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Review of Trident Kraken AMS case for Note 3 w/lots of pics!!!

twister6

Android Expert
Jul 30, 2010
2,247
928
This is a review of Trident Kraken AMS case for Galaxy Note 3. Kraken A.M.S. Case for Samsung Galaxy Note 3

After posting a review of Trident Cyclops for Note 3, I came to a conclusion about that case having a perfect balance between slim and tough. If you are looking for no compromises and need the maximum protection for your Note 3, stepping up to Kraken AMS is the way to go. With triple layer of protection this case can withstand a very high level of abuse, and it has been tested to Military Standards to meet or exceed MIL-STD-810L requirements. What makes it so tough? Let's take a closer look.

Just like all other Trident cases, it arrived in a box with a clear front display and a full view of the case where the back of the box had details of all the features. The side of the box also includes icons of available AMS attachments. AMS is actually stands for Adaptive Modular System which enables various attachments/accessories to be connected to the back of the outer exoskeleton shell. The case design starts with an inner soft silicon shell, which is actually sold by itself as Perseus AMS case for Note 3. This is a light duty soft sleeve case which you can use as standalone for the occasions when you need just a minimal scratch and bump protection. Once you are ready for a more serious protection, you place Perseus AMS case into a heavy duty exoskeleton shell made out of hardened PC material with reinforced TPE corners. The same TPE material is used to fully seal power and volume buttons (still allowing an easy access and tactile response), and to protect with flexible port covers headphone, micro-usb, and s-pen ports. This outer shell also features a loop for lanyard to add more security when handling this case outdoors, and opening for sliding AMS accessories. The TPE corners also work as skid pads to prevent case from sliding across the surface.

In order to enhance screen protection of your Note 3, Kraken AMS adds a front frame with an attached screen protector, similar to Cyclops series model. This adds an ultimate screen scratch protection and seals the screen for use in a light rain, dust, or wind. It doesn't make this case waterproof since you still have openings for home buttons, speaker, camera and notification light, but it gives you a piece of mind if you need to use your phone or take a call outside when elements of nature are not in your favor. As part of AMS system, you get one of the accessories bundled with a case - multimedia kickstand. Solid metal construction, its a nice interlocking kickstand for landscape/portrait positioning of your phone to enjoy watching a movie or YT video, etc. In my follow-up Part 2 of the review, I will take a closer look at car mount attachment where Trident and Arkon are partnering together to deliver an ultimate solution for use inside of the car as well. In addition, this Kraken AMS case also comes with a unique belt clip holster. We all know how big Note 3 is to begin with, so using an even bigger holster would add more bulk to carry on your belt clip. Here, Trident came up with a minimal design approach of a slim holster bracket with a clip that can rotate 360 degree and securely attaches to the front of your phone/case.

Overall, this is one tough case to consider if you are looking for a serious protection for your Note 3 and would like to have flexibility of either slimming it down or adding more options as part of it's modular system. Also, it has quite a price spread depending on color selection when you look on Amazon where you find it as low as $33.40 for red color and up to $50 for a black color version. Personally, I think a red Kraken AMS case for $33 plus change is a steal.

Here are the pictures.

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As promised, in Part 2 of Trident Kraken AMS case review for Note 3, I would like to cover more details about one of the modular attachments specific to a car mount. http://www.tridentcase.com/shop-products/arkon/

For those who are not familiar, Trident and Arkon formed a partnership (http://www.tridentcase.com/company/arkon.aspx) where now you are able to utilize collection of various Arkon car mounts with Kraken AMS cases. As I mentioned in my original review, Kraken AMS series is designed as an ultimate case with additional layers of protection. With additional layers comes increase of the overall size and thus possibility of not being compatible with some of your other car mounts. Furthermore, some of the other car mounts might not be able to have a secure enough grip with a large case. Or perhaps your job and transportation requires a sturdy attachment of your phone in the car/truck. Now, you don't have to give up on your Kraken case and instead enhance it with a mounting panel attachment for mating with a series of Arkon car mounts, which btw among some of the best quality mounts I have tested.

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The attachment is very simple. Slide out multimedia kickstand, and slide in spring loaded back panel attachment which is designed to mate with Arkon car mount. The connection of that back panel is very secure, no wobble or any movement. You do it once, and leave it as is. Then, every time you get to your car, slide it to mate with Arkon car mount which also forms a very secure connection. Beside having almost permanent-like attachment of your phone to a car mount, you always have an advantage of completely exposed back panel of the case to use your camera as dashcam.

In addition to Kraken AMS for phones and back panel attachment used in my review, there is also another attachment offered for Kraken AMS tablet cases that works in a similar way to secure your tablet with available Trident cases to Arkon car mounts (especially those with headrest or extended arm options).

Here are the pictures.

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