My tryst for the perfect iPhone 7 case has now passed the half a dozen mark and yet it continues to elude me. For a moment, I felt that this case might just do the job but ultimately it wasn’t good enough to even stand up against my first case – Spigen Ultra Hybrid, which to be fair is a lot more expensive. As a divergence from my usually elaborate review, I will just list the Pros and Cons here.
Pros:
1. The design is along the lines of most protective cases, so the raised lips at the front and the lens cutout at the back seem fit for the purpose of protecting the screen and the lens when placed on flat surfaces.
2. The case is translucent enough to not completely obscure the form of the phone or the Apple logo at the back. It also lends well to hiding discolouration.
3. The “jelliness” feels good enough to absorb shocks but isn’t personally field tested.
Cons:
1. If first impressions last, then the packaging certainly doesn’t put its best foot forward. In fact, it is identical to what is sold along the roadside which leads me to conclude that the case is grossly overpriced for its quality since most silicone cases sell for around the 100-150 mark.
2. There is a reason that most renowned cases use TPU which is a far sturdier material. This one is made completely out of silicone. Silicone tends to be extremely sticky which makes it impractical to use with sweaty hands in the Indian summer heat. It also makes the insertion and removal of the case from the pocket a tad difficult. However, the worst experience I had within the first 24 hours was the tendency of the sticky silicone to pick up lint which blocked all the openings at the bottom. This is likely to be an issue since the iPhone has the popular problem of its lightning port getting clogged with lint which in turn results in the device not charging till the lint is scrapped off.
3. Although I used it only for a day before returning the product, it did pick up a lot of minute scratches. Also, silicone being porous, the case is bound to have a higher degree of discolouration in the future. So I don’t think the looks will last long.
4. A minor irritant was the roughness along the edges of the cutout for the lightning port which would scrape against my little finger when gripping the phone firmly with one hand.
To conclude, the case certainly looks the part initially but isn’t a good option for the long run. I would recommend a TPU case anytime in spite of its higher cost due to more robust protection and lack of stickiness in the Indian heat.
