SGP Skin Guard : Leatherize your X10i

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A few weeks ago a member at XDA posted a link to the SGP-Store which sold some vinyl decals for the X10i. Their leather Skin Guard series catched my eye. However they were made for the Japanese X10 (hence the whole with DOCOMO in the back):



I emailed the guys at SGP if they could make the skin guard without the "docomo hole" and they responded with: "if you comment during the order you want on without the docomo hole, then you'll receive one without the docomo hole". Thus I ordered two of the skin guards, one white for myself and one black for my father. Within a week the items arrived (from the USA to the Netherlands).

The Skin Guard is very easy to apply. Just make sure the holes at the camera and flash align with the decal, then align the SE logo on the bottom. With 3 points on a line aligned you really can't go wrong. There was a slight problem though. Because of the sharp curvature of the X10 the decal kept going loose at the edges. First I was frustated but then I rembered from putting decals on cars that heating it with a hairdryer could help. Luckely we can remove the backcover of the X10 so I could really get some heat in it. It was like a miracle, no more loose edges !

I'm really pleased with the end result. Yes it looks a bit like a Blackberry Bold. However remember the Blackberry has only a small portion of leather, where the Skin Guard almost covers the whole back. Furthermore this leather idea on electronics is much older than the Blackberry Bold. Some cameras in the eighties actually had this leather stuff on already.
The leather really makes the X10 a lot more grippy (which is more than welcome on the high gloss slippery white version). The vinyl is thin. However it's still noticable, I'll estimate it at a few papers thick. It doesn't cover the whole backcover, a very thin line across the border remains uncovered. This will help you if you get the vinyl on there not 100% straight. The vinyl is pretty durable and easy to clean. It also protects the back of the X10i. So now I don't have to be afraid of scratching that high-gloss back of my white X10i anymore.

Enough with the chitchat, time for some pictures:











As said, I'm really pleased with the end result. It looks great and I don't have to be so carefull with where a lay down my X10 anymore. To be honoust the skin does look better on the black phone, because there is less color difference between the black phone and the vinyl (black leather vs. flat black rubber) is less than between the white phone and the vinyl (white leather vs. high gloss white). The leather is a bit more white than the X10 is. Nevertheless it still looks pretty sweet

Looks very nice.. so it's not a replacement cover? You have to order the leather part and stick it onto the stock battery cover that we have on our phones?

If so, I would probably get another battery cover on ebay or something and then order this or something.

Originally Posted by Tri3Dent

Looks very nice.. so it's not a replacement cover? You have to order the leather part and stick it onto the stock battery cover that we have on our phones?

If so, I would probably get another battery cover on ebay or something and then order this or something.

Yes it's just a sticker, like a screenprotector, but then a leather one. It won't leave any residue (I had to realign it a few times). So you can just paste it on your stock battery cover. Remember to comment that you don't want to have the DOCOMO hole when ordering!

Originally Posted by Vin87

Yes it's just a sticker, like a screenprotector, but then a leather one. It won't leave any residue (I had to realign it a few times). So you can just paste it on your stock battery cover. Remember to comment that you don't want to have the DOCOMO hole when ordering!

I was thinking that that Docomo hole will match your Xperia writing under the flash, doesn't it?

The leather looks nice! but i think if i'm going to order one i'll end up getting the carbon fiber one... looks deadly.

Yup just ordered mine! I'll post pics once i get it

Originally Posted by Nimche

I was thinking that that Docomo hole will match your Xperia writing under the flash, doesn't it?

It will match the Xperia writing indeed. However I doubt if the Xperia writing will be nicely centered in the hole.

Got on too, hope to get it really soon... but probably will take a while since I'm in Brazil....

Sent from my Rooted x10a R2BA026 using XDA App

Yup, ordered one too but didn't mention to cut out the docomo since i ordered through amazon. I'll just cut out the docomo so i can see the sony ericson or something, might put a spare clear protector over just that area to make it a window. Will post pictures when I get it

I got one for a month or two now, its white and now its getting pretty dirty. Its a bit tattered now but I'll try to get some pics of it.