If you saw my review of the Draco IV for the iPhone 4, you may have recalled as calling it one of my more favorable aluminum case available for the iPhone 4. Today, we are back again with yet another aluminum case looking to dethrone all others. The Apex Armor aluminum case for the iPhone 4 is a very slim and cool looking case that is made and produced entirely in the USA (very much like Xcel Case). The Apex Armor comes in a bunch of different variations, although today we will be taking a look at the Brushed Nickel. Let's take a quick tour to see what the case has to offer and see if it can really hold its own against some of the other more popular aluminum iPhone 4 cases.
The Apex Armor really has a lot going for it when it comes to simplicity, and that starts right off with the basics, the packaging. My Apex Armor arrived in a very nice and clean plastic box that showcased the case on the front of the box and described details about the company on the back of the package. When you first open the box, you will receive, of course, the case itself, an Allen wrench, and four screws for installation. Let's move onto the installation, which took about two to three minutes, one of the fastest that I have ever experienced. First, you must locate the two screw openings which can be found in the bottom left corner and the top right corner of the case. Next, slowly screw in each conner until comfortably tight. Make sure to give one more twist to assure everything is screwed in properly and fits right.
Let's take a quick overview of all the button cutouts and the port access. Starting from the top, you have once single cutout for the sleep/wake button and a light bulb cutout for the mic and the audio jack. I found that registering the sleep/wake button on and off was very easy and I had no problem getting my phone to wake up or wind down. Also, the cutout for the audio jack is decently sized and should fit most cables, although beefier jacks may have a problem since the cutout isn't huge. Going to the side of the case you will find that there is one long cutout for the volume buttons and the vibrate switch. These were pretty easy to access and although most people with small hands can reach it, some people that have bigger fingers may have a little bit of a rough time increasing your phone volume and silencing it.
On the bottom of the case you will find one single cutout for the speaker, the mic, and the thirty pin dock connector. I have had absolutely no problem reproducing sound out the bottom of my phone and that goes the same for the microphone. Also, a lot of third party cables should fit just fine in this case since the opening is fairly large. As an added treat, I discovered that the Apex Armor fit with some of the docks that I had lying around, something thats not usually possible with other aluminum cases (with the exception of the Draco IV).
Upon first looking at the case, I absolutely loved the simplicity that this case offers. The Nickel looks great on the iPhone 4 and adds a good amount of modernness to the phone. I shoed it to a few people and they thought the design of the case looks absolutely stunning when on my phone. Another cool thing that I would like to talk about is how thin the case is. While many other cases add a fair amount of bulk to the overall phone (Kinetic Case, Element Case, etc), I found the Apex Armor to be very thin and added a very small amount of beef to the sides of the iPhone 4.
Since its so thin, it also came at a disadvantage. The case has a very minimal lay on the table design. And when I say minimal, I really mean very small, very, very small. Even though you should not be worried if your table is cleaned off, I would double check to make sure, as even the smallest grain of sand, dirt, or debris could come into contact with the case and may cause damage to the screen. Even though its more of a goodies than anything else, I think it would have been great if the Apex Armor came equipped with some front and back screen protectors so to assure that no debris or dirt gets onto the screen. However, an advantage of the case being so thin is that it will fit with virtually any type of skin or protector, wether it be on the front or the back.
Now, I do have a few things to say about the feel of the case. While the case is generally very comfortable to use for long periods of time, I found that if you have dry hands, the nickel version (this all depends on what version of the case you purchase, by the way) will slip out of your hand very easily. Then again, every aluminum case that has a polished and glossy surface (at least that I have tested out) will encounter this problem after a little while. I also noticed that this version of the case can become scratched fairly easily.
Now, the big question is, how is the reception. Well, I did some extensive testing and found that I lost about 2 bars of signal strength with the case installed on my iPhone 4. In actual terms, the decibel reading went from -75 with the case off, down to -94 with the case on my iPhone 4. Even though the case does not actually touch the glass and has built in foam protectors, the case still does suffer from reception issues, proving once again that almost any full aluminum case that you purchase will arrive with signal degradation right out of the box.
Even though this case suffers from some reception issues, there arent a lot of other negatives that I have experienced with the case, and so far, Apex Armor seems to be doing everything else right. The design, look, and simplicity of the case make it look superb to some of the others and you cant go wrong for $80. You can pick up the Apex Armor in a few different designs on their website. Hit up the link for more info.
Rating: 4/5
The Apex Armor really has a lot going for it when it comes to simplicity, and that starts right off with the basics, the packaging. My Apex Armor arrived in a very nice and clean plastic box that showcased the case on the front of the box and described details about the company on the back of the package. When you first open the box, you will receive, of course, the case itself, an Allen wrench, and four screws for installation. Let's move onto the installation, which took about two to three minutes, one of the fastest that I have ever experienced. First, you must locate the two screw openings which can be found in the bottom left corner and the top right corner of the case. Next, slowly screw in each conner until comfortably tight. Make sure to give one more twist to assure everything is screwed in properly and fits right.
Let's take a quick overview of all the button cutouts and the port access. Starting from the top, you have once single cutout for the sleep/wake button and a light bulb cutout for the mic and the audio jack. I found that registering the sleep/wake button on and off was very easy and I had no problem getting my phone to wake up or wind down. Also, the cutout for the audio jack is decently sized and should fit most cables, although beefier jacks may have a problem since the cutout isn't huge. Going to the side of the case you will find that there is one long cutout for the volume buttons and the vibrate switch. These were pretty easy to access and although most people with small hands can reach it, some people that have bigger fingers may have a little bit of a rough time increasing your phone volume and silencing it.
On the bottom of the case you will find one single cutout for the speaker, the mic, and the thirty pin dock connector. I have had absolutely no problem reproducing sound out the bottom of my phone and that goes the same for the microphone. Also, a lot of third party cables should fit just fine in this case since the opening is fairly large. As an added treat, I discovered that the Apex Armor fit with some of the docks that I had lying around, something thats not usually possible with other aluminum cases (with the exception of the Draco IV).
Upon first looking at the case, I absolutely loved the simplicity that this case offers. The Nickel looks great on the iPhone 4 and adds a good amount of modernness to the phone. I shoed it to a few people and they thought the design of the case looks absolutely stunning when on my phone. Another cool thing that I would like to talk about is how thin the case is. While many other cases add a fair amount of bulk to the overall phone (Kinetic Case, Element Case, etc), I found the Apex Armor to be very thin and added a very small amount of beef to the sides of the iPhone 4.
Since its so thin, it also came at a disadvantage. The case has a very minimal lay on the table design. And when I say minimal, I really mean very small, very, very small. Even though you should not be worried if your table is cleaned off, I would double check to make sure, as even the smallest grain of sand, dirt, or debris could come into contact with the case and may cause damage to the screen. Even though its more of a goodies than anything else, I think it would have been great if the Apex Armor came equipped with some front and back screen protectors so to assure that no debris or dirt gets onto the screen. However, an advantage of the case being so thin is that it will fit with virtually any type of skin or protector, wether it be on the front or the back.
Now, I do have a few things to say about the feel of the case. While the case is generally very comfortable to use for long periods of time, I found that if you have dry hands, the nickel version (this all depends on what version of the case you purchase, by the way) will slip out of your hand very easily. Then again, every aluminum case that has a polished and glossy surface (at least that I have tested out) will encounter this problem after a little while. I also noticed that this version of the case can become scratched fairly easily.
Now, the big question is, how is the reception. Well, I did some extensive testing and found that I lost about 2 bars of signal strength with the case installed on my iPhone 4. In actual terms, the decibel reading went from -75 with the case off, down to -94 with the case on my iPhone 4. Even though the case does not actually touch the glass and has built in foam protectors, the case still does suffer from reception issues, proving once again that almost any full aluminum case that you purchase will arrive with signal degradation right out of the box.
Even though this case suffers from some reception issues, there arent a lot of other negatives that I have experienced with the case, and so far, Apex Armor seems to be doing everything else right. The design, look, and simplicity of the case make it look superb to some of the others and you cant go wrong for $80. You can pick up the Apex Armor in a few different designs on their website. Hit up the link for more info.
Rating: 4/5