Galaxy S4 Case VS Bumper

zjhehe · Jan 19, 2014

I have a Galaxy S4 and am using an Otterbox Defender Case. It's the one with the inner plastic shell and outer silicone shell with a screen protector. So far, I like it, it does provide max protection. Phone slipped while trying to hold the door open for someone while I was talking on the phone. Anyways, great protection but I'm already on my second silicone shell already. My first one stretched quite a bit because I've been trying to get a microSD card to work and so took apart the case quite a bit. I highly doubt Otterbox is going to send me a third silicone shell especially as I'm planning on taking it off again now to manually replace the home button and battery.

I recently saw the DRACOdesign Hydra bumper and it looks SICK! Just wondering if anyone know anything about the drop protection? I don't think I'll be throwing my phone off of a 30 story building anytime soon, but I do want a bit of protection in terms of having a working phone if it does fall. Do bumpers really work? Btw, I'm looking at an aluminum bumper, not those silicone or TPU wrap arounds as pretty sure they will still stretch.

Any general experiences, pros and cons of each? Thanks, really appreciate it

KRAZYADROIDMASTER · Jan 19, 2014

How many times to you take you case on and off.

I swap out the Otterbox and Zero lemon rugged case all the time.

No problems so far.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app

zjhehe · Jan 19, 2014

KRAZYADROIDMASTER said:
How many times to you take you case on and off.

I swap out the Otterbox and Zero lemon rugged case all the time.

No problems so far.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using xda app-developers app

Quite a few times actually. I have received two faulty microSD cards and so you can imagine me being stupid enough to put on the Otterbox case and then taking it off when trying to get the microSD cards to work even after constantly running it through several utilities. The point is, I know that the shell stretches and I'm on my second one. I have taken it off a few times already so really considering a bumper.

Pennycake · Jan 20, 2014

I use a bumper case and have used both TPU and aluminium, but I cannot recommend them for more than light protection. Yeah, I've dropped my phone once or twice in the last year or so (S3) but I'd not have had terribly high hopes that it would have survived being dropped from ear height with any of the bumpers I've used unless it had the luck of falling on some very soft grass.

I don't know if the DRACO bumpers exhibit enough difference in alloy to not do so, but the one I had only offered protection by simply deforming as aluminium is want to do as it is such a soft metal. I lost a chunk out of the corner and it was also a pain to take on and off. It also basically directly transferred the shock to the phone so I'm lucky it didn't outright break because of that. Unless someone has compelling evidence I would consider them a fashion item, not for protection (when it comes to someone who is likely to drop their phone more than once or twice a year and who doesn't want dents and scratches all over the super sleek and shiny bumper).

I find it curious that the silicone shell on yours is deforming so much, I used a 100% silicone case for a couple months at one point and it's still in good, non-deformed condition. Maybe try a different model or company that offers equal protection ? (I know there were other "heavy duty" cases for the S3 other than the Otterbox)

zjhehe · Jan 20, 2014

Pennycake said:
I use a bumper case and have used both TPU and aluminium, but I cannot recommend them for more than light protection. Yeah, I've dropped my phone once or twice in the last year or so (S3) but I'd not have had terribly high hopes that it would have survived being dropped from ear height with any of the bumpers I've used unless it had the luck of falling on some very soft grass.

I don't know if the DRACO bumpers exhibit enough difference in alloy to not do so, but the one I had only offered protection by simply deforming as aluminium is want to do as it is such a soft metal. I lost a chunk out of the corner and it was also a pain to take on and off. It also basically directly transferred the shock to the phone so I'm lucky it didn't outright break because of that. Unless someone has compelling evidence I would consider them a fashion item, not for protection (when it comes to someone who is likely to drop their phone more than once or twice a year and who doesn't want dents and scratches all over the super sleek and shiny bumper).

I find it curious that the silicone shell on yours is deforming so much, I used a 100% silicone case for a couple months at one point and it's still in good, non-deformed condition. Maybe try a different model or company that offers equal protection ? (I know there were other "heavy duty" cases for the S3 other than the Otterbox)

turns out the draco is just for design, will pretty much dent completely on impact. i'm pretty sure otterbox uses a silicone shell instead of tpu and as my understanding goes, silicone is much softer than tpu and more prone to stretching probably makes it easier to put a phone inside a case and such. however, i'd still much rather stick with otterbox than ballistic or incipio or spigen. just curious if i should switch to bumper for moderate drop protection and to have a minimalist design.

wolfen69 · Jan 23, 2014

zjhehe said:
turns out the draco is just for design, will pretty much dent completely on impact. i'm pretty sure otterbox uses a silicone shell instead of tpu and as my understanding goes, silicone is much softer than tpu and more prone to stretching probably makes it easier to put a phone inside a case and such. however, i'd still much rather stick with otterbox than ballistic or incipio or spigen. just curious if i should switch to bumper for moderate drop protection and to have a minimalist design.

Why do poo poo Ballistic? They make awesome cases. I've taken off the case many times and the inner silicone is still like new. And on youtube, there's a video of someone doing a drop test from 3 stories high, and the phone survived beautifully. I've personally thrown mine up into the air 20ft or so onto concrete, and nothing happened to the phone. Btw, it is the Ballistic SG case I'm talking about. It has good sized corner bumpers on it.

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Galaxy S4 Case VS Bumper

zjhehe

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KRAZYADROIDMASTER

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zjhehe

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Pennycake

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zjhehe

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