You have evidently not seen the Marware bumper in the wild. It is fugly. I like the render of the blue acrylic one. The shape has harder edges on the render. The Marware bumper is very rounded.
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Element Vapor Case
- Thread starter johnnybgood15
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You have evidently not seen the Marware bumper in the wild. It is fugly. I like the render of the blue acrylic one. The shape has harder edges on the render. The Marware bumper is very rounded.
Has anyone tried an apple doc extender with the Element case? I can't really tell by the pics if it will fit.
Wow...looks like me filing the dispute with Paypal really pissed them off! They 2-day shipped my case to me all the way here in Georgia. I got my black/black Vapor in today. It's the version 2 of the case with the SIM card cutout.
The case honestly looked better in renders/pictures than it does in person. I'm disappointed in how this case has ended up. It really looks to offer no protection whatsoever, at least in my opinion. The case is extremely thin on the sides, and seems like it'd bend if dropped and hit on the sides. The padding inside is very, very minimal. And my biggest issue is that there is barely any "off of the table" clearance when setting the case down on it's front or back. In fact, with an SGP carbon fiber skin on the back, it's virtually flush with the rim on the Vapor. This isn't too bad on the back, as the skin would offer a bit of protection for the back in case of a fall, but the very shallow lip on the front worries me. It's shallow enough that setting it face down on something as small as a coarse grain of sand, or slightly uneven surface could run the risk of allowing something to touch and possibly scratch the screen. It's basically like the Vapor just extends the outside dimensions of the phone, with very little addition to the thickness (and therefore no protection) to the front or back of the phone. I see no point in spending $80 on something that offers basically an aesthetic only addition to the phone. I would really love the case if it was a bit thicker to offer more front/back lip to the phone, as that'd at least offer a bit more protection in case of a drop. But as it is now I'm either going to return it or maybe try and sell it on eBay since they seem to be going for a premium on there.
Edit: been running some SpeedTest tests with and without the case, and on 5 tests without the case, my download/upload speed averaged 2018/1109. With the case installed, with the case sitting in the exact same place on my desk, the download/upload average is 928/781. So in my instance, the case cuts reception fairly significantly...at least where I'm located (about 30 miles east of Atlanta).
The case honestly looked better in renders/pictures than it does in person. I'm disappointed in how this case has ended up. It really looks to offer no protection whatsoever, at least in my opinion. The case is extremely thin on the sides, and seems like it'd bend if dropped and hit on the sides. The padding inside is very, very minimal. And my biggest issue is that there is barely any "off of the table" clearance when setting the case down on it's front or back. In fact, with an SGP carbon fiber skin on the back, it's virtually flush with the rim on the Vapor. This isn't too bad on the back, as the skin would offer a bit of protection for the back in case of a fall, but the very shallow lip on the front worries me. It's shallow enough that setting it face down on something as small as a coarse grain of sand, or slightly uneven surface could run the risk of allowing something to touch and possibly scratch the screen. It's basically like the Vapor just extends the outside dimensions of the phone, with very little addition to the thickness (and therefore no protection) to the front or back of the phone. I see no point in spending $80 on something that offers basically an aesthetic only addition to the phone. I would really love the case if it was a bit thicker to offer more front/back lip to the phone, as that'd at least offer a bit more protection in case of a drop. But as it is now I'm either going to return it or maybe try and sell it on eBay since they seem to be going for a premium on there.
Edit: been running some SpeedTest tests with and without the case, and on 5 tests without the case, my download/upload speed averaged 2018/1109. With the case installed, with the case sitting in the exact same place on my desk, the download/upload average is 928/781. So in my instance, the case cuts reception fairly significantly...at least where I'm located (about 30 miles east of Atlanta).
The BGR review of Element Case
Yes, from the pictures, it's V2.
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/08/14/elementcase-vapor-iphone-4-case-review/
Yes, from the pictures, it's V2.
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/08/14/elementcase-vapor-iphone-4-case-review/
Updated my last post with some average data speeds with and without the case. I haven't had a chance to test GPS yet, as I'm at work most of the day. But I'll add that info to the post as soon as I obtain it.
Oh I know but thanks for the heads up! Amex told me that by opening a chargeback my paypal dispute will be closed. No fraud. But that's fine with me because paypal takes too long to get your money back to you!
Still no word from element after three emails, a paypal dispute, and now a chargeback. I'm thinking of starting a separate thread as I wondee if anyone has actually gotten money back from these people.
Wow that is a serious hit to data reception! The thing about voice reception is that I believe it is essentially binary -- your call either goes through or it doesn't, so it's not the number of bars per se that's the problem but rather how low they go until you lose the ability to connect. And that obviously depends on location. But even if you are in a five bar location anything at diminishes signal runs the risk of causing you to drop calls in other locations.
Data on the other hand shows the ugly truth quite readily, as you have seen. With the death grip my data goes to zero in any area with four bars or less.
I'm finding it hard to imagine why anyone would knowingly put a case on their phone that diminishes signal while providing little to no protection. It's pretty, but not THAT pretty!
Anyway you should definitely eBay it soon before they are flooded with unwanted vapor cases!
Wow, I was just about to do a review of a Sennheiser MM 200 bluetooth head set that I just got in the mail and it kept cutting in and out so I couldn't really test it. Other than to say it was junk and don't buy it. Then I connected my old Motorola HD S9's and I had the same issue. The new OS is totally effing up Bluetooth signal. I had to turn Wifi of and do a hard reset. Now it works great.
I only use Bluetooth headsets. Does anyone have any feedback using the Element case with bluetooth head phones.
Thanks in advance.
I only use Bluetooth headsets. Does anyone have any feedback using the Element case with bluetooth head phones.
Thanks in advance.
So at this point I have not noticed any network speed or voice quality issues with the case on.
GPS, anecdotally from walking around my neighborhood, was about 3m off. I'm about to head out on a short road trip. The real test will be how off Navigon is when it announces turns.
Unfortunately I don't have a BT headset to test with right now.
More later.
GPS, anecdotally from walking around my neighborhood, was about 3m off. I'm about to head out on a short road trip. The real test will be how off Navigon is when it announces turns.
Unfortunately I don't have a BT headset to test with right now.
More later.
Yeah, I've already decided that I'm definitely not going to use it. It just doesn't offer what I feel is enough protection for the money, not to mention the reception degradation. Once in hand, it's just not as substantial of a product as I had hoped. I'm not looking for Otterbox bulk or anything, but with this installed I don't feel my phone is any more protected than when it's naked. To me, the Vapor is just eye-candy (depending on your tastes) only, nothing else. I'm selling it and will keep an eye on the other aluminum bumper by another company that has been mentioned in this thread (can't recall the name at the moment). It looks (based on early renderings) like what I had hoped the Vapor would be.
Any aluminum band wrapped around the antenna is going to result in signal attenuation. The question is really how much, and whether it's a problem for you.
Since you've just proven that you'll get significant attenuation at your home, I'd recommend finding a non-metallic case solution so that you're not wasting your time/money discovering the same thing over and over again.
Well, I understand that an aluminum case may hurt reception, but the more I just play around with my Vapor, the more that I realize that the aluminum can actually touch the metal antenna of the iPhone 4 directly. The padding is very sparse on the side where the antennas meet, and it (the foam padding) deforms very easily and doesn't rebound once the phone is removed. So it appears that it basically collapses after the initial install (the little sheets of what appear to be thin weatherstripping foam are already thin as hell to begin with). Not to mention that the aluminum on the sides is very thin, and a squeeze on the case (doesn't take a gorilla-like squeeze either) will deflect the sides enough to bend the case itself against the antenna. So I'm wondering how much of the reception issue may come from the case touching the antenna directly. I really wish the Vapor would have ended up with the complete padding all the way around the antenna like the original renders showed.
Yes. I have the BackBeat 903's and they work great. I normally have no issues with breakup with the iPhone in my front pocket and when I do I put the iPhone in my back pocket.
I got my Vapor yesterday, put it on an immediately had breakup problems with the phone in my front pocket. Signal was obviously affected by having the Vapor on. Since I use my BB's everyday going to and from work, I am not putting on a case that degrades the experience. After several tests in areas that would not cause problems with other cases, I packed up the Vapor and sold it that very day.
A shame really since I thought it was a really good looking case. I was ok with the level of protection it provided and with the carbon back, it was definitely a looker.
Another major reason I ditched it was it would not connect to my integrated car connector nor with my iHome dock.
Case closed (no pun intended).
I love how when element introduced the vapor they said that it would help reception. They even say it on sites like Cnet. Now they changed it to it may or may not. We don't make claims like that. Screams BS company to me. Not to bash any of you guys who bought the case, it does look nice. But its the principal of things, they are obviously being very deceitful in their practice.
I had the Backbeat 903's until last week. I was raking my grass and I guess a small amount of sweat got in somewhere and they were done. ( don't walk in the rain) I sent them back after being quite happy with them for 2 weeks. The only downsides to them was not pairing well with my Mac Book Pro and the bass was none existent. These new ones I'm testing sound really,really good.
I don't think this case is gonna work. That sucks!!!!
I put a tactical OD green Duracoat on mine.
love duracoat on anything! does the reception improve? i dunt think so but its worth a try?
do you have to do any sanding to do a duracoat or is it essential a spray can job?
No discernable change in reception. Only surface prep was spraying with TruStrip degreaser.