Note: I received this case at a discount in return for submitting a review.
Also Note: I have given several reviews for phone cases for the Note 5 and this is the first one I have ever given a product 5 out of 5 stars
Although this shows as not having arrived yet on Amazon, it arrived yesterday and is now my favorite case for use whenever I am going out somewhere and need to ensure it will be able to withstand any drops... and may become my favorite overall case.
This is a case which is two pieces, black rubber and gold colored stiff plastic. You pull the case pieces apart, pop the black rubberized material piece onto the phone and snap the hard plastic piece on to hold it in place. It is extremely well made and fits on the phone very tightly.
One big advantage this case has over other protective cases is the bottom is actually indented slightly to make all the ports and the S-Pen easier to reach, while still having that thicker feel with solid thicker rubber at all four of the corners for great protection. It does also allow the phone to be places on any flat surface without having the screen or the camera lens touch the flat surface. Wireless charging works well with this case.
I haven't taken it off since I got it - and it is growing on me!
Related
I’m not a big fan of folding cases however when I received this one and removed it from the packaging, I was immediately impressed. Everything about it screamed premium from the looks and the touch all the way down to the smell.
The case is beautiful. It’s made of full grain tan leather. On the folding part of the case it has 3 elegantly stitched card slots, two of which are for your credit cards, one slot for your ID and a slot underneath those where you can put any sort of bank note although you may have to fold depending on the size of your countries currency. On the other side it has a hard plastic cover designed to clasp to the back of your phone offering additional protection against impacts and to keep your phone locked into the case. The plastic part is designed perfectly to hold on to your phone tight enough to prevent it from slipping out of the case. Only half of the plastic part is adhered to the leather to also act as a folding stand so you can watch your videos on a flat surface without having to hold your phone.
The outer part of the case is minimalistic yet very chic. That same beautiful stitching around the edge of the case appears. Down the spine there’s an overlapping piece of leather bound to the front giving it the appearance similar to that of an antique leather ledger. At the bottom right you'll notice the company’s name “Artech 21” pressed into the Italian leather. At the center of the case’s opening there’s a stitched piece of leather completing the design to latch your phone with a gentle click of the magnets residing beneath the leather.
When you flip the case over you'll notice a similar appearance to front except you'll immediately note the perfect cutouts for the IR blast, the flash and color spectrum, the camera and the trademark LG back volume and power buttons. Down the center of the case you'll see a minor crease where you can fold the case to assist the it in standing as you watch videos. To the right, you'll see the same tasteful stitching down the spine of the back and lastly you'll see the cutout slightly bigger than the loudspeaker to make sure you're getting all of your audio without any distortion.
I was chosen to review the LG G4 Premium Handmade Italian Leather Case. All in all, I give this case a 9.5/10. I deduct the .5 because it doesn't fit US banknotes as a wallet should however since I don't ever carry cash, that’s not a problem. Once again, I'm not a big fan of folding cases however this case has easily earned the title of #1 for the multiple cases I own due to it’s gorgeous design. Not only is it beautiful, it’s also a pleasure to hold. It’s very comfortable to grasp and it doesn't ever feel like it’s going to slip out of my hand. I'm also enjoying the smell of the genuine leather. There’s nothing quite like holding a little bit of mother nature into your hand in addition to the wonderful technology we have these days.
I'll upload pictures later when I have more time.
Nice!
NOTE: I received one of these free in exchange for doing a review.
Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Please note the photos I've uploaded. This is a VERY strong case which is made of two pieces, completely covering the phone. DO NOT have a screen protector on your phone when you use this case as the front of the case already has a screen protector built in. If you want the ultimate in protection for your phone, then this is it! The front first goes onto the phone and snaps on with a strong "click". I have read other reviews of this case where the reviewer left a screen protector on his phone and that causes not only for the S-Pen to not work as well but also caused problems in making the front case fit properly on the phone - the fantastic tight tolerances on this case are THAT GOOD! Talking about the screen protector, it is a very strong material which does not at all seem to be a 'finger print magnet'. Also you will note from the pictures I submitted that the tolerances of the cutouts in the screen protector for the pone speaker and home button are the exact right size and line up perfectly. Getting back to putting the case on the phone - once the front is on, then you put the back onto the phone, and the tolerances are so tight with the way the front and the back of the case fit together that you will certainly have some difficulty getting this case on and off of the phone. (You will note this is primarily because of the bottom of the phone case - see the photo with the back and front of the phone case separated but held next to each other.) However, since this case is meant to be #1 protective for this phone, to meet that end it is purposely built with the tight tolerances.
My guess is you can throw this case against a brick wall pretty hard and your phone will not break (however I did not have the guts to try that)!
Going through the remaining photos, you will note the case fits the phone extremely well. Not only is there enough coverage so that the front of the phone - as well as the back camera lens - will not touch anything if the phone is laid down on a flat surface, but the case on the front comes very close to the edge of the display, which is very well protected with the built-in screen protector. I have also read reviews of other thick protective cases where the case was so thick that sometimes a shadow would appear in photos taken by the phone because the camera lens is so deep inside of the case - but that is not the case here (no pun intended). My photos also show the holes for the charging port and S-Pen etc. The ports are covered by included 'plugs' which are part of the case and extremely well designed with ridges built in so that after extended use they should never fall open. The only downside I have found from these 'plugs' are that the S-Pen is actually not very easy to retrieve out of the phone because it is pretty deep and hard to reach. Also, if you have some kind of a plug for the power or the audio that do not fit, then you would not be able to make those holes larger without damaging the capability of the port covers. However, all the plugs and audio cables I have fit with no problem. There is also a loop on the case on one corner which I would prefer not to have, but it is strong rubber material so it could be carefully cut off with a sharp knife and nobody would ever know it was there. Better to have the option of having it or not!
The only reason why I didn't give it 5 stars is the kickstand on the back is metal, and because of that (I think that would be the only reason) the wireless charging will not work. I really wanted to give this 5 stars but in all honesty because of the wireless charging not working I couldn't do it. So please take this review as 4+ or 4.5 stars! In any event, if you want your previous phone to last forever - then this would be your case!
KruseLudsMobile said:
NOTE: I received one of these free in exchange for doing a review.
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We have a thread for reviews on this case already, with that said, I have tried several different wireless chargers, have a couple that are super thin. I slid them between the kickstand and still no luck. That was my original thought process as well, that it was the kickstand. I guess it's just too thick, sucks in that aspect.
Looks good for hiking and outdoor activities
NOTE: I received this at a discount in exchange for reviewing it.
Also NOTE: This is an outstanding case and the first fully protective case where I have given it five out of five stars on Amazon as well as here.
Please see the photos. Wireless charging works well with this case on. The phone is fully protected, front back and the sides - with this case. The only con I can find about this case is - which is not even a con - is that the two piece fit together so well that when it arrived with no instructions on how to pull it apart to insert the phone, that it is puzzling at first how to do so! DO NOT do like I did which it to try to pry the pieces apart with a knife on the front to try to open it - fortunately I did not scrape the case but soon discovered that the rubber lip on the front around the edges can be pulled back, and that is how to get the front of the case away from the back.
The pieces fit together with very tight tolerances. You first put the phone into the front of the case (and use no screen protector because one is included as part of the front of the case) - and it snaps on nice and tightly. Then you push the flexible heavy rubber-life back onto the front. When you are holding the phone case with the front facing you, and feel along the back edges on the sides of the phone, when you run your fingers up and down those edges they may feel lumpy. If you just push those lumps in then you will feel them snap into place and flatten out - this case fits the phone very well.
One thing I like in particular about this case is the raised lip around the front edge of the phone is raised higher than you will find on most other protective cases, without seeming like it is too fat around the edges of the phone. Additionally, the lip is raised less down near the home button on the phone so that there is no issue with people with large fingers trying to get the fingerprint reader to work well - another good design consideration included with this unit.
The back of the phone's hard plastic surfaces are matte so it is not at all a 'fingerprint magnet'. The indentation for the camera lens has walls that are reflective and slanted so the lens would never be obstructed by the case and there would never be any kind of shadowing affect. On the back of the phone case there are also small fake 'screw heads' that stick up and are in fact made of the heavy rubber material - and they do a good job of actually acting like nice rubber 'feet' on the back of the phone so that it will not slip when put onto a slanted surface. Although the corners and edges of the phone are made of this material, the case is still not too bulky - and not too slip resistant - to stop you from being able to slip it easily into your pocket.
The bottom edge has plugs which only cover the ports which the case designer feels would be used less often - the headphone jack and the charging port. The speaker grille is of course left uncovered and the S-Pen is actually easily accessible - the case is designed so that corner of the phone is still protected from falls, while the S-Pen is still easily reachable, which shows how well the phone case is designed. The only other case I have reviewed which had better plugs is one with plugs slightly larger than the hole with extra ridges on the side of the plug, so that it would still stay in the hole even after being pulled out hundreds of times - that is not the case here, but these plugs still fit pretty tightly and the only way to test if these would stand up to long term daily abuse is to test that for many months of wear and tear. However, I do not think that would be a problem with this phone.
To help with the grip a little better, which may be unnecessary due to the material used in this case anyway, the sides have raised ridges sticking out all the way up and down both sides of the phone. The buttons work very will and do not work so well that they would be pushed in by mistake. Additionally the buttons are easy to find by feel without looking - but in fact they still do not stick out so they would never catch on anything either!
As far as a protective rubber case for the Note 5, this one would be my top choice! Outstanding job Artech 21!
Looks like a great case, similar to the otterbox defender. Two questions? Does Tech 21 have a lifetime warranty for this case (like otterbox) and does the slot where the home button is allow too much dust in?
I am not sure about the warranty. With regards to the slot where the home button was, I only took that photo to show it was ever so slightly misaligned but forgot to mention it. I don't think any dust would get in there...
Note: I received a discount on this case in return for reviewing it.
This case is better than others which claim to offer a huge amount of protection because it is not as bulky as most of the others. One reason could be also because it does not in fact include a cover with a built-in screen protector for the front, although there are lips which do stick up around the front to protect it when the phone is placed face down on a table.
Wireless charging works well with this case as well which can be an issue with other protective cases.
The back of the phone is a shiny plastic material which can be a fingerprint magnet to a very small extent, but that is not nearly as noticeable as an issue as the phone has on the back when it has no cover. The back is also curved on the sides like the bare phone itself, so it is very comfortable to hold.
In order to make up for some possible slipperiness on the very back, you can see by the photos included that that is more than made up for by the rubber "grippy" sides. I would have preferred the side on the phone with the volume buttons to have the same rubber material all the way up the side as the side of the phone with the power button, but that is just my preference with which everyone may not agree.
On the front, the top lip and the bottom lip around the screen are hard rubber, while the sides edges are in fact the same plastic as the center of the back of the phone. They do not fit right up to the edge of the glass the same way - so on the front you can see a little of the metal edge on the top and bottom front edges of the phone with this case. However, it is just this one 'slight flaw' that makes the next paragraph possible:
It may sound counterintuitive, but what I like most about this case is that is not only a very protective case for the phone, but it is also very easy to slip on and off the phone at the same time - the rubber and plastic pieces do not have to be pulled apart from each other to put the phone in or to take it out. Just grap a couple corners and with a little effort it will pop off - not so easy that it would ever slip off on it's own - it is very snug. It may seem like a silly thing, but I have a custom proclip holder in the car (for the bare phone) - and I like to slip my phone into that when I get into the car. As that requires removing the case and slipping it back on, when I am using the other protective cases for my phone I am forced to just not use the proclip holder those times when I am driving - except not with this case!
All in all I really like this case and I'll be using it a lot!
wondermanyoulove said:
it is 4.99 dollars in Ebay
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Probably one of the other reviewers. I still have mine.
I find most cases get slippery on the sides.
I had speck in the past but it was OK any others that you recommend thanks
From what I've seen so far:
1. Spigen Liquid Air - Seems to have some good grip potential, especially with ridges on the sides. However, the gap around the camera bump is an interesting design choice...
2. Samsung OEM Matte Black Silicone Case - Seems to have a decent grip on the matte finish and very minimal.
3. Pitaka Air or MagEZ Case - While I haven't used them myself, I've heard good things about the grip/feel of the Ipitaka cases.
I'm personally going to try the PItaka MagEZ case when it becomes available (Aug 21st) since I like the idea of having embedded metal so I don't have to stick a scosche metal piece on the back of the case.
Also, just a heads up. According to some initial reviews on the new speck 'grip' cases, they're using a more plastic-feeling material for grips instead of rubberized and people are not happy about it. (I previously used them as well)
I switch phones often, but one thing that remains constant is my Pitaka MagEZ cases. Have purchased well over 10 of them at this point. Wouldn't choose any other thin case
PseudoChris said:
From what I've seen so far:
1. Spigen Liquid Air - Seems to have some good grip potential, especially with ridges on the sides. However, the gap around the camera bump is an interesting design choice...
2. Samsung OEM Matte Black Silicone Case - Seems to have a decent grip on the matte finish and very minimal.
3. Pitaka Air or MagEZ Case - While I haven't used them myself, I've heard good things about the grip/feel of the Ipitaka cases.
I'm personally going to try the PItaka MagEZ case when it becomes available (Aug 21st) since I like the idea of having embedded metal so I don't have to stick a scosche metal piece on the back of the case.
Also, just a heads up. According to some initial reviews on the new speck 'grip' cases, they're using a more plastic-feeling material for grips instead of rubberized and people are not happy about it. (I previously used them as well)
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Does the pitika have a lip to protect the screen? Thanks
magichoward said:
Does the pitika have a lip to protect the screen? Thanks
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The "Air" series cases generally don't rise above the screen.
They do have a thicker "Pro" series option with a raised lip to protect the screen, bumpers on the corners, etc.
Samsung OEM silicon. Can confirm it has excellent grip
seoulbrova said:
Samsung OEM silicon. Can confirm it has excellent grip
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The cloth one does as well since there's a slim silicone band along the edge.
zedwards said:
The cloth one does as well since there's a slim silicone band along the edge.
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Yes I've seen the one the only concern I've read it's a little difficult to remove the spen.. Your thoughts.
I will never choose Pitaka again.
Edges are rough and the upper part could have covered more
But I especially won't because it damaged my Note 10+ because of a defect in the inside of the case that made a grain of sand sized hole in the back of my phone.
Been using the Zizo Bolt on my Note 10+ for over 6 months. Excellent grip, usability and protection.
Kick stand doubles as a grip; either fully retract/extend it to keep from losing it's pins, if not secured in either position they can work their way out in your pocket! No issues with this case otherwise.
The one for the 20 seems to come with a temper glass screen protector; that may not work so well.
That's not present on the one for the 10.
Presumably you can use it without and substitute one one your choice?
Damn the 20's cam has a big bullseye on it... no likey. Buying a good case for the 10+ was very hard early on, no doubt the 20 U will be harder to protect
https://www.zizowireless.com/produc...axy-note-20-ultra-case?variant=32315584282672
magichoward said:
I find most cases get slippery on the sides.
I had speck in the past but it was OK any others that you recommend thanks
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https://www.amazon.com/JJNUSA-Handmade-Leather-Samsung-Galaxy/dp/B08DXWJSQ1?ref_=ast_sto_dp
you know i never thought trying to find a case was going to leave me so hard pressed. note i do not mind the camera bump one bit. but they could have rounded out the camera hump a bit more. not the corners, but where the surface meets the edges and also they could have slanted the sides a bit more angled. who knows they did pull it off pretty good.
still on the camera bump.
note: with JJNUSA leather case you will be covering the mic on the camera bump. if that is a problem for you look elsewhere for a case.
i have received 200 in incentives to order goodies when i got my phone pre ordered and used it to order a few cases.
cases i ordered:
samsung rugged: bulky, heavy, don't like the texture on the back and flimsy kickstands that shoot off when used
samsung leather case: upgrade from last years, 2g lighter. seamless, but warps at the bottom. good cam protection.
samsun silicon: unsure if food grade safe. and slippery as glass
-other cases-
spigen Rugged Armor: oddly best all tpu case with carbon fiber accents. the back is slippery if trying to reach across the screen. side bumpers have one way slip grip and flimsy. camera is well protected. pen cut out too deep corner exposed but covered. top /bottom bumper good but top may block ear piece. 2g heavier then jjnusa leather
...now my official review of the JJNUSA Handmade Leather Case...
NOTE i used amazon prime
don't let the first pic they have on amazon throw you off, but what bothers me is the video they added to the product and it is of the s20 ultra; the camera lens is so scratched. i am still baffled how they did that. then again we will see in due time, because i can not stand the samsung leather case(which got me hooked on leather cases oddly) it is too slippery. the jjnusa case has tpu sides and saddle leather on back with plastic on the inside that the phone rests on. but i will say the leather on the back is so soft i think it sorta makes up for the lack of suede like the official samsung case has. then again the leather is so thick its' edges pop out the mold a teensy-weensy bit, but i doubt with proper use and not picking at it it will survive for a long time. with the 5% off coupon i also got another 1 usd off(who knows if it was the amazon prime). so for 19.95 it is a steal. most other leather cases are $30+. a steal; why may you say? hold on let me get to the rest of it. if we all remember the lg g4 leather back it was a looker. that was it, because it scratched easily and punctured easily. then we go onto the samsung leather case that scratches easily with minimal show. further more i can not say what that will mean over long term usage with this case from jjnusa. treat it lightly and it should be fine. now back to the leather on the jjnusa case. the leather reminds me of the type you get on a saddle and does not separate from itself. that is a plus. but a minus if the antiquing they use comes off very very easily?, and it does(con or not?) i had a cane that had antiquing and it turned my hands black, but after it leveled out it was fine. you know they always slap so much on to fill in the design that almost certainly more then half they put on will rub off. i have rubbed off some already. hence it would not rub off like wow, i had to use my nail. no way does it show like scratches on the samsung leather case. either way the extra antiquing will no matter what fade away over time and settle down to where it should be. i still think it will look good. at the same time the leather is much more scratch resistant then the latter. and the design and the look really grew on me. now on to the sides. the power button and volume are labeled with symbols and i like it even though i will never look at it. what else i like is that they are tpu like the rest of the sides. the tactile of the buttons are sturdy then again not too stiff not too mushy. then there is a bonus or an achilles heal; you move down the same side as the buttons and find a wrist strap punch out so you can add a wrist strap. have not tested it, seems like it should be worthy of use and not fearing. the bonus is removing the phone from the case, it does not shoot out like it does with the samsung leather case does. still it holds it in better. this is where i tell you that the jjnusa case has way better screen protection that leaves a better feel in the hand. the samsung leather case has a squidgy spongy top and bottom. the bottom is already warped and i never used it; i just put it on a few times and took it off. also a fail for the bottom bumper is the difficulty to remove the spen without nails. the jjnusa case is cut out just right and since it is thinner and more stiffer in a good way you can press your thumb or finger and hear that satisfying click to eject it. with that said the top and bottom bumper are raised higher then the samsung to protect the screen. the samsung case is more flush and flimsy.
i am a happy camper and if it fairs well i will update to 5 stars from 4, but i am really thinking at the price to slap down for another. as we all know leather cases do not last as long as other types
the reason i gave it 4 stars is i never really heard of JJNUSA till i saw them on etsy.com and since they where based in china i thought meh. then i thought to ebay's third party cases and said but leather? does not smell much like leather, oddly that is how saddles with the same type of leather smells. or it could be the antiquing they used and the shipping package. it was not shipped in a box or cheap plastic, it was in a cloth sleeve in a sealed padded envelope. JJNUSA do claim Oregon origins... yeah right etsy.com says ships from china.
i have played around with plenty of cases and phones in cases so it's not like i only have really had the note 20 ultra... just do not get one of them ultra thin all tpu cases. i have one for my lg g4 and only really protects the sides and back. busted the screen.