contact with every square inch of the bezel and distributes force evenly around a large surface area. All other bumpers I've come across just use a square or a circle around the edges of the bezel which only makes contact with the phone on a thin edge of the bezel with a very small surface area.

By making the bumper contact a larger surface area this actually makes it more protective than the slightly thicker bumpers which only contact a smaller surface area.

For the record I drop my phone ALL the time onto hard surfaces and the thin high quality bumper and it protects it perfectly. The Photive Hybrid bumper resulted in my phone being damaged and replaced from a minor drop that I would think nothing of because it wasn't contoured on the inside band due to lazy or cheap design work.

[rickm327]

Originally Posted by Radiating

Actually the ultra thin bumper is the BEST bumper for protecting the phone.

The slim high quality bumper was the only bumper I've seen out of 50+ designed with the iPhone 5's real shape on the inside of the rubber so it makes contact with every square inch of the bezel and distributes force evenly around a large surface area. All other bumpers I've come across just use a square or a circle around the edges of the bezel which only makes contact with the phone on a thin edge of the bezel with a very small surface area.

By making the bumper contact a larger surface area this actually makes it more protective than the slightly thicker bumpers which only contact a smaller surface area.

For the record I drop my phone ALL the time onto hard surfaces and the thin high quality bumper and it protects it perfectly. The Photive Hybrid bumper resulted in my phone being damaged and replaced from a minor drop that I would think nothing of because it wasn't contoured on the inside band due to lazy or cheap design work.

I'm not as good as identifying the ultra-thin bumper as you, Radiating, so would you mind telling me if this is one of them? http://www.iphone-5case.com/hottest-bumpers-cell-phone-skin-case-for-iphone5-with-6-color-black-p-671.html

[Radiating]

Originally Posted by rickm327

I'm not as good as identifying the ultra-thin bumper as you, Radiating, so would you mind telling me if this is one of them? http://www.iphone-5case.com/hottest-...ack-p-671.html

Don't buy from iphone 5case, they are a hack job. They won't send you the item in the photos, but one that just of a smilar color. Nothing what they sent me was as advertised, just random 2 cent bumpers of the same color.

[rickm327]

Originally Posted by Radiating

Don't buy from iphone 5case, they are a hack job. They won't send you the item in the photos, but one that just of a smilar color. Nothing what they sent me was as advertised, just random 2 cent bumpers of the same color.

If I'd just gone back a page and read your summary, I wouldn't have needed to bother you. Sorry!

Another question: Do you know any site that sells the ideal black-on-black 9.5mm bumper? Or have all the perfect ones you've received been by chance?

[Binarymix]

Originally Posted by Radiating

Actually the ultra thin bumper is the BEST bumper for protecting the phone.

The slim high quality bumper was the only bumper I've seen out of 50+ designed with the iPhone 5's real shape on the inside of the rubber so it makes contact with every square inch of the bezel and distributes force evenly around a large surface area. All other bumpers I've come across just use a square or a circle around the edges of the bezel which only makes contact with the phone on a thin edge of the bezel with a very small surface area.

By making the bumper contact a larger surface area this actually makes it more protective than the slightly thicker bumpers which only contact a smaller surface area.

For the record I drop my phone ALL the time onto hard surfaces and the thin high quality bumper and it protects it perfectly. The Photive Hybrid bumper resulted in my phone being damaged and replaced from a minor drop that I would think nothing of because it wasn't contoured on the inside band due to lazy or cheap design work.

The caze thinedge seems to be the BEST thin bumper imho.

The only thing it may be missing is buttons for the buttons, but they are inset enough that they shouldn't see any wear anyways.

[KeithLilja]

**UPDATE**

I finally got my Lucky Labs skins in so I could finally really try out my eBay Bumper. As I mentioned early I did get the thin "good" bumper just like Richard's and unlike Radiating's (the awful one). I mentioned earlier that the sleep/wake button was terrible, but I just fiddled with it for a second and now it works like a dream. Same thing with the volume buttons. All you have to do it press the buttons outward from the inside of the bumper before you put it on and that should solve the issues some of you guys might be having.

But anyways, the bumper is KILLER! it fits pretty well with little play side to side and no sagging. Its really slim while still being protective and it also still have a bit of lay on the table design. After using it for a couple days, I love it. Before I had the Noot "Bumper Case" (its basically the T5 with a frosted back) and I thought I really liked that thing because it was so slim and still protective but this bumper blows it out of the water. I also am using a Spigen SGP Ultra Crystal screen protector with it as well as the Lucky Labs skins for the back. This is such an awesome combo!

[MF878]

I was enlisted as a tester for an iPhone 5 bumper from a new company called bump. I just measured it with a ruler and it appears to be somewhere between 9 to 9.5mm. To verify this, I put it next to my naked iPad 4 (9.4mm according to Apple) and they were identical as far as I could tell. I have attached a very rushed picture of the side profile...

http://www.bumpnz.com/

[Apok]

Interesting. Doesn't look too bad. Hows is that working out for you?

[MF878]

Originally Posted by Apok

Interesting. Doesn't look too bad. Hows is that working out for you?

You mean me? Fantastic, I love the product. I hope they do well, because it's been a while since I've used a case that feels like it's been as well thought out as this.

[rickm327]

Originally Posted by MF878

I was enlisted as a tester for an iPhone 5 bumper from a new company called bump. I just measured it with a ruler and it appears to be somewhere between 9 to 9.5mm. To verify this, I put it next to my naked iPad 4 (9.4mm according to Apple) and they were identical as far as I could tell. I have attached a very rushed picture of the side profile...

http://www.bumpnz.com/

It looks like the front rubber is significantly thicker than the back rubber. Can you take a few more shots so we can see it better? Really interested in this.

[MF878]

Originally Posted by rickm327

It looks like the front rubber is significantly thicker than the back rubber. Can you take a few more shots so we can see it better? Really interested in this.

I'm certainly not the world's greatest photographer, but they should give you an idea. The different thicknesses are intentional, I think it's what they're referring to when they mention "asymmetric profile" on their website. I'm assuming they chose to do this because the glass requires more protection than the metal back.