Graft leverage case - I want I want I want... (Update: I got).

[sh0ebox]

Can you guys post a picture of the actual scratches.

Here's a couple very quick shots of the scratches on my phone. This was actually surprisingly hard to do with a point and shoot that won't let you choose where to focus lol

Anyway, the scratches don't appear dark like this in real life. As another poster previously described, it looks shiny, as if the matte finish has been somewhat "polished."

Basically, if you haven't yet received your case and you want to prevent this from happening, cut a small piece of screen protector and put it under where the latch would make contact with the phone or use a small piece of scotch tape or something in the meantime. Hope this helps!

 

[gugy]

Here's a couple very quick shots of the scratches on my phone. This was actually surprisingly hard to do with a point and shoot that won't let you choose where to focus lol

Anyway, the scratches don't appear dark like this in real life. As another poster previously described, it looks shiny, as if the matte finish has been somewhat "polished."

Basically, if you haven't yet received your case and you want to prevent this from happening, cut a small piece of screen protector and put it under where the latch would make contact with the phone or use a small piece of scotch tape or something in the meantime. Hope this helps!

Bummer!

 

[nigelquest]

You could use a nail file or dremel to take off 1-2 mm of the latch and it should be fine. However, I agree with the previous poster that a $60 case shouldn't do this. Mine comes Friday and I hope it is resolved or they replace the cases that are doing this.

 

[peapody]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

Will definitely be protecting the phone with the tape. Still can't wait to get mine!

 

[zelaya]

Here's a couple very quick shots of the scratches on my phone. This was actually surprisingly hard to do with a point and shoot that won't let you choose where to focus lol

Anyway, the scratches don't appear dark like this in real life. As another poster previously described, it looks shiny, as if the matte finish has been somewhat "polished."

Image
Image

Basically, if you haven't yet received your case and you want to prevent this from happening, cut a small piece of screen protector and put it under where the latch would make contact with the phone or use a small piece of scotch tape or something in the meantime. Hope this helps!

Thank you so much for the help. This photos will help me and others that haven't receive there cases.

 

[zpbmw]

Those of you who went with the white/matte combo, do you experience the case picking up dirt and becoming discolored easily?

I have a white 4S and am having a hard time deciding between black or white. I think the black contrast would look cool but the white also grabs my attention.

 

[njgeek]

Those of you who went with the white/matte combo, do you experience the case picking up dirt and becoming discolored easily?

I have a white 4S and am having a hard time deciding between black or white. I think the black contrast would look cool but the white also grabs my attention.

I'd say it picks up less dirt than the Apple Bumper. I keep my phone in my front pocket and my Power Support Crystal screen picks up way more than the Leverage.

 

[krisatwerk]

scuff marks here too

I should have waited a while to read responses here before applying my case. Like the others, I was extremely careful in latching on the buckle, but to no avail. It still scuffed my phone. I never saw this mentioned in any of the earlier reviews Also, I stopped using the case for now, because I get the feeling it would only make this scuff mark larger/shinier the more I use it. I originally wanted something I could easily unlatch so I could slide my phone into a sleeve at times. I don't want this thing scuffing at my phone each time I do this.

So, for those like me who want to keep your phones in pristine condition, don't apply this case without making sure this doesn't also happen. As for me, I guess the answer is, "oh well".

 

[Digidesign]

Here's a couple very quick shots of the scratches on my phone.

Basically, if you haven't yet received your case and you want to prevent this from happening, cut a small piece of screen protector and put it under where the latch would make contact with the phone or use a small piece of scotch tape or something in the meantime. Hope this helps!

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[navindralr]

I have both the lucky labs spectra wrap, and the phantom matte protection kit (sides/back) both coming in the mail this week, so I think I'll install either one of them before I start using my Leverage case... hopefully that won't allow the latch to scratch the antenna band.

 

[spyda]

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It's pretty damn ridiculous that you even have to do anything to prevent a $60 case FROM damaging your iPhone.

 

[njarrell]

Here's a couple very quick shots of the scratches on my phone. This was actually surprisingly hard to do with a point and shoot that won't let you choose where to focus lol

Anyway, the scratches don't appear dark like this in real life. As another poster previously described, it looks shiny, as if the matte finish has been somewhat "polished."

Image
Image

Basically, if you haven't yet received your case and you want to prevent this from happening, cut a small piece of screen protector and put it under where the latch would make contact with the phone or use a small piece of scotch tape or something in the meantime. Hope this helps!

Thanks for the update. This puts a damper in my desire to purchase one of these.

 

[navindralr]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

It's pretty damn ridiculous that you even have to do anything to prevent a $60 case FROM damaging your iPhone.

true that

 

[puma1552]

FWIW Graft is cool about letting me return the case, and said thanks for bringing the scratching issue to their attention, and that they are working on possible solutions.

So in my book, they have good service and listen to the customers and I would consider buying from them in the future.

 

[akj27]

I haven't gotten my case yet so I'll be applying some tape to my iPhone. However, I do expect them to have this fixed with a new design or something, and if they do, then they'll be exchanging a lot of cases.

 

[Bawstun]

If Apple had just made the iPhone a metal polished band you'd never have this problem in the first place. Really, they aren't 'scratches', it isn't a very big deal. My previous iPhone 4 had those scuffs all along the metal band from the original bumper. I guess it just doesn't bother me. It's GOING to happen over time. And I still sold it on eBay for a very profitable amount even with that, so it doesn't really hurt anything. Try not to be so OCD and enjoy that great case. Wish I could afford one, lol.

 

[sh0ebox]

Yeah I definitely have to agree that I wouldn't expect a case (especially a $60 one) that is meant to protect my phone to be the first thing to inflict damage to my phone (how ironic!).

I hope they are able to get this fixed and would be kind enough to take back the faulty cases and replace them with new ones, however, in the grand scheme of things, it's just a tiny little scuff and isn't something I'm going to dwell on. Don't get me wrong, I like to keep my stuff pristine just like the next guy, but it's too little too late and I've got a lot of other things in my life to worry about besides a tiny little scuff. If you want it to look like you just took it out of the box 2 years down the road, then don't take it out of the box.

 

[krisatwerk]

Well, obviously the scuff doesn't make it the end of the world for me, but I still like to keep my stuff in the best condition that I can. So because of that, I started looking into something that can remove the scuff. Referencing this other thread here, has anyone tried or has more information on stuff that can remove this scuff? If it's something that's relatively cheap/works well/easy to do then I want to try it. Thanks!

 

[Tibu]

My crappy amateur pics:

 

[gugy]

My 2 cents.
The case to instal was a PITA. I added a very thin clear tape to avoid the latch mark. After quite a bit handling and trying I was finally able to close the latch and have it flushed and the backplate line up perfectly.
It's definitely not a easy thing to do. So I will leave the case close for long time before unlatching to clean of whatever. Maybe the tape was the culprit but I decided not to try without it to avoid any marks.
Also to unlatch it takes a bit of work to make it happen.

Now the positive, The case indeed looks awesome. It does look very sophisticate and the texture make it nice to hold. It offers a good protection imo. I also have the Steinheil Ultra Optics to protect the face.

I would give 4 stars overall and recommend to buy it.

 

[zelaya]

Well, obviously the scuff doesn't make it the end of the world for me, but I still like to keep my stuff in the best condition that I can. So because of that, I started looking into something that can remove the scuff. Referencing this other thread here, has anyone tried or has more information on stuff that can remove this scuff? If it's something that's relatively cheap/works well/easy to do then I want to try it. Thanks!

It doesn't hurt to try. Thanks for sharing. At the end of the day " What you can't see won't hurt you " I've my phone always with a case so those small scuff won't bother me at all and don't take the case that often.

 

[dmx]

Just got mine in the mail, love it.. feels fantastic and fit and finish are great. Heres a photo album...

http://imgur.com/a/rqMOg

My only gripe is that the power button is ever so slightly uneven when installed...

 

[bighabeeb]

Mine has just arrived as well - gotta wait for somebody to track down an allen wrench for me to be able to remove my hybrid, but should have it on later this afternoon and will give some impressions.

I will say this, it's very sharp looking and the "plastic" piece feels pretty sturdy. The backing is nice and thick and will definitly provide more protection then the lucky lab stickers that I've been using

 

[nutritious]

FYI, if you wear on blue jeans and leave your phone in your pocket, it will leave blue marks on the white version. Kind of pisses me off cause I usually wear jeans.

 

[bighabeeb]

Just put it on - thing looks pretty snazzy actually. I did have to remove my lucky labs backing to get the plastic backing to fit properly: guess it was juuuuuuuust thick enough to cause an issue.

I really enjoy the backing: the case feels very solid because of it and, to alleviate some concerns, no there is no bloody way you're "accidentally" flipping this latch, even when going in and out of your pocket. It sits VERY firmly on the phone and the latch on the side sits flush with the rest of the case.

In terms of connectors, my klipsh s4 fit fine, so do my ajay fours (which is a 90 degree connector). This is likely because the plastic on the top of the phone itself is far thinner than that on cases like the element and atomic. The bottom dock connector may be more of a concern: its definitely designed with the standard apple sized charger cable in mind. Anything shaped even the least bit differently may not fit (the actual connector fits into an opening in the bottom of the case, but the case is molded for the white piece around the connector to rest on the case, if that makes any sense).

The one oddity about it: the cut out around the volume buttons seems like it was almost cut just a smidge too close to the top of the case: the antenna band up there is juuuuuuuust visible. Makes it look a little strange - would have preferred if it was cut a hair closer to the vib/ring switch.

As far as fitting over screen protectors: I have the fancy schmancy imoshi screen protector (the one where the bezel is actually part of the protector). When I first installed the case it did crinkle up the screen protector just a hair. I removed the case and gave it another shot, being a little bit more cautious, and it fit over just fine, plastic back piece and all.

Overall, I really dig it. I think I still prefer the more minimalist look of cases like the atomic hybrid or element vapor (yes I know they're not exactly minimalist but compared to this thing with a large latch on the side they are), but the truth is I'm willing to give that up for the convenience of NOT having to carry around a set of allen wrenches just in case I need to have my phone naked for any reason. I'd like it even more if they offered back plates in a wider variety of colors and/or with the apple logo either on the plate or cutout, but that's simply my preference in terms of aesthetics.

So to sum up: nice solid feeling case, easy installation, fits both of my sets of aftermarket ear buds, may not fit some third party chargers, fits over screen protector but not over lucky labs backing (if you want the backplate installed).