I installed the carbon fiber last night. Looks pretty good.
Sadly, The side bands don't have the curved ends like their website showed though. They are all square ended.
The side strips help with antenna issue, but not 100% because the side strips only cover the top of the side bands. Your skin can still touch the sides of the antenna band and short 'em out if you grip the phone.
As for dropping, I don't know. I'm not gonna intentionally drop my phone.