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New Screwless Aluminum Case - Aeris Rail

dwa2011

dwa2011

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 1, 2011
197
0
Northwest Atlanta
Saw this case a few months ago. It looked awesome so I had to get one. I will do a review soon. but what do you guys think of it?! its faired great for me!

Aeris Rail

I am ready for the kickstand and the visor to come out already!!! I want them too! any personal thoughts tho?!
Thanks for the input guys!
 
I was ready to hate it but I like it, just not the over $100 price tag
 
well as for bulky, it may look like it, but it really isn't and it fits well in my hand. my signal hasn't seen a hit either. maybe its just because I have verizon.

I agree with Arnezie - the price is the only thing that I personally did not like about the case.

Oh, and its nothing like the SwitchEasy Trim. I have held one before and this case is much higher quality.
 
dwa2011 said:
well as for bulky, it may look like it, but it really isn't and it fits well in my hand. my signal hasn't seen a hit either. maybe its just because I have verizon
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kinda jealous. i have verizon as well and the glidecase in some areas almost fully kills the reception but then in other areas it doesnt affect it
 
white4s said:
kinda jealous. i have verizon as well and the glidecase in some areas almost fully kills the reception but then in other areas it doesnt affect it
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well, verizon flawless in GA. I love it here. I havent ever struggled with signal.

firemedicmark said:
looks cool, but $109 holy crap!
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I do agree, thats the only downside. I think they are hosting a give-a-way!

Tsunobi said:
I said it "looks" like the Trim because of the ribbed design around the frame...
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Oh. my bad. I just know that it will have a kickstand and visor soon that you can put on the edges. and they are more of ribs... not annoying to hold like i thought.
 
dwa2011 said:
well, verizon flawless in GA. I love it here. I havent ever struggled with signal.
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im right outside NYC so they're also flawless here, just not when you wrap a metal case around an antenna lol.......ill never understand apple's decision to do that :confused:
 
Sorry but EVERY case that does not have a built in "radio friendly area" hits the signal UNLESS you're sitting on top of a tower all the time. All the aluminum cases say the same thing... no signal issues, yet after tons have dropped the $100+ for the case most have issues. (all you need to do is go onto any aluminum case thread here on MR to prove my point) Maybe this case will be the exception to that rule but I doubt it.
 
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I do like the look of the case.

My only question is how easy is it to take off? I see that it snaps into place but what is the process to remove?

That is always my concern with cases as pressure or lack of grip could have a disastrous effect on the phone.
 
DroidRules said:
Sorry but EVERY case that does not have a built in "radio friendly area" hits the signal UNLESS you're sitting on top of a tower all the time. All the aluminum cases say the same thing... no signal issues, yet after tons have dropped the $100+ for the case most have issues. (all you need to do is go onto any aluminum case thread here on MR to prove my point) Maybe this case will be the exception to that rule but I doubt it.
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I am just commenting on my personal experience. I do not know how to test my signal (i see people with numbers and stuff like -76 and stuff but idk about that) I just know that the case has been good and i havent seen any hit on my signal in GA.

XR7CAT said:
I do like the look of the case.

My only question is how easy is it to take off? I see that it snaps into place but what is the process to remove?

That is always my concern with cases as pressure or lack of grip could have a disastrous effect on the phone.
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I will be posting a video as soon as I can get out of this semester of college, my grades are slipping and i need to focus on them more -_-

but to answer your question, its not difficult to take off. its very secure, you just have to apply pressure to the right points if that makes sense. And when you pop off the aluminum part, the plastic casing is more difficult to get off, but that is because of how tight it is. You just have to pop the plastic part off too. I know that sounds too easy, but it is just that simple. As for grip, I have loved the way this case feels in my hand.
 
Hello Everyone-- Many thanks for your feedback and for checking out our cases! In terms of the pricing: we certainly understand that it is quite a premium but to be quite honest, it's a very difficult case to manufacture since it's made from a solid block of aircraft aluminum. With that said, we are actually running a [two-week] promotion in a couple of days where we will be selling the Rail for $73; this is because we are getting ready to launch the Rail+Visor Bundle (front & back covers) very soon.

Aeris%20Billet.jpg

More pics are located on our FB page: http://www.facebook.com/aerisllc

It's such precise work, that sometimes we have to cut the metal in 5-micron increments because any deeper and we ruin the tight tolerances; this takes a lot of time and effort. Regarding the signal issue, we actually DO have a built in (proprietary) isolation area to keep the signal optimal and high. In fact the strong signal is what most people notice first about the case.

We are a very small company, so we get really excited when you guys check out our designs. THANKS VERY MUCH :)
 
dwa2011 said:
I am just commenting on my personal experience. I do not know how to test my signal (i see people with numbers and stuff like -76 and stuff but idk about that) I just know that the case has been good and i havent seen any hit on my signal in GA.
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Many people have no issue but from what those people (typically) say is they are in a strong signal area most of the time. My signal at home isn't as strong, yet is very useable but put a full aluminum case on and it's not. At one of my jobs my signal is very sketchy to begin with, useable but 2 bars, put an aluminum case on and forget about it. I now have the black ops on my 4s and don't have any issues. Draco, Blade, original Element all sank my reception and the only thing that links them all is no "open" area over the antenna. Like I said with the open area of the black ops no issues. YMMV but unfortunately for me and many like me not being able to use my phone with a particular case is a deal breaker. Maybe these guys fixed the issue but I'm not dropping the $$ to find out. Fool me once shame on you, full me 3/4 times simply makes me an idiot! (only took me $250 or so dollars to stop buying full aluminum bumpers!)


AerisLLC said:
Regarding the signal issue, we actually DO have a built in (proprietary) isolation area to keep the signal optimal and high. In fact the strong signal is what most people notice first about the case.
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For those of you whining about the price, do you have any idea what it takes to design the product/set up CnC machines? Gotta pay to play people.

You have an isolation area but it still appears to be solid aluminum over the antenna. It's not the touching that causes issues it's the solid "wrap" over the antenna that appears to be cuasing the issue. The only cases that the majority of people say DON't cause problems for most are the ones that have the bottom left/right (depends on how you're looking) "open" from aluminum. I assure you I made sure there was NO contact with the aluminum while using other style aluminum cases with no opening and result was all the same. The best looking aluminum case IMHO was the Draco that has NO opening and it made my phone all but useless. When the elements first came out with no opening it did the same. Just wondering how you guys have possibly resolved this issue without the opening.
 
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On that note my ikuba aluminum which is open on the top has absolutely no impact on my signal while it is full aluminum. even my vapor pro has had a small affect on my phone. I aslo believe any aluminum case that fully "encases" the phone will have an impact no matter what.

DroidRules said:
For those of you whining about the price, do you have any idea what it takes to design the product/set up CnC machines? Gotta pay to play people.

You have an isolation area but it still appears to be solid aluminum over the antenna. It's not the touching that causes issues it's the solid "wrap" over the antenna that appears to be cuasing the issue. The only cases that the majority of people say DON't cause problems for most are the ones that have the bottom left/right (depends on how you're looking) "open" from aluminum. I assure you I made sure there was NO contact with the aluminum while using other style aluminum cases with no opening and result was all the same. The best looking aluminum case IMHO was the Draco that has NO opening and it made my phone all but useless. When the elements first came out with no opening it did the same. Just wondering how you guys have possibly resolved this issue without the opening.
Click to expand...
 
DroidRules said:
For those of you whining about the price, do you have any idea what it takes to design the product/set up CnC machines? Gotta pay to play people.
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Many thanks for this comment-- much appreciated! :)


DroidRules said:
...Just wondering how you guys have possibly resolved this issue without the opening.
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DroidRules,

I'd really like to tell you how this all works, but since we are a very small start up, it's actually one of the very, very few things that gives our humble business a small advantage over the big guys. We will divulge this at some point, but as for now while we are trying to grow, we need to keep it proprietary-- my apologies.

However, I will say that it has a little to do with the type of aluminum we use. My counterpart, "The Engineer" is experienced with developing parts for Formula3 Racing Cars and he always prefers to use high-grade/top-end raw materials; even if it adds a bit more cost on our side. This is just his style, he's very prideful when he makes things...
 
Very good..... If you guys have managed to work it out you'll be the first! I wish you good luck and would be happy to pick up one of your cases after many others have tested it. Been burnt to many times with full aluminum bumpers to take a $70 chance again.

Nice work though.
 
Here's a youtube review of the Aeris Rail that I found. This isn't me.

Just one guy's review, but he gave the bumper very high praise. If you dont want to watch (vid is about 5 minutes), here are some bullet points from his review.

Pros:

+ Look great and feels good in hand
+ Works with BOTH back and front screen protectors on at the same time
+ No signal degradation (no demonstration in video)

Cons

- Cutout for volume button is fairly deep
- Cutout for 30-pin is deep, so you have to remove the bumper to dock it

Unanswered Questions/Points

= Looked easy to put on, but is it easy to remove?
= Will repeated removal damage the plastic insert that goes on before the aluminum bumper?
= Would like to see a speed or signal test from different people using this bumper
= How does the case make the On/Off button feel?

I think the biggest endorsement he gave was that he hasn't gone back to another case since getting the Aeris Rail and doesn't want to take it off (video posted on April 9th). Needless to say, I'm very interested. I'm trying to budget, so if this ever gets on Amazon, I'm on it because I have a lot of gift cards!
 
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Nice review! What screen shields are you using? Also, does the plastic insert feel like it'll hold up if you repeatedly took it off/on?
 
MaorinClaire said:
Nice review! What screen shields are you using? Also, does the plastic insert feel like it'll hold up if you repeatedly took it off/on?
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Looks like you copied and pasted a comment from the youtube video lol. Just a reminder, that wasn't my video. Here's the reviewer's response, "I actually do take it off everyday to dock my phone into the charger. Its held up just fine". I actually saw another video--can't seem to find it now--but that reviewer was using the Moshi iVisor for the iPhone 4s. That's a pretty thick screen protector and the Rail didn't interfere with it at all.
 
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