Search the Community

When I ordered my iPhone 5 there was a two week wait. This gave me time to think about the case I was going to buy. While I was searching for the coolest cases available I found this article. http://gizmodo.com/5...r-your-iphone-5 The guy was absolutely right, why the hell would I buy the thinest, lightest most beautiful handheld device ever devised... only to cover it up. So I want to tell you guys some reasons I feel that it's dumb to put a case your iPhone. Let me start off by saying, I just came from a DroidX. I NEVER put a case on it. I had ghost armor on it at first but took it off. Once I felt the phone the way the designers intended I loved it ten times more. It just felt better in my hand, the screen felt like silk compared to the urethane film. I ran it that way from then on. By the time I was done with it there wasn't a single scratch on the screen or backing and only a few minor nicks on the corners. It gave it character. Looked a hundred times better than an ugly scratched up case. I had the DroidX for about 2 1/2 years and finally broke it when I dropped it from about 4 feet (for the 100th time). Funny thing is... it wasn't really broken, it still functioned correctly, the screen wasn't cracked. It just had these lines on the display that after a couple of days merged into 5 pencil eraser sized orbs. The DroidX, like the iPhone 5, is an aluminum body but doesn't have the added benefit of Gorilla Glass. I was thinking of putting a case on the iPhone 5 because I heard that its aluminum finish scratched easily. Then I thought about it... who would stand to benefit from putting out bad press about the finish scratching... hummm... who might want to do that... the manufactures of the cases! That's who! Thinnest, lightest and most stunning designs in mobile device history. Do you really want to cover that beauty up? Aluminum body, Gorilla Glass 2 and obviously solid state... it's harder to damage than people think If you're going to cover the device up its whole life... why are you protecting it from scratches? Nobody's going to see it that way! Screen protectors, GROSS! I hate when I see someone's cloudy, scratched up screen protector. How do you use your phone like that? You're killing your experience! Like I said, my DroidX had no scratches with over 2.5 years of use. I wasn't particularly careful with it either. Anyone who knows me will tell you... I'm hard on stuff. If that device can handle my abuse, the iPhone with it's advantage of newer technology will definitely get the job done. It's anodized aluminum... it can scratch. After two weeks of use I see a few really small scuffs on the edges. But who cares! It gives it character. And it's not at all noticeable unless you are nearsighted and right up on it. If you were going to put a case on there you'll have a beautiful phone that nobody will ever see. I'll take my chances and use the phone the way the people who designed it intended. Now for the alternative If you want a case simply to give your iPhone a personal touch, it will do that. But I'll do you one better. I live in Phoenix, AZ. I decided that I wanted to engrave a design on my iPhone so I sent out about 10 emails to various local engravers. All but two told me, "We don't want to be responsible for something like that. It's too expensive if we mess it up." Another told me, "I'll give it a try but I've never done that before so I can't guarantee you anything." ... but the first person to respond ended up being the best to go with. Kyle from Phoenix Custom Lasering was quick to respond (I got a response in less time than if I had ordered a pizza, some others didn't email me back for 3-4 days) and even helped me by building my graphics into vector (vector graphics turn out sharper and less pixelated). A couple of days after my phone arrived I took it to their shop in North Phoenix and was pleased to see that it was a very nice family operation. They made me feel welcome and already had my design laid out ready to print when I stepped through the door... even though I only gave them 10 minutes notice of my arrival. Minutes later my iPhone 5 could never be mistaken for someone else's ever again. The results are stunning. People that see it think I have a sticker on it, "No dude, that's engraved on the aluminum!" --- "Whhhhhhaaaaat!" Want to watch it being engraved? They posted a youtube video... Want yours done? This isn't limited to iPhone's, they can engrave just about anything. For instance, they showed me these cool paintball gun barels they did, so even if the object is rounded their equipment can handle the task. Go to Engrave My iPhone or Phoenix Custom Lasering for more information. Prices are very reasonable, iphone $50, ipad mini $65, ipad $70, laptops $75. If you get more than one item done, they might cut you a deal. If you don't live in Phoenix you can mail them your device. Or you can take a risk with someone local. But I can tell you from my personal experience, these guys know what they're doing. They showed me the design on a test piece of anodized aluminum before they put it on my phone so I could see how it would look. Off to the side I noticed about 4 other pieces of scrap that they had tested my design on... it was obvious that they were being sure that they had the intensity and alignment just right so that the end result was as good as it could be. As you can see, the care and preparation they took before hand shows itself in the end result. Set your device apart... tattoo it. Don't cover it. If you treat it the way a $650-$850 device should be treated... you'll be fine. If you plan on treating it like crap... well then you should probably get an otter box and turn your beautiful device into a ugly brick. You're call. If I break my iPhone 5... I'll update this topic.