Review: a couple of my favourite Apple iPhone 7 Plus/8 Plus cases
Reviewing the Apple iPhone 8 Plus for a week or so hasn't been without its trepidations. Not least that the phone is both very expensive and very droppable. Cases and iPhones seem to go together like strawberries and cream!
Happily, I found two terrific solutions. Both claim to be for the iPhone 7 Plus, but they fit the 8 Plus perfectly too.
The iPhone sits in a tight fitting neoprene lined sheath and then the faux-leather wraps around as shown above and below. There's the inevitable in crease in cased thickness:
...but the big gains are protection from the front (i.e. to the screen) and when watching media. This latter is very interesting, given the iPhone 8 Plus's enhanced speaker set-up - they're very loud and with great bass. Perfect for using the case's integral hinge to proper up the phone for some Netflix or YouTube enjoyment?
The Spigen case here is immensely grippy and with genuinely high quality tough moulded TPU. It's tight enough that the iPhone never feels remotely like coming out yet just stretchy enough to get the phone in and out quickly when needed. It's a tough balance to get right, yet Spigen keeps managing it.
In situ, the iPhone 8 Plus feels thicker but also super-secure and you'll be using the phone in far more situations with complete confidence. I think you could drop the iPhone in this case a dozen times from waist height onto concrete and you'd probably be fine. (Don't DO this, by the way!)
The fit and finish is perfect, with only one side aperture, for the iPhone's mute switch, and this is well designed and accessible:
But, as they say, if this is the worst I can say about the case then it must be just about perfect in other ways. And it is.
Both cases come highly recommended by me.
Happily, I found two terrific solutions. Both claim to be for the iPhone 7 Plus, but they fit the 8 Plus perfectly too.
Olixar Brown Leather-style Wallet (£8 - on offer!)
If you're going to have a case for your iPhone, why not go all out and make it fully protective and fully functional? This 'leather style' case feels far better than it has any right to at £8 and is amazing value.The iPhone sits in a tight fitting neoprene lined sheath and then the faux-leather wraps around as shown above and below. There's the inevitable in crease in cased thickness:
...but the big gains are protection from the front (i.e. to the screen) and when watching media. This latter is very interesting, given the iPhone 8 Plus's enhanced speaker set-up - they're very loud and with great bass. Perfect for using the case's integral hinge to proper up the phone for some Netflix or YouTube enjoyment?
The extra depth of the cased phone may put some people off - but you're either someone who loves folio cases or hates them with a passion.
For me, they're justified if they look and feel good and if they add something extra in terms of functions. And the stand mode is top notch here.
Overall, a big thumbs up at the price - you really can't go wrong.
Spigen Rugged Armour (£18)
My other favourite case style is the in-situ, TPU-all-round, but not just any old plastic - the cheap TPU cases offer little protection and threaten to fall off any minute. So I swear by the Spigen Rugged Amour cases and have been using the one for the ZTE Axon 7 for many months very happily.The Spigen case here is immensely grippy and with genuinely high quality tough moulded TPU. It's tight enough that the iPhone never feels remotely like coming out yet just stretchy enough to get the phone in and out quickly when needed. It's a tough balance to get right, yet Spigen keeps managing it.
In situ, the iPhone 8 Plus feels thicker but also super-secure and you'll be using the phone in far more situations with complete confidence. I think you could drop the iPhone in this case a dozen times from waist height onto concrete and you'd probably be fine. (Don't DO this, by the way!)
The fit and finish is perfect, with only one side aperture, for the iPhone's mute switch, and this is well designed and accessible:
Being designed for the 7 Plus, this case does have the one very minor cosmetic issue in that the Apple logo isn't centred properly in the back cutout:
But, as they say, if this is the worst I can say about the case then it must be just about perfect in other ways. And it is.
Both cases come highly recommended by me.
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