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kingston73

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Dec 23, 2015
1,172
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SO...finally got my 7+ and wanted to give some initial impressions and post some pictures of the several cases I have and also a couple of Tempered Glass Screen Protectors I've tried. Keep in mind these are only initial impressions, haven't used anything for any length of time.

1. First up, the Spigen Ultra Hybrid:



Pretty standard tpu/plastic case. It's the rose gold version, meant to get the black one but I'm just going to give this to my wife. Feels decent in hand, not slippery and it has some small "feet" on the back to keep it from laying on the plastic and prevent scratching. Buttons feel good, all the cut outs are plenty large. Overall just average, nothing outstanding but I'm sure it'll do it's job and protect the phone.

2. Next is the Daswise hybrid case:




A fairly standard tpu/plastic case. It's the lowest profile case I've tried so far, looks very good and feels good in hand. It's got the smallest cut outs but the mute switch is still easy to use. I only have apple lightning cables so I can't say if the smaller power port will interfere with aftermarket cables. The back has a wrap around lip to keep the clear back off surfaces, but the front does not have enough lip to keep a tempered glass protector off a surface if placed face down.

3. Next is the Choetech hybrid case:




This is a good looking and good feeling case. The corners are thicker and the lip on the front is larger than some other similar cases. The buttons feel good and the cut outs are all a good size. The only small thing I didn't like with this is the odd corner cut out for the camera, I think an oval shaped cut would look better. I also have a tempered glass screen protector from them, no pictures of it but it's pretty standard, non e2e glass. It feels very nice and stays fairly fingerprint free, but I will probably replace it once I find a good e2e glass.
[doublepost=1475098943][/doublepost]To continue with case pictures:

4. Nomad Leather case:




This is an outstanding case and will probably be one of 2 that I use on a regular basis. The leather is the best quality I've seen on a case and it fits extremely well. It's actually a little difficult to get off the phone it's so tight. It protects the bottom better than the apple leather case and IMO is a better quality construction. The buttons feel good, the only nit to pick is the mute switch cut out is small and makes it a little tough to flip without having finger nails (I keep my nails very short).

5. Xdoria Defense Lux:




This is my other favorite case. It looks and feels great, plus it survived a 50 ft fall in an EverythingApple video. The only negatives are that it does reduce signal slightly. If you get it for a sale price I'd say its easily worth the price, for the full price I'd have to think about it a little more.

6. Rhinoshield Crashguard:




I thought I'd like this the most, since I liked the original a lot. This 2.0 case isn't as good IMO. Rhinoshield curved the edges more, I guess to make it look better but the effect is to make it want to slip out of your hands. The original still fits the 7 so I may use it instead. I can't recommend this because I don't like it, but I'm looking forward to Evo Labs releasing the Solid Suit for the 7, it was my absolute favorite case for the 6.

7. Spigen Slim Armor

I'll post a picture when I get home but the newest case I've been using is the slim armor from spigen. It's the matte black version with the "soft touch" plastic and has great grip and looks really good with the matte black phone. There's only a few nits to pick with it. One is that it has an opening in the back to show off the apple logo, so unless you have a back protector you could possibly scratch your phone. Another is that the case wraps around the front more than others, so it won't be compatible with many E2E screen protectors. The final minor issue is that the curve on the edges is a little sharp. Instead of following the general shape of the phone it's a sharper curve with gives you less surface area to hold. Other reviews have said that the Tough Armor is easier to hold due to it's flat edges, but IMO it's not as good looking as the Slim. Overall it's a great case but if you get a "shiny" color the plastic will be slick and a little hard to hold.

Last thing I'll end with, I don't have pictures but as far as screen protectors go, I've already applied and taken off 2 and I'm on my 3rd. I bought myself and my wife the Jellycomb E2E and can easily say DO NOT buy these. The colored part is plastic with a glass rectangle in the center. It leaves an easily felt seam between the 2. If that wasn't bad enough, neither one adhered properly. My wife's started to bubble the day after applying it and mine had a halo around the entire edge.

Hope this all helps, let me know if you have any questions. Like I said, my 2 that I see myself using the most are the Nomad and Xdoria.
 
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Any more pics of the Nomad. Considering that or the Ullu. The Nomad looks a bit dry and the edges at the lighting connection look a bit tatty. Could be the light? Thanks.
 
The leather is a little dry but not as bad as the pictures make it look. I thought about putting some leather conditioner on it but I want to let it age naturally and it's already getting a little darker after only a couple days. The port cut out looks good to me in person.
 
The leather is a little dry but not as bad as the pictures make it look. I thought about putting some leather conditioner on it but I want to let it age naturally and it's already getting a little darker after only a couple days. The port cut out looks good to me in person.

I don't think it's dry - it's a waxed leather, which gives it more of a matte look initially. As it absorbs oils from your skin, that will go away. Or you could just apply conditioner and buff it.
 
After only a few days of use, the Nomad is definitely starting to change color. It's darkened a bit and doesn't have the "dry" look it had on the first day. I'm am really liking this case! I can't say how well it will protect from a fall as I'm not about to purposefully drop test it, but I've seen videos of the apple leather case protecting from some fairly high drops and this Nomad looks to be more protective than the apple.

The crashguard is growing on me, it's not terrible and I'm definitely going to keep it.
 
I'll reserve judgement until I hear back from Nomad customer service, but I'm pretty discouraged by what happened today. Just sitting in my pocket, no keys or drop or anything. No idea what happened but there's a nice, big hole where the leather ripped and it's only a few weeks old. I really loved this case up until today, and I know leather will wear but it should rip like this. I could understand if I had it in the bottom of a bag or in a pocket full of keys...but it wasn't anything like that so why did it rip? I emailed Nomad this morning so I'll let y'all know what their response is, I asked for a replacement or a full refund.

UPDATE: Heard back from Nomad today, they will replace the case but they suggested I try Best Buy first because the case is very backordered. They said something like that should NOT happen to a new case. I'm very happy with their response and just to be clear, I wouldn't have complained if I had done something OBVIOUS and EXTREME to damage it. Since whatever happened was not obvious or extreme I stand by what I said above. I'll see if any local Best Buy's have it in stock still but I may have to wait a bit to get a replacement. While I'm waiting, I updated the original list with another case, the Spigen Slim Armor.
 
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I'll reserve judgement until I hear back from Nomad customer service, but I'm pretty discouraged by what happened today. Just sitting in my pocket, no keys or drop or anything. No idea what happened but there's a nice, big hole where the leather ripped and it's only a few weeks old. I really loved this case up until today, and I know leather will wear but it should rip like this. I could understand if I had it in the bottom of a bag or in a pocket full of keys...but it wasn't anything like that so why did it rip? I emailed Nomad this morning so I'll let y'all know what their response is, I asked for a replacement or a full refund.


LOL, this didn't just happen without some sort of impact. The case did its job taking the brunt of whatever caused that instead of you having a scratch or crack on your phone.
 
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I'll say this about nomad, they have GREAT customer service. They contacted me and immediately offered a replacement case after seeing the picture. They said that shouldn't have happened and will be sending a new case in the mail. Thank you nomad, great job. I'll post some pictures when I get the new one.
 
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