LifeProof Fr iP5 case

mrbunglez said:

Please vote for my pic for photo of the year so I can win some lifeproof swag, please?
http://lifeproof2012photo.contestcore.com/entry/113323#.UPdWaVy9LCQ

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Lol nice

Friend of mine just got one from Life Proof with the foam back on the upper part of the front screen, back screen has a quarter inch piece of foam.

The phone works perfectly, no rainbow, tight as you can get, screen very flat, flatter then my version 4.

They both work perfect.

Okay, these are my findings with my case and my buddy's new case. My friends case sounds better on a phone call, screen is flatter with no pill owing at all. Not a big deal to me. In summary, I think these two versions work great.

I tried one more time at Best Buy. They had cases in the 600,000. Mine was 600524. Have to say works great. My only issue is slight watermarks, but you really only notice them when the phone is off. Other than that I think I will keep it. Do you guys knows if the watermark will improve as the case is used?

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Oh and the biggest difference i see is that the two clear pieces on the back panel are now 3 black pieces. and in the front screen on the bottom there is extra padding. lat one i had was 360,000 something.

DanUC6 said:

I tried one more time at Best Buy. They had cases in the 600,000. Mine was 600524. Have to say works great. My only issue is slight watermarks, but you really only notice them when the phone is off. Other than that I think I will keep it. Do you guys knows if the watermark will improve as the case is used?

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Oh and the biggest difference i see is that the two clear pieces on the back panel are now 3 black pieces. and in the front screen on the bottom there is extra padding. lat one i had was 360,000 something.

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Pictures please.

DanUC6 said:

I tried one more time at Best Buy. They had cases in the 600,000. Mine was 600524. Have to say works great. My only issue is slight watermarks, but you really only notice them when the phone is off. Other than that I think I will keep it. Do you guys knows if the watermark will improve as the case is used?

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Oh and the biggest difference i see is that the two clear pieces on the back panel are now 3 black pieces. and in the front screen on the bottom there is extra padding. lat one i had was 360,000 something.

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Yea, please post some pictures showing the inside of the case.
The three bumps are part of the actual back and not glued on?

Here are three pictures. One of the foam on the bottom front. One of the three plastic bumps on the back. The third to confirm the number. I think I am done and going with otterbox. I just cant stand those rainbow rings. Ya they are not too much of a problem but they are there and annoying.

DanUC6 said:

I tried one more time at Best Buy. They had cases in the 600,000. Mine was 600524. Have to say works great. My only issue is slight watermarks, but you really only notice them when the phone is off. Other than that I think I will keep it. Do you guys knows if the watermark will improve as the case is used?

----------

Oh and the biggest difference i see is that the two clear pieces on the back panel are now 3 black pieces. and in the front screen on the bottom there is extra padding. lat one i had was 360,000 something.

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DanUC6 said:

Here are three pictures. One of the foam on the bottom front. One of the three plastic bumps on the back. The third to confirm the number. I think I am done and going with otterbox. I just cant stand those rainbow rings. Ya they are not too much of a problem but they are there and annoying.

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For the slight watermark issue, I would exchange it... or contact lifeproof to send you a new front. It will probably come back again... but it shouldn't happen out of the box.

Reading this thread... it is similar to the old iPhone 4 lifeproof thread on watermark/rainbow effect, sound, and sensitivity issues. When I bought my lifeproof case for my iPhone 4, I got it during the pre-release... and I got updated front where they padded it so the screen doesn't touch the screen to prevent the rainbow effect. I was happy, and posted that there was no rainbow effect on the updated front. But after a while of use... months later... the screen will eventually lose the space between the screen and screen protector... giving you the rainbow effect. It did annoy me after a while... so I did the baby powder trick in Lifeproof's FAQ's. The baby powder trick worked for a while... but the rainbow effect comes back... not as bad... but you can see it when the phone is off. This is one of the main reason, I didn't go with the lifeproof case for the iPhone 5. Another reason is... even if it's cool that it's water proof... I only used it water about 2 times in over a year of use. Plus, the iPhone 5 looks to sexy to put it in a fully enclosed case... IMO... I went with a minimalistic a case this time.

However, I would still recommend the Lifeproof case since I had very good customer service from them... and never let me down. Maybe because Lifeproof is local in SD.

Okay, in looking at those pictures, I'm confused. Those "bumps" on the back were there from the first case. The clear pieces were put in between the top bumps and to the left of the bottom bump on the replacement case I got that works perfectly. Yours appears to be an earlier case. I was used to a small bit of rainbow on my LP 4 case, which BTW Otterbox has the same issue with for the same reason. A friend recommended some wipes that I couldn't find. I bought some Zeiss Clear Screen wipes at Walmart. Wiped down the front of my phone, reinstalled and my rainbows are at the moment 100% gone.

Ya its weird. My 300,000 case had the clear bumps you mentioned. These plastic bumps are larger and longer. With the plastic bumps i could clearly feel the back case bow out a bit. With these I don't, feels much smoother on the back. Very strange process. With this one I also noticed that the side foam pieces fell off easy. In the end I need protection and not waterproof, therefore I am sticking with Otterbox. But I do think that Lifeproof is getting really close to perfection.

The version 4 should be just fine. If you need to go with an otterbox, I feel you should. Going back and forth for this and that is a waste of time. As for me, the version 4 works for me for what I do daily.
I had the otter for about two days and I could not justify the size.

Here are pictures showing the 5th Generation Lifeproof Fre case. It now has 3 higher ridges molded into the actual plastic of the back shell instead of the rigged up, glued on clear plastic pieces. I believe that the 4th generation (glued on clear pieces) are just Best Buy returns that Lifeproof is just sending out to their customers as "Fixed" cases when they should have just thrown them all in the garbage and started over.

This 5th generation model I believe has the same front as the 4th gen. Rubber missing around speaker/ear piece area, stuck on rubber blocks to fill the gaps on the inside edges of the front and a thinner rubber below the home button. The plastic screen is still wavy as ever.

I'll give this latest revision a try later tonight and see how she performs and report back.

This case pictured is in the 520,000 range.

Yup screen blows.

Hooterville said:

Here are pictures showing the 5th Generation Lifeproof Fre case. It now has 3 higher ridges molded into the actual plastic of the back shell instead of the rigged up, glued on clear plastic pieces. I believe that the 4th generation (glued on clear pieces) are just Best Buy returns that Lifeproof is just sending out to their customers as "Fixed" cases when they should have just thrown them all in the garbage and started over.

This 5th generation model I believe has the same front as the 4th gen. Rubber missing around speaker/ear piece area, stuck on rubber blocks to fill the gaps on the inside edges of the front and a thinner rubber below the home button. The plastic screen is still wavy as ever.

I'll give this latest revision a try later tonight and see how she performs and report back.

This case pictured is in the 520,000 range.

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Hooterville said:

Here are pictures showing the 5th Generation Lifeproof Fre case. It now has 3 higher ridges molded into the actual plastic of the back shell instead of the rigged up, glued on clear plastic pieces. I believe that the 4th generation (glued on clear pieces) are just Best Buy returns that Lifeproof is just sending out to their customers as "Fixed" cases when they should have just thrown them all in the garbage and started over.

This 5th generation model I believe has the same front as the 4th gen. Rubber missing around speaker/ear piece area, stuck on rubber blocks to fill the gaps on the inside edges of the front and a thinner rubber below the home button. The plastic screen is still wavy as ever.

I'll give this latest revision a try later tonight and see how she performs and report back.

This case pictured is in the 520,000 range.

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Thanks for another detailed 'update' with pictures. I was pretty happy with my '4th Gen' case when I first got it, but I've got 3 more days to return it to Best Buy and I think it's going back for good. If I get another month perhaps I'll try out this 5th Gen one if I can find one, but the vibrations from the back of the case when playing audio (I like to listen to some sports radio in the morning so it doesn't have to sound good, just not awful) and occasional problems with the proximity sensor (can't end a call) have developed once again. They only seem to be getting worse.

I can't really complain about a wavy screen protector though. This one has stayed nice and flat after a few weeks. The rainbow effect, on the other hand, has gotten much worse.

Personally I'm really looking forward to seeing the Incipio Atlas case. The glass screen protector seems like a phenomenal idea...I'm sure it'll let me down though as I don't see how audio can pass through it at least as well as it does with the the thin lifeproof 'membrane.' I'm very anxious to see some reviews come out on it though and I'm hoping against hope that they add some accessories like the armband. I certainly won't be holding my breath on that though.

This generation 5 still has that nasty pulsating ear piece problem and oil slick under the plastic screen protector. Speaker phone seems to be working.

Still plagued with problems.

Hooterville said:

This generation 5 still has that nasty pulsating ear piece problem and oil slick under the plastic screen protector. Speaker phone seems to be working.

Still plagued with problems.

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I have to add to this. What makes you so sure this is a version 5? The reason I ask is that my version 4 is a bit different then what has been posted in this forum. My version 4 has the two little pieces of plastic but the upper portion above the logo window there is no foam piece. Works just fine.

I have been in contact with Carly from Life Proof who has been nothing but wonderful to me. I have sent her pictures and the link to this forum because I thought it would be helpful for Life Proof to read up on problems. She calls me every time I send her an email, never does she not call back. My version 4, the side rubber piece came out when I was cleaning it so I felt that since its still under warranty, it's better to have it replaced. I sent her an email this morning around 7 and got a call at about 12:00 noon. Can't beat that quick response. We talked about the different versions floating around, on what works and what doesn't work. Without question, the first 3 versions suck donkey balls. Version 4(my version) with no foam works great. It will be interesting to see what she sends me. She assured me that it would be the latest version since its coming directly from her order request and shipped out from the San Diego warehouse, not the Fontana warehouse. I will post pictures and thoughts when it comes in a couple of days.

Sorry to blab but I felt it necessary.

So how many LifeProof cases does one have to go through to find the "perfect" one?

Buying and returning constantly until one finds the "perfect" case shows that LifeProof has worse quality issues than the ones I have heard from Otterbox.

Ferniesp said:

I have to add to this. What makes you so sure this is a version 5? The reason I ask is that my version 4 is a bit different then what has been posted in this forum. My version 4 has the two little pieces of plastic but the upper portion above the logo window there is no foam piece. Works just fine.

I have been in contact with Carly from Life Proof who has been nothing but wonderful to me. I have sent her pictures and the link to this forum because I thought it would be helpful for Life Proof to read up on problems. She calls me every time I send her an email, never does she not call back. My version 4, the side rubber piece came out when I was cleaning it so I felt that since its still under warranty, it's better to have it replaced. I sent her an email this morning around 7 and got a call at about 12:00 noon. Can't beat that quick response. We talked about the different versions floating around, on what works and what doesn't work. Without question, the first 3 versions suck donkey balls. Version 4(my version) with no foam works great. It will be interesting to see what she sends me. She assured me that it would be the latest version since its coming directly from her order request and shipped out from the San Diego warehouse, not the Fontana warehouse. I will post pictures and thoughts when it comes in a couple of days.

Sorry to blab but I felt it necessary.

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Well, that's great for you. On the other side, I'm waiting 7 weeks for any response from a human at LifeProof support about my 2nd gen case. After 4 E-Mails all I got were two automatic responses exactly 1 month apart that said that I had to reply if my issue was still pending, which of course I did. I'm from Germany and bought my case in Lifeproof's online shop which shipped from the UK. They don't seem to care about their European online shop customers and sadly I don't really have any other option than waiting...

HiRisk said:

So how many LifeProof cases does one have to go through to find the "perfect" one?

Buying and returning constantly until one finds the "perfect" case shows that LifeProof has worse quality issues than the ones I have heard from Otterbox.

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There are no prefect Fre cases, they are all plagued with problems.

Okay folks, the replacement came today. The front screen protector is much tighter and the fit is very snug. That's a good thing. The back cover is the one with the two pieces of plastic and the foam above the apple logo window. My experience with this back cover is not good. You still get the vibration and the call quality is not good.
In summary with my Life Proof experience, the latest version will not be acceptable. The only way this case works correctly in every way is to get the latest front cover and match it with the 3rd generation back cover. With that setup, you will be happy. I wish I had better news but it is what it is. You may be asking if I will keep the case. The answer is a solid yes. With my combo the phone works as advertised. Remember, I received this phone free so it's easy for me to say what I say. Would I pay 80 bucks for this case with the kind of work I do. No.
If I were a blue color worker or had a job where my phone is used a lot, yea, I would buy it.

5 cases & 3 months of hassle

Since ordering the Fré case on October 30, 2012 (release day) I have now been sent a toal of 5 cases with ALL of them being defective! One replacement case was even a 'hybrid' case of a 1st gen front and 3rd gen back. I have gotten as far as having direct contact with their CS Support director and the COO (Ed Andrew). Ths has been nothing short of a utter & complete failure on their part it amazes me. 45+ minute hold times for tomer scr port to maybe answer your call & on average a minimum of 3 week turn around time to actually receive yet another defective case???
They have FINALLY refunded my money & are giving me a, more than likely BS story, of 'Our production manager / chief engineer are currently at the plant in china. They will hand pick a case from the line, perform QA test on it to assure you get the latest case & will hand deliver it to me (CS Director) and I will ship it to you. Yyyeaaahhh riiigghht....
Nothing like having THOUSANDS of beta testers trying out your cases, until you get your **** together huh? I foresee BAD things with Lifeproof unless they straighten out their act!
Pathetic, just totally pathetic...

RoofMonkey911 said:

Since ordering the Fré case on October 30, 2012 (release day) I have now been sent a toal of 5 cases with ALL of them being defective! One replacement case was even a 'hybrid' case of a 1st gen front and 3rd gen back. I have gotten as far as having direct contact with their CS Support director and the COO (Ed Andrew). Ths has been nothing short of a utter & complete failure on their part it amazes me. 45+ minute hold times for tomer scr port to maybe answer your call & on average a minimum of 3 week turn around time to actually receive yet another defective case???
They have FINALLY refunded my money & are giving me a, more than likely BS story, of 'Our production manager / chief engineer are currently at the plant in china. They will hand pick a case from the line, perform QA test on it to assure you get the latest case & will hand deliver it to me (CS Director) and I will ship it to you. Yyyeaaahhh riiigghht....
Nothing like having THOUSANDS of beta testers trying out your cases, until you get your **** together huh? I foresee BAD things with Lifeproof unless they straighten out their act!
Pathetic, just totally pathetic...

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I feel your pain. Thankfully for me I have a combo that works.......so far. As I said, because it was free, I can enjoy this. Life Proof needs to recall all black and white cases, all of them and send out colored ones to the faithful for a discounted price. I would have to believe that the colored ones will get Life Proof Fre out of beta. I hope.

I will say this about my new version, the screen is by far the flattest of the bunch. I have no rainbow effect yet. Call quality has been very good. I am afraid to take the case off because I am sure that once I do, the rainbow effect will come back.

Got my Lifeproof case within 5 working days. I have to say that the one I got has to be the best version they have. I will make a detailed video of it but what I can say is that the SP is VERY flush with the screen, sound quality from speaker is good considering its covered with a goretex membrane. Sometimes there's a little tinny rattling sound from the back over. I think this is a great case.

SN: 222xxx

I assume you have the back cover with the two pieces of plastic? If you can tolerate the vibrate or whatever noise yours produces, good for you. I think Life Proof is real close to figuring this problem out. Yes, the screen on version 5 is by far the nicest. Mine is really flat and I have zero rainbow effect. Anyways, my combo of version 5 front and version 3 back is the way to go.

Hi guys. Just had my 2nd replacement. Was just wondering how to tell what version I have. My first case has LP000365XXX barcode. The second has LP000557XXX. Does this mean I have v3 and v5?

Also, how do people know that they have been sent hybrid cases? Is it something to do with the serial number inside or only visually. Visually I cannot see a difference between v3 and v5.

Thanks