Case-Mate is a well known company fluent in everything iPhone accessory. With the recent launch of Apple's iPhone 5s, Case-Mate has released a variety of new cases to keep your new phone protected, and in style. Whether you need a slim and minimalistic design, a tough and rugged design, or a convenient functionality design, Case-Mate is there to offer you a hand. We have received their new Naked Tough (middle), Barely There ID, and Caliber (left) case to see if they're worthy of being your new iPhone 5s' go-to protection. To see how they stood up against the Gadgetmac review process, head on past the break!
Phantom, the name sounds menacingly good. It also happens to be the name of Case-Mate's latest rugged case made for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. The Phantom case can be thought of as the trendier replacement to Case-Mate's Tough and Tank rugged cases. With so many different types of cases and brands to choose from, the Phantom manages to put on a spectacular that has set is apart from all the tough and rugged types. Jump past the break to find out if dropping $50 of your hard earned scratch on the Phantom is worthwhile!
Worry no more, the Case-Mate Fuel Max is here to juice up your iPhone 4 so you can keep tasking away all day long. The Fuel Max is Case-Mate's largest battery case capacity made for the iPhone 4 besides the thinner Fuel Lite which has about half the battery capacity of the Fuel Max. The Fuel Max brings along a hefty, bulky form factor due to it's somewhat large battery capacity of 2000mAh. It's no doubt that the Fuel Max is firstly designed to provide you and your iPhone 4 with a good amount of extra battery life.
Even with all of the bulkiness that is the Fuel Max, it remains comfortable to hold. Having the Fuel Max in your hand is like handling a soft comfortable brick. Read more for the full review after the break!
Case-mate has released tons of great cases and I have used quite a few of their products in the past. The Hula case is one of them. The Hula case is a bumper style case which is definitely influenced by the Apple Bumper case. Even though it is much like the bumper case, it has it own uniquenesses. Some of those are the cutouts, clear body, rubber quality, and the button covers. The case features a clear body all the way around the case, unlike the bumper case which is not. Also, some of the cut outs are different as well. The headphones cut out has more space then the bumper case, and the vibrate switch has a larger cut out. I feel like you will have more different types of headphones fit into the iPhone 4 with the Hula case on. Also, the vibrate switch is easier to access then the bumper case. Now the rubber material is definitely different as well. Apple Bumper case rubber feels a lot smoother and better.
Case-Mate constantly puts out great cases out to the case market for Apple devices, and the Hula case for the iPhone 4 is yet another great case. If you're a fan of bumper style cases for the iPhone 4 then you will love the Hula case. It offers protection only around the metal band, very similar to an Apple Bumper but with one big difference in that the Hula shows off the iPhone 4's metal band thru the clear TPR plastic. The Hula incorporate a middle clear TRP plastic material with very grippy rubber outline edge. The design is very sleek looking with the colored outlines that look really nice. The rubber edging provides the slightest lip over the front and back for a very minimal lay-on-the-table design, nothing like the Apple Bumper but still sufficient.
The Hula's port cutouts are perfectly cut and centered with covered volume and sleep/wake buttons that are very responsive and easy to push. I love how the Hula's buttons are raised up which makes finding your buttons and pushing on them easy. Getting to your silent switch is easy as well and you don't need to dig your finger nail inside. While the Hula is compatible and won't lift up any of your front and back shields, it will if you do not have them installed correctly and centered. The back of my iPhone 4 has a matte PhantomSkinz skin on that I did not center correctly and the Hula lift it up a bit at the top right corner.
Iv'e always been a big fan of Case-Mate's Hybrid Tough cases for the iPhone, and now we have the popular Tough case for the iPhone 4. The Tough case does not disappoint in it's tough name, this is one tough case for the iPhone 4. The Tough case is a two part hybrid case that consists of a hard ABS plastic shell and a soft thin silicone skin to absorb shock. With these two materials combined, you get some awesome protection from drops and bumps. You would think that this case would add a lot of bulk to your iPhone but it really does not. Because of the thin silicone layer, the Tough case is about 1/2 of an inch thick and you really get a pretty non-bulky case that provides some great protection. Installation is so easy that it will take you a few seconds to put on the Tough case on your iPhone 4. And once it's on, you immediately feel that extra tough protection and security that was just added to your iPhone.
Not only does the Tough case pack some serious protection, it looks pretty futuristic with it's back pattern. You will notice that it has this texture on the hard ABD plastic shell, which provides outstanding grip. This matte hard shell also feels very smooth and soft to the touch. There is a very nice lip on the the screen from the silicone rim which provides a great lay-on-the-table design. Ports are all easily accessible. The sleep/wake and volume buttons are covered by the silicone layer and are very responsive. The camera cutout is nicely cut and does not affect the flash. The bottom part of the Tough case is also nicely cut to easily fit 3rd party sync connectors.
You can use any back skin or decal with the Tough case without any issues. The back of the Tough case does not attract any lint but the silicone parts can attract some. The only issue I came across was that the bottom piece of the silicone under the home button is a bit flimsy, and that's because of the thinness of the silicone layer. However this should not affect your everyday use. Case-Mate includes a decent clear screen protector which is a nice addition to have especially when you don'y already have one. I would highly recommend the Tough case. Available in black, gray and white. Price $34.99.
