Over the years I've tried countless cases for various smartphones. Some I have loved and some I have hated. There are cases which are technically marvellous but rarely fit into my personal life. There are others where the extended capabilities of the hardware are needed for a short period and it becomes a 'special team' player.
And then there's the case that I turn to in my day-to-day life. And it's not even a case, it's a bumper.
Evolutive Labs worked through Kickstarter to finance its first Rhinoshield CrashGuard bumper in 2014. It reached nearly a quarter million dollars in funding and proved to be a success. It now has a wide range of cases not just for the iPhone, but also for a number of Samsung Galaxy handsets as well as designs for HTC, OnePlus, and Google's Nexus devices.
Although fixed together, the bumper is a two-piece design which allows for multiple colors to be used (and there's a wide range available on the website). Some buttons have cut-outs so you can reach them (such as the iPhone's mute key), while others have the second more bendable layer of plastic jutting through to create a bigger button.
The harder plastic ridge on the outside protects against scratching and has extra reinforcement at the corners. It extends past the edge of the phone so it lifts the back plate and screen up from contact with a flat surface. The inner layer will flex slightly to accommodate any impact damage. The honeycomb structure moulded into the surface that touches your smartphone creates pockets of air for more cushioning, and also helps spread any impact over a larger area.
The case is a snug fit around the outer edges, and needs a little bit of flexing at the corner to pop it in. Once this is done I found it to be secure and the bumper felt part of the phone.
After two years there's a touch of wear in the lower corner where I have constantly popped the bumper off an don my handset (as I said, I test a lot of cases on my phones) and the bright orange/yellow color has been weathered to a slightly duller colour, but the functionality is still there. It's comfortable to hold in the hand, it minimises the bulk added to the external dimensions, and it has seen a good few drops onto concrete in its time and kept my smartphone running.
If you're looking for a new bumper, I'd strongly recommend you consider the Rhinoshield CrashGuard.
Disclaimer: Evolutive Labs provided my first CrashGuard as a review sample.
