Bumper Owners - need input

[tctony]

• Are the bumpers easy to take off? Easy to put back on?
• Do they protect against drops?
• How do they feel? Do they give the phone a more rounded edge?

 

[thetonyclifton]

• Are the bumpers easy to take off? Easy to put back on?
• Do they protect against drops?
• How do they feel? Do they give the phone a more rounded edge?

Yes they are easy to take on an off.

Some websites have done drop tests and found that the iphone breaks on average the same percentage of the time with and without the bumper so - debatable - but it will protect the corners from bumps and chips and I think you have a better chance of surviving a drop with the bumper-regardless of the drop test.

Yes they feel more rounded - feel closer to the 3G/3GS shape. It is kind of strange being able to feel the back too - but I like them.

 

[ijen0311]

-Yes but I feel like they'll stretch out doing it often.

-Yes I dropped my phone and I think the bumper really helped save it (in this instance)

-It feels nice, and yes.

 

[RobTuck]

They're easy to take off and put back on, but I am concerned that they will stretch if it's done too often.

I havent dropped mine, and I dont intend to, so I cant advise on your second question

It feels nice in the hand, but it definitely gives the phone a feel of being bigger. It doesnt sit in my hand as nicely as without, but I dont feel like I'm going to drop it when the bumper is on.

My main annoyances with the bumper is the incompatibility with the older sync cables, and it doesnt fit ANY dock except the universal dock without an adapter, but then you're relying on the dock connector to support the phone.

 

[jbennardo]

They look great and I'd love to get my hands on one!

 

[SwedishFrog]

They look better than they feel to use. They're slightly loose and are incompatible with nearly every USB cable except Apple's newest ultra-slim model.

Basically, they're 80% to perfection, and the 20% that's missing is VERY noticeable.

Mine is only staying on until I find a 3rd party case I like.

 

[jbennardo]

I had an old "livestrong" bracelet laying around and it fits perfectly snug around the phone haha. Reception problem clears right up.

 

[vincenz]

I find that the black one is a little easier to put on and take off than the colored ones because the silicone is softer on the black, but it's not a huge difference.

I find the feel a little more comfortable than using it naked, it being more rounded and all. I have relatively small hands and even I find that the phone is a tad small without the bumper, and I'm coming from a 3G/3GS.

 

[Atenza6]

No complaints at all

I have the bumper case and it is great. People complain about the price but it's really only a couple bucks more than most cases in the market. Just because it only goes around the sides of the phone doesn't mean it's bad. I use mine with a full body skin. When you look at my phone you can tell it's an iPhone 4 and not a 3G or 3GS. As far as drop protection goes, it's saved my phone twice. Once when I got out of my car and once getting up from a table at a restaurant. The phone is still pristine. This is the only case I'm going to use for my iPhone 4. This is coming from a guy who had a "case addiction" for my previous iPhones LOL

 

[glen e]

Very happy with mine...looking for a white one and a clear one. Very high quality, mine is tight and fits perfectly. Cannot see a back on any case when Apple put glass on both sides.

 

[LordOBoogie]

I like mine. My first black one was loose, so Apple sent me another couple of them: one in blue, one in black. (I was treated like **** by the first customer service agent--that's why they insisted on sending me two.)

I really like them. I am not sure how much they offer in terms of protection, but they look really cool and would surely dampen impact on the corners if dropped.

 

[jbennardo]

I have the bumper case and it is great. People complain about the price but it's really only a couple bucks more than most cases in the market.

I was just at Best Buy and nearly all of the other cases were $25-$30 too. Frankly none of them looked as good as the bumper either.

 

[dels]

The bumper is nice from a minimalists point of view. Just enough to keep the phone elevated above the surface you place it on. The silicone prevents it from sliding all over the place.

I am not very confident in its ability to handle drops very well only because it is 1) a fairly thin design and 2) is not a particularly tight fit (I have the black one) around the phone. When I receive my screen protectors I think the bumper will fit better.

I only have it on because it is the only option at the moment and is better than nothing. I am waiting on Otterbox to come out with their line.

 

[redman042]

My wife and I are very happy with our black bumpers. As usual with just about any Apple product, there are a few annoyances seemingly there to test your resolve, but the product has more polish than any other bumper type case I know of. The feel is great. The quality is very high. The embedded buttons are a nice touch. For us, it's the perfect balance of minimalist and reasonable level of protection and "grippability". I feel a whole lot more confident handling my phone with this on than with the phone bare. It's just the right amount of grip around the top and bottom edges, and with smooth sides for easy pocketability.

In my opinion this will provide reasonably good drop protection. Like many, I believe drop survivability is very much a circumstantial thing - it all depends on how it is dropped, how it lands, what it lands on, and perhaps even some details about the assembly of that particular unit. In other words, if you drop it naked, the odds are fairly high for some bad damage, and if you put the bumper on, odds are reduced but not zero.

On the other side of the coin, the restrictive ports for headphones and dock cables are a real annoyance. Unless you use purely Apple accessories only, you will likely have compatibility problems. If you are a bit resourceful, you will find inexpensive or free solutions though. I do have a lot of aftermarket stuff, so here's what I did:

For my Griffin Power Block, which has incompatible cables, I found these Apple cables online for $5 each.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150460486970&ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:US:1123

I just received them today. They DO fit. I have yet to test them for sync reliability but will do so tonight. They do look used but in good condition. They also appear to be genuine Apple cables, with the proper text stamped on the wire and so forth. For $5 each, I can't complain, and I can get enough to replace all my third party cables. Obviously if you have a 3rd party charger where the cable is hard-wired into the power block, no dice, but if it's like Griffin with the separate USB cable, you can just swap it out.

For headphones, I got three of these for $3 each.

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Headph...2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1278706876&sr=8-2

They also fit fine and work pretty good, except a few times I've had to twist it around a little to get a good connection. Might just need to clean the ends. Again, at this price I can get one for each non-compliant headphone and just keep it attached, so I don't have to carry adapters around separately.

My case is a tad loose, my wife's fits tightly. I may return mine for a new one, or I might line the inside with double-sided scotch tape as someone suggested, which apparently works very well.

 

[tctony]

How does the material of the bumper compare to say, an Incase Slider case? If the bumper is raised on both edges, it should be able to handle a drop on flat surface, right? Also, its highly unlikely to land face down anyway.