I know most people have seen and read about these cases many times over now, but I thought I'd chime in with my review since I've been trying these cases out for about a week.
Initial Impressions:
I've got to hand it to Magpul...even though they aren't one of the traditional iPhone case manufacturers, and in fact, case making isn't even remotely at the core of their business, they have made some GREAT cases here. In fact, in my honest opinion, this Executive Field Case is the BEST TPU material case on the market, besting cases that are 2x, 3x, and even 4x the price of these cases. I received all 6 colors of the Field Case for iPhone 4, and the consistency between cases is amazing. They all fit exactly the same way, and hold the phone very tightly, with no wiggle room whatsoever. Even the cut outs for the phone's various buttons/switches are all dead on...like the very precise cutout for the vibrate switch...there's no margin for error with how close they cut this hole, yet each case I have lines up perfectly. The TPU material they used here seems to be the perfect durometer...not too hard (like the "bad" version of the Speck PixelSkin HD), and not too soft (like I feel the iSkin Solo cases are...too "sticky"). It's just firm enough that it's not going to stick to the inside of your pockets when trying to pull the phone out quickly. It has the perfect amount of elasticity, and doesn't feel like it's going to deform or stretch over time, like some other TPU cases I've used, especially in the thin part that is below the home button and above the dock connector. The case has a VERY slim fit, and in my opinion, adds just the right amount of thickness (which is very little) to the already too thin to be comfortable iPhone 4. In this case, the phone just has a very good feel in your hand.
As far as protection is concerned, obviously you're not going to get the extreme drop protection from this case like you would an Otterbox Defender, but for it's size/thickness, I'd put the Magpul up against ANY case the same thickness, and even one's twice as thick. It just seems like it could easily handle any "average", day to day drop you may encounter.
Performance:
There's really no need for any "review" in this area, but I put this section in with all of my aluminum and aluminum hybrid case reviews, but needless to say, the Magpul doesn't affect any cellular reception, wifi, GPS, or Bluetooth performance.
Final Words:
As many posters here have already said, for the price of this case ($10 or less), you absolutely can't go wrong. The guys at Magpul could EASILY get $25-$30 for this case (heck, iSkin gets $30-$35 for a basic TPU case!), and it'd STILL be a great buy. If the Incipio NGP, Otterbox Commuter (not Defender), iSkin Solo, Speck PixelSkin HD, even the Incase Slider were all the same price, I'd still choose to buy the Magpul case. In my opinion, it bests every case I just mentioned.
Now many people here have mentioned that the buttons seem hard to push, and I can see how they may say that, but I don't have much issue with that, plus, if Magpul made the case material any softer (to allow the buttons to be easier to press), I think the case overall would be too soft, and may allow it to stretch and become out of shape over time. Plus, I've used one of my trusty "hacks" for stiff buttons to make the Magpul's buttons have as much tactile feedback as a bare iPhone (I'll illustrate in pictures below).
If I had one thing to suggest to Magpul regarding these cases, I'd only suggest to add more colors. The "military" colors are fine, but it'd be really great to see a nice navy blue offering, and maybe a red and yellow as well. My favorite of the current colors is the light gray, which is the color that will be in my review photos below.
Pics (click to enlarge):
Easier to press button "hack":
If you don't like the stiffer feel of the buttons on this case as it comes from the factory, perform this little tweak to make them feel just like the phone's stock buttons...
Using an Exacto knife, CAREFULLY cut through the thin material separating the button covers from the case body, making slits in this material in the exact locations of the red lines I've drawn below. This still leaves the button covers in place, but basically reduces the amount of material attaching the covers to the case, making them MUCH softer and giving much more tactile feedback when pressing. I repeat...you're NOT cutting the button covers all the way out, just basically making thin slits down each long side of the buttons.
(Click to enlarge):
Initial Impressions:
I've got to hand it to Magpul...even though they aren't one of the traditional iPhone case manufacturers, and in fact, case making isn't even remotely at the core of their business, they have made some GREAT cases here. In fact, in my honest opinion, this Executive Field Case is the BEST TPU material case on the market, besting cases that are 2x, 3x, and even 4x the price of these cases. I received all 6 colors of the Field Case for iPhone 4, and the consistency between cases is amazing. They all fit exactly the same way, and hold the phone very tightly, with no wiggle room whatsoever. Even the cut outs for the phone's various buttons/switches are all dead on...like the very precise cutout for the vibrate switch...there's no margin for error with how close they cut this hole, yet each case I have lines up perfectly. The TPU material they used here seems to be the perfect durometer...not too hard (like the "bad" version of the Speck PixelSkin HD), and not too soft (like I feel the iSkin Solo cases are...too "sticky"). It's just firm enough that it's not going to stick to the inside of your pockets when trying to pull the phone out quickly. It has the perfect amount of elasticity, and doesn't feel like it's going to deform or stretch over time, like some other TPU cases I've used, especially in the thin part that is below the home button and above the dock connector. The case has a VERY slim fit, and in my opinion, adds just the right amount of thickness (which is very little) to the already too thin to be comfortable iPhone 4. In this case, the phone just has a very good feel in your hand.
As far as protection is concerned, obviously you're not going to get the extreme drop protection from this case like you would an Otterbox Defender, but for it's size/thickness, I'd put the Magpul up against ANY case the same thickness, and even one's twice as thick. It just seems like it could easily handle any "average", day to day drop you may encounter.
Performance:
There's really no need for any "review" in this area, but I put this section in with all of my aluminum and aluminum hybrid case reviews, but needless to say, the Magpul doesn't affect any cellular reception, wifi, GPS, or Bluetooth performance.
Final Words:
As many posters here have already said, for the price of this case ($10 or less), you absolutely can't go wrong. The guys at Magpul could EASILY get $25-$30 for this case (heck, iSkin gets $30-$35 for a basic TPU case!), and it'd STILL be a great buy. If the Incipio NGP, Otterbox Commuter (not Defender), iSkin Solo, Speck PixelSkin HD, even the Incase Slider were all the same price, I'd still choose to buy the Magpul case. In my opinion, it bests every case I just mentioned.
Now many people here have mentioned that the buttons seem hard to push, and I can see how they may say that, but I don't have much issue with that, plus, if Magpul made the case material any softer (to allow the buttons to be easier to press), I think the case overall would be too soft, and may allow it to stretch and become out of shape over time. Plus, I've used one of my trusty "hacks" for stiff buttons to make the Magpul's buttons have as much tactile feedback as a bare iPhone (I'll illustrate in pictures below).
If I had one thing to suggest to Magpul regarding these cases, I'd only suggest to add more colors. The "military" colors are fine, but it'd be really great to see a nice navy blue offering, and maybe a red and yellow as well. My favorite of the current colors is the light gray, which is the color that will be in my review photos below.
Pics (click to enlarge):
Easier to press button "hack":
If you don't like the stiffer feel of the buttons on this case as it comes from the factory, perform this little tweak to make them feel just like the phone's stock buttons...
Using an Exacto knife, CAREFULLY cut through the thin material separating the button covers from the case body, making slits in this material in the exact locations of the red lines I've drawn below. This still leaves the button covers in place, but basically reduces the amount of material attaching the covers to the case, making them MUCH softer and giving much more tactile feedback when pressing. I repeat...you're NOT cutting the button covers all the way out, just basically making thin slits down each long side of the buttons.
(Click to enlarge):
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