About to grab an iPhone 12. But I'm a Minimalist.

[swarmofbees]

Hello everyone,

I'm about to upgrade to the new iPhone 12. Been rocking a XR since launch currently out of warranty, battery at 79%, camera has dust inside it, cracked corner. Oh well, it was the most reliable phone I've ever had, I still love it to death but I've decided it's time to upgrade.

Over the years I collected like 15 cases for it: Adidas case, Mous wood case, fake silicon apple cases in a bunch of colors, clear cases, thin fit from spigen, some funky cases from aliexpress with patterns etc.

But in the last year I've been adopting a pretty minimalist approach regarding all my purchases (won't get into much detail but I've reduced my tech items in 90% for example). Therefore, I decided I would like to challenge myself into buying 1 case for the iPhone 12 and try to stick with it for minimum of 1 year or more! This will be a fun experiment and a good way to reduce unnecessary dispose of materials.

I'll be honest, I won't put a price tag on this case: I'll accept every recommendation dropped here regardless of price.

However, this are some considerations I already have thought of (feel free to argument them if need be):

- Clear cases, either good brand or off brand, always turn yellow and disgusting. Therefore I'm not considering them;
- I've only experienced the fake Silicon Apple cases from Ali, and those tend to turn to garbage so quickly. I'm not sure about the real deal, but I have the slight impression that the Silicon doesn't hold very well;
- No extremely thin or barely there cases... I still need a decent amount of protection.

I'll be pairing the case with a Spigen Glass screen protector.

My XR was black and I've decided to switch things up a bit this time around, I'm still struggling to decide between the white and the blue, mostly because the blue is a lot different from the 12Pro blue which I absolutely love.

Please let me know what you recommend. Let's play this like a "If you could only take one case for your iPhone to a desert island" kinda game

Happy New Year everybody!

 

[shr631]

A worthy challenge. Well, some nice all-around candidates imo are spigen tough armor, presidio2 pro, tech21 evo. There are more, of course, but these are nicely made and will do the job with minimal bulk. There are cons to each of these but before getting too detailed, how do you feel about those as a ‘baseline’?

 

[nrvous1]

I’d say take a venture over at the case thread pinned at the top of the forums.

Myself, I’m a Nomad rugged case user. It’s priced a little high, but offers great protection and it should last the year time frame you’ve set for yourself. It’s minimal while offering decent drop protection and it’ll develop character along the way.

 

[swarmofbees]

Hello @shr631 and congratulations on being the first person to interact with me on this forum ?

From the options you refered:

- Spigen Tough Armor: I find it horrendous mostly because of the logo hole.
- Do like the Speck Presidio2 Pro if that is the black one on the back?
- The Tech21 sits on the "clear case" category which I'm trying to avoid.

I've done some DD and this are some of the options I've came across:

- UAG Civilian
- Caseology Parallax
- Spigen Neo Hybrid
- Apple Leather Case

 

[swarmofbees]

@nrvous1 Thank you, the brown is beautiful, but considering the prices... why this over the Apple Leather case?

 

[nrvous1]

@nrvous1 Thank you, the brown is beautiful, but considering the prices... why this over the Apple Leather case?

Just from my personal observation, it’s real Horween leather, offers more drop protection and it will stay on the phone. I’ve had two Apple saddle brown leather cases for my 12 and both have felt like plastic and the corners popped off exposing the screen of the phone to damage. If dropped and the case isn’t seated properly there is a possibility of the phone being damaged while using Apple’s leather case. To me, the style and functionality of the Nomad is worth the price.

 

[WNYX]

If I were to recommend one case, it’s definitely the Caudabe Sheath. In my opinion, it has the right amount of lip, grip, drop protection, and tactile buttons, without adding a lot of bulk.

 

[chanerz]

Caudabe Sheath!

 

[shr631]

Hello @shr631 and congratulations on being the first person to interact with me on this forum ?

From the options you refered:

- Spigen Tough Armor: I find it horrendous mostly because of the logo hole.
- Do like the Speck Presidio2 Pro if that is the black one on the back?
- The Tech21 sits on the "clear case" category which I'm trying to avoid.

I've done some DD and this are some of the options I've came across:

- UAG Civilian
- Caseology Parallax
- Spigen Neo Hybrid
- Apple Leather Case

I hear you about the tough armor. I don’t love the hole and after a while, based on my grip, it felt like a corner was digging into my palm. But I like it overall. Yep, my presidio2 pro is the all black one. I have pictures of it in the “which case...” thread.
There’s a lot of good feedback on the civilian, with some noting that it’s slightly slippery. Based on the comments I’ve seen, the ‘one case to rule them all’ probably has to be the caudabe sheath, although I can’t personally confirm.

 

[Knowlege Bomb]

First, I’ll give you my case recommendation. I’ve used an Apple leather case for a few days and liked how it felt, but from what I’ve gathered the leather itself or the coloring method is sub-par this year. I got two Apple silicone cases using gift cards this year and I have to say they’re the nicest feeling case I’ve used in a long time.

Now, regarding another case you said you were considering: the Neo Hybrid. It’s a fine looking case and I had one for both my 12 Pro that I ended up selling and the 12 Mini I’m currently using. The problem is the cutouts on the bottom. They’re very sharp and ended up causing quite a bit of discomfort as the bottom lip of the charging port hole dug directly into the cuticle of my little finger. It was a case-killer for me but I understand that not everybody is going to hold their phone the same so I‘m just throwing it out there as a “caution - YMMV”.

 

[shady16]

im the same way, i've been looking for a case for my 12 PM but also want to use the magsafe car mount from belkin, but this limits my case choices

 

[seezar]

I really like the caudabe sheath. They are what I use, currently have two in different colors so I switch out between them now and then.

 

[satchmo]

I always just have one case on my iPhone.

I’m not a minimalist. I’m just cheap. ?

 

[Mirilobos]

Apple leather case is the way to go for me. It is doing its work pretty good. I have the SB on my 12PM and I just bought the black too. Those two are the only cases I’ll have and use.

 

[swarmofbees]

Just from my personal observation, it’s real Horween leather, offers more drop protection and it will stay on the phone. I’ve had two Apple saddle brown leather cases for my 12 and both have felt like plastic and the corners popped off exposing the screen of the phone to damage. If dropped and the case isn’t seated properly there is a possibility of the phone being damaged while using Apple’s leather case. To me, the style and functionality of the Nomad is worth the price.

Thank you! What I've just noticed is that this case, although it's brown leather, has a black part, like around the phone. That makes me like it a little bit less lol!

If I were to recommend one case, it’s definitely the Caudabe Sheath. In my opinion, it has the right about of lip, grip, drop protection, and tactile buttons, without adding a lot of bulk.

Thank you. It looks cool, perhaps a little bland..

Caudabe Sheath!

Thank you!

I hear you about the tough armor. I don’t love the hole and after a while, based on my grip, it felt like a corner was digging into my palm. But I like it overall. Yep, my presidio2 pro is the all black one. I have pictures of it in the “which case...” thread.
There’s a lot of good feedback on the civilian, with some noting that it’s slightly slippery. Based on the comments I’ve seen, the ‘one case to rule them all’ probably has to be the caudabe sheath, although I can’t personally confirm.

Yeah for me the tough armor is really a big fat no because of the hole
And i've also read some things regarding the slippery of the Civilian.

First, I’ll give you my case recommendation. I’ve used an Apple leather case for a few days and liked how it felt, but from what I’ve gathered the leather itself or the coloring method is sub-par this year. I got two Apple silicone cases using gift cards this year and I have to say they’re the nicest feeling case I’ve used in a long time.

Now, regarding another case you said you were considering: the Neo Hybrid. It’s a fine looking case and I had one for both my 12 Pro that I ended up selling and the 12 Mini I’m currently using. The problem is the cutouts on the bottom. They’re very sharp and ended up causing quite a bit of discomfort as the bottom lip of the charging port hole dug directly into the cuticle of my little finger. It was a case-killer for me but I understand that not everybody is going to hold their phone the same so I‘m just throwing it out there as a “caution - YMMV”.

What do you mean exactly regarding the coloring?
Don't you feel like the silicone cases gather a lot of lint?
And thank you for the feedback on the Neo.

im the same way, i've been looking for a case for my 12 PM but also want to use the magsafe car mount from belkin, but this limits my case choices

I don't really intend to use magsafe at all.

I really like the caudabe sheath. They are what I use, currently have two in different colors so I switch out between them now and then.

Thanks for the feedback!

I always just have one case on my iPhone.

I’m not a minimalist. I’m just cheap. ?

If you were "cheap" you would have a 200$ phone man. In a certain way you are a minimalist.

Apple leather case is the way to go for me. It is doing its work pretty good. I have the SB on my 12PM and I just bought the black too. Those two are the only cases I’ll have and use.

The brown leather case is one of my possible choices. I also like the blue one even doe it's sold out everywhere.

 

[Knowlege Bomb]

What do you mean exactly regarding the coloring?
Don't you feel like the silicone cases gather a lot of lint?
And thank you for the feedback on the Neo.

Some saddle brown cases look like the light brown color kind of rubbed off rather than changing color. I actually saw something similar on an old 5S leather case that was posted for comparison/to help predict how the new ones would age so it very well could be the shape rather than the leather quality.

Regarding the silicone, I haven’t had any problem with lint or dust while I did with the Neo.

 

[swarmofbees]

@Knowlege Bomb ah I see, thank you.

I was used to the silicone cases, but always used fake ones. Had like 7 different colors and even though they were cool the lint magnet they represented... uff.

 

[Nhwhazup]

Hello everyone,

I'm about to upgrade to the new iPhone 12. Been rocking a XR since launch currently out of warranty, battery at 79%, camera has dust inside it, cracked corner. Oh well, it was the most reliable phone I've ever had, I still love it to death but I've decided it's time to upgrade.

Over the years I collected like 15 cases for it: Adidas case, Mous wood case, fake silicon apple cases in a bunch of colors, clear cases, thin fit from spigen, some funky cases from aliexpress with patterns etc.

But in the last year I've been adopting a pretty minimalist approach regarding all my purchases (won't get into much detail but I've reduced my tech items in 90% for example). Therefore, I decided I would like to challenge myself into buying 1 case for the iPhone 12 and try to stick with it for minimum of 1 year or more! This will be a fun experiment and a good way to reduce unnecessary dispose of materials.

I'll be honest, I won't put a price tag on this case: I'll accept every recommendation dropped here regardless of price.

However, this are some considerations I already have thought of (feel free to argument them if need be):

- Clear cases, either good brand or off brand, always turn yellow and disgusting. Therefore I'm not considering them;
- I've only experienced the fake Silicon Apple cases from Ali, and those tend to turn to garbage so quickly. I'm not sure about the real deal, but I have the slight impression that the Silicon doesn't hold very well;
- No extremely thin or barely there cases... I still need a decent amount of protection.

I'll be pairing the case with a Spigen Glass screen protector.

My XR was black and I've decided to switch things up a bit this time around, I'm still struggling to decide between the white and the blue, mostly because the blue is a lot different from the 12Pro blue which I absolutely love.

Please let me know what you recommend. Let's play this like a "If you could only take one case for your iPhone to a desert island" kinda game

Happy New Year everybody!

LOL I totally hear you. I must have bought like 20 plus cases for my prior phone. In the end, I kept using the same case over and over. I vowed this time to also go minimal. I bought the white iPhone 12 Pro and put on a white Apple MagSafe Silicone case. Love the simple and plain look. The Apple Silicone is only a few months old, but looks like new.

 

[satchmo]

If you were "cheap" you would have a 200$ phone man. In a certain way you are a minimalist.

Perhaps, but that is about what my current iPhone 6 phone is worth.

 

[swarmofbees]

@Nhwhazup Hey! Repetitive question I know, but would you say the silicone case gathers a lot of dust and lint? And is it very difficult to take out of a jeans pocket for example? I wear Levi's Jeans 7 days a week lol.

After your guys feedback I've managed to remove some of my options and add others:


- UAG Civilian
- Caseology Parallax
- Nomad Brown Leather
- Apple Leather Case
- Apple Silicone Case
- Caudabe Sheath

 

[Alex1997]

Definitely go for the Black leather Apple case! Also a close second is the White silicone. The MagSafe wallet sticks great especially on the leather case!
Just as you have I tried at least 30 different case combos with the 10 and 11 pro and I always end up using the White Apple brand silicone or the Black leather.

The silicone isn’t a lint magnet and occasionally my Black tight pants ( I keep it in my back pocket) will get a little lint however it comes right of and those pants are skin tight.

 

[shr631]

@Nhwhazup Hey! Repetitive question I know, but would you say the silicone case gathers a lot of dust and lint? And is it very difficult to take out of a jeans pocket for example? I wear Levi's Jeans 7 days a week lol.

After your guys feedback I've managed to remove some of my options and add others:


- UAG Civilian
- Caseology Parallax
- Nomad Brown Leather
- Apple Leather Case
- Apple Silicone Case
- Caudabe Sheath

Solid short list. Of those +1 for Nomad and Sheath.

 

[swarmofbees]

Definitely go for the Black leather Apple case! Also a close second is the White silicone. The MagSafe wallet sticks great especially on the leather case!
Just as you have I tried at least 30 different case combos with the 10 and 11 pro and I always end up using the White Apple brand silicone or the Black leather.

The silicone isn’t a lint magnet and occasionally my Black tight pants ( I keep it in my back pocket) will get a little lint however it comes right of and those pants are skin tight.

Ah, that's funny because I would never buy the White nor the Black
If I were to buy the leather I would always go Brown or Blue.
For the Silicone I would go blue, dark green..

It would also depend on weather I pick the blue or white iphone 12.

 

[DieselFiend1989]

Otterbox defender pro or defender xt(magsafe compatible). Beware of the customer “service” during covid

 

[Knowlege Bomb]

Ah, that's funny because I would never buy the White nor the Black
If I were to buy the leather I would always go Brown or Blue.
For the Silicone I would go blue, dark green..

It would also depend on weather I pick the blue or white iphone 12.

White phone looks great with the green and plum silicone. I actually think it’d be safe to say any color is going to go well with the white while the blue may not be quite as diverse.