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UK here and my silver/silver Blade hasn't arrived yet (ordered the day that this thread was created), but I might put it straight up on eBay without opening the box as I have a feeling the signal issue might affect me.

Will defo consider swapping for an Atomic Hybrid if anyone has one pref in black/gunmetal or black/brushed metal that they want to swap...
 
hey guys, been following this thread for a while now. and i'm not gonna join the debates that are going on here. just want to share my experience today with vapor aluminum case.

first, i live in bangkok, thailand. there's no such thing as death grip here. signal is great. i tried a vapor today in my friend's shop, its perfect! no signal loss, wifi and gprs works fine. gps as well. the only reason i didn't bought it is because i will buy the blade metal bumper which is IMHO looks better.

this thread and other thread about aluminum case had helped me to choose what i will buy for my first aluminum case, thanks guys!
 
hey guys, been following this thread for a while now. and i'm not gonna join the debates that are going on here. just want to share my experience today with vapor aluminum case.

first, i live in bangkok, thailand. there's no such thing as death grip here. signal is great. i tried a vapor today in my friend's shop, its perfect! no signal loss, wifi and gprs works fine. gps as well. the only reason i didn't bought it is because i will buy the blade metal bumper which is IMHO looks better.

this thread and other thread about aluminum case had helped me to choose what i will buy for my first aluminum case, thanks guys!
From everything I have ever read about cellular service, yours is far superior to ours here in the states. China and Japan also have terrific cellular service. I have been to China and the cellular reception over there and the data speeds were unbelievable to what we get here in the states. You guys are light years ahead of us in technology. I have been told that our regulations are different and that is alot of the reason. We in the states can only turn our cellular towers up so high due to government mandates and I do not believe you have the same guidelines in your country and neither does China or Japan. So what I am getting at is almost any case would probably work over their and give you little issues. We unfortunately here in the states do not have that luxury. I could be wrong but that is what I have always read and that was my personal experience also.
 
From everything I have ever read about cellular service, yours is far superior to ours here in the states. China and Japan also have terrific cellular service. I have been to China and the cellular reception over there and the data speeds were unbelievable to what we get here in the states. You guys are light years ahead of us in technology. I have been told that our regulations are different and that is alot of the reason. We in the states can only turn our cellular towers up so high due to government mandates and I do not believe you have the same guidelines in your country and neither does China or Japan. So what I am getting at is almost any case would probably work over their and give you little issues. We unfortunately here in the states do not have that luxury. I could be wrong but that is what I have always read and that was my personal experience also.

i actually don't have any ideas about that. but thanks for the infos! it maybe like that, so i guess i will try the blade which i already purchased from ebay just now. i will post a mini review and some pics when i get it.
 
I just ordered mine. It says shipping and i hope i get it before christmas. I will post signal review as soon as i get it.
 
i buy the 26 of last month and has not arrives lets see that tomorrow is the deal i am in the Caribbean when i buy things from china or hong kong arrives in 2 or 3 weeks i really want this case
 
I'm currently in a dilemma whether to get a Vapor or the Blade... anyone here can do a comparison?

Somethings I'm concerned about is...
1. Which is thicker to wield?
2. Are the ports on the blade easier to access? (30pin connector, headphone jack, etc.)
3. Can the blade be docked (speakers, desktop dock, etc.)

Need advise from you guys!
 
I'm currently in a dilemma whether to get a Vapor or the Blade... anyone here can do a comparison?

Somethings I'm concerned about is...
1. Which is thicker to wield?
2. Are the ports on the blade easier to access? (30pin connector, headphone jack, etc.)
3. Can the blade be docked (speakers, desktop dock, etc.)

Need advise from you guys!

I just sold my Vapor so I can't put them side by side to do the comparison but both should have about the same width/thickness. Actually the Vapor might looks a little bulkier. With the Blade you will have to use the original Apple connector, aftermarket is not going to fit and you won't be able to dock these either, same as for the Vapor. As for the headphone jack, it should fit all the new headphones with the straight plug.
 
Speck or someone else needs to make a thicker aluminum number that has rubber on the inside like the CandyShell for some drop protection and no signal degradation.
 
Yea I understand what you're saying but somehow this case doesn't affect the signal at all but kills my GPS though.

I agree, it doesn't "kill" my signal but there is some obvious degradation. Also I have to agree that with the Blade on, the GPS is practically useless. It seems to get a lock if I am sitting in one location but when moving it can't find me within 10 miles.
 
I agree, it doesn't "kill" my signal but there is some obvious degradation. Also I have to agree that with the Blade on, the GPS is practically useless. It seems to get a lock if I am sitting in one location but when moving it can't find me within 10 miles.

Since using this case for a couple days now I tried the TomTom Gps couple of times and can never get a lock , actually it kept searching for gps signal and once it got the signal it would be off a few blocks .So like you said gps is useless. As for the looks this case has to be my favorite one so far.
 
I tried Ebay. These don't seem to be available anymore. If they can be obtained elsewhere could someone tell me where or provide a link.
 
I tried Ebay. These don't seem to be available anymore. If they can be obtained elsewhere could someone tell me where or provide a link.

I check today but can't find any also. I think he doesn't have anymore in stock . I think you can only get from him because he's the manufacturer.
 
I got my case today morning and decide to put some test on signal and gps. Currently I am on tmobile and the iPhone 4 g I got is factory unlocked with no jailbreak. At my work I usually get 3 bar of network after I put the case it was same network so there was no degrade in quality on signal. Without case I was able to get lock on gps but after I put case on I was not able to get lock. But when I was driving back to home I was able to get gps on road.
 
I received my black/red blade case today. I love the metal power/volume buttons... it's a nice detail. I know some others have posted minimal signal loss and GPS didn't work but my GPS works fine. Yes, there is a very slight signal loss but it's negligible (-76 w/o case, -81 w/case - see pics below). As with the e13ctron case, GPS took slightly longer to lock but once it locked, it was pretty accurate. I fired up Navigon, took a 20 minute drive around town and it was spot on.

As for shipping, I paid for the expedited shipping. Order on Dec 8th, shipped on Dec 9th and received today, Dec 13th via UPS. It ships from South Korea and I live in socal.
 

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I got my case today morning and decide to put some test on signal and gps. Currently I am on tmobile and the iPhone 4 g I got is factory unlocked with no jailbreak. At my work I usually get 3 bar of network after I put the case it was same network so there was no degrade in quality on signal. Without case I was able to get lock on gps but after I put case on I was not able to get lock. But when I was driving back to home I was able to get gps on road.

Mine is like yours no problem with reception but cannot get gps to work. Great that you have your gps working. Too bad for me because as for the looks this is my favorite so far.
 
Mine is like yours no problem with reception but cannot get gps to work. Great that you have your gps working. Too bad for me because as for the looks this is my favorite so far.

kai, i do want to point out i have vinyl on my back plate and around the metal band. doubt it makes a difference though... i also noticed the aluminum back plate in your picture. (i had the exact same one you have but part of the black apple logo scratched off on the first day so i took it off.) did you try taking it off and testing it with the original back plate?
 
kai, i do want to point out i have vinyl on my back plate and around the metal band. doubt it makes a difference though... i also noticed the aluminum back plate in your picture. (i had the exact same one you have but part of the black apple logo scratched off on the first day so i took it off.) did you try taking it off and testing it with the original back plate?

At first I thought it was the aluminum back plate also. I had also took it off and test it with the original back but same result.

I also have the bodyguardz fullbody shield install.
 
At first I thought it was the aluminum back plate also. I had also took it off and test it with the original back but same result.

I also have the bodyguardz fullbody shield install.

another thing i noticed when testing all these cases (aluma, atomic, fusion raw, e13ctron and now blade)... using the maps (google) app, location was a little off while driving (aluma was the only one that totally killed it). but when i tested with navigon, it was perfect. not sure if it has to do with data updates over the air vs maps stored locally with navigon.

i will just consider myself lucky that the blade case works for me :)
 
another thing i noticed when testing all these cases (aluma, atomic, fusion raw, e13ctron and now blade)... using the maps (google) app, location was a little off while driving (aluma was the only one that totally killed it). but when i tested with navigon, it was perfect. not sure if it has to do with data updates over the air vs maps stored locally with navigon.

i will just consider myself lucky that the blade case works for me :)

I had tested both with navigon and to tomtom none of them could find any gps signal,always searching. This only happens with the blade and the fusion raw. Yeah lucky for you!
 
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