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Case-Mate Tough Case Review

After waiting for the Otterbox since I bought my Evo in July, the Tough Case comes out first. Here are some pictures and my thoughts.

I've used two different cases before this one. The Seidio Innocase II surface and a $7 TPU case from Ebay. The Innocase is the weakest of the bunch in my opinion, it's the same price as the Tough Case, but when comparing the two, the Tough Case is easily the better choice. The Innocase feels extremely cheap and wiggles too much for my liking. The TPU case was cheap, functional and my main case up until I received the Tough Case.

Pros:

  • Excellent protection, uses a silicone skin as the first layer and a hard plastic shell as it's outer layer.
  • It feels very well made and while still expensive considering, feels worth it compared to similar cases out there.
  • Nice grip to the phone.
  • Protects camera lens when the phone is facing up.
  • Protects screen when phone is facing down.
  • Comes with screen protectors and cloth.
  • It's out now, you don't have to wait for the Otterbox.

Cons:

  • Still expensive compared to what you can find on eBay.
  • The silicon on the bottom wiggles slightly, some may find it annoying.
  • Personal preference, but I wish the camera, speaker, flash area was covered up a little more (like the sample Otterbox cases), it seems like dust could get in there easily.
  • Speaking of dust, the silicon skin attracts dust when it's in your pocket.

This is easily the best case out of the 3 I have. I was going to wait for Otterbox's Commuter case, but I was impressed with the Tough Case on a friend's HTC Incredible, so I picked one up for my Evo from Case-mate's website. I highly recommend it.

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Hi Lloyd,

Do you feel that the camera is protected enough with that big hole in the back? The yet unreleased (boo!) Otterbox case(s) looks like there might be better protection there, but do you think the Case Mate is good enough?

Otterbox Commuter Case example:
http://cdn.otterbox.com/images/products/375/htc4-evo4g-20-c4otr.2.jpg

I'm personally the kind of person who always has his phone in his pocket, so I am concerned for lint creep and scratching.

Thanks,
beartrax79
 
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Hi Lloyd,

Do you feel that the camera is protected enough with that big hole in the back? The yet unreleased (boo!) Otterbox case(s) looks like there might be better protection there, but do you think the Case Mate is good enough?

Otterbox Commuter Case example:
http://cdn.otterbox.com/images/products/375/htc4-evo4g-20-c4otr.2.jpg

I'm personally the kind of person who always has his phone in his pocket, so I am concerned for lint creep and scratching.

Thanks,
beartrax79
I keep my phone in my pocket all the time and the lint isn't that big of a deal, although there is some.

As for the camera cut out, I think they should have covered it up more like Otterbox has. That's my only complaint about this case, but I'll say that it is good enough for me and I'm picky about stuff like that.
 
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The buttons are covered up and they are easy to press. Much easier, in my opinion, than through my old TPU case.

Hmm...that's the only thing keeping me from buying this case. Everything else about it looks awesome. My old TPU one was just so frustrating. If you can in your best words, how much easier is it to press? Lol, I know that's not really a tangible thing that you can tell me over text.
 
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Hmm...that's the only thing keeping me from buying this case. Everything else about it looks awesome. My old TPU one was just so frustrating. If you can in your best words, how much easier is it to press? Lol, I know that's not really a tangible thing that you can tell me over text.
The power button is just easy to press. I can't describe that in any other detail other than it just turns on my phone whenever I press it. You don't have to get used to it, it just works.

The volume rocker on the other hand is different. The covering on the rocker itself is the only silicone part (the first layer), what is around that is the hard outer shell. Because of that, the rocker is recessed a little but it's not hard to press because of the outer shell, meaning that you'll only be hitting up or down on the rocker. It's hard to explain, but I honestly don't find pressing the buttons that big of a deal. When I was about to buy the case I was worried about this as well, but it turned out to be fine.
 
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The power button is just easy to press. I can't describe that in any other detail other than it just turns on my phone whenever I press it. You don't have to get used to it, it just works.

The volume rocker on the other hand is different. The covering on the rocker itself is the only silicone part (the first layer), what is around that is the hard outer shell. Because of that, the rocker is recessed a little but it's not hard to press because of the outer shell, meaning that you'll only be hitting up or down on the rocker. It's hard to explain, but I honestly don't find pressing the buttons that big of a deal. When I was about to buy the case I was worried about this as well, but it turned out to be fine.

Cool, thanks man. I didn't think it'd be an issue at all with any case, but after using the Ebay TPU case, I just couldn't stand how sticky and difficult it was after like a week...

I understand what you're saying about the volume buttons. There's a hole in the hard plastic, then there's the silicon covering the buttons.

I'm probably gonna order this case. Thanks for the review.
 
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I keep my phone in my pocket all the time and the lint isn't that big of a deal, although there is some.

As for the camera cut out, I think they should have covered it up more like Otterbox has. That's my only complaint about this case, but I'll say that it is good enough for me and I'm picky about stuff like that.


Thanks Lloyd! I just today had a used Seidio Innocase II Surface fall into my lap, and I think that'll let me hold out until Otterbox gets their act together. If I didn't suddenly have that option though, I'd probably have bought this today on your recommendation.

Its really hard NOT to put a case on an expensive piece of equipment and wait for the unknown Otterbox case arrival date, and it looks like Case Mate made a case that *almost* covers all of my issues. ;)
 
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Thanks Lloyd, your review inspired me to buy this case!

Ive had mine for about 5 days and I love it. My only problem with it though is that the hard shell does not sit flush with the silicone on the left side of the phone. like so;
4958858520

I push and push and push
4958264557

and it just wont stay.
4958858754

It's worse on the top left corner of the case than it is in the bottom left corner.

Am I the only one with this problem?

(Note: I can not see the images I added in, Im on a crappy mac running crappy safari and all that is showing up is a question mark inside of a blue box. So if you cant see them heres a link to one of the pictures http://www.flickr.com/photos/bafoote/4958858520/ Also, this is officially my third time ever posting in a forum so if I mucked it all up Im sorry.)
 
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Thanks Lloyd, I kinda figured you were because it looked like it in your pictures. I hope it works out well for you. Ill keep everyone posted on how they respond.

This 'separation' isnt exactly a deal breaker for me. It is a really nice case, sturdy and strong. It has already taken a pretty gnarly spill (from the top of a dryer to hard linoleum) and my phone is still ok. That being said Im still going to email case mate. I just hate having to go through sending it back and waiting for another one and all that fun stuff.
 
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