Aftermarket Replacement Battery Covers (Blk Carbon Fiber Reviewed: 5/16/2013)

shopkins82 · May 29, 2013

I received my black pebble leather back yesterday and I'm quite happy with it. I paid a bit more ($13 vs. $7) to get it from a US seller and it arrived in 2 business days.

The added thickness is marginal and the texture/softness makes the phone much easier and surer to grip. My only real complaints are minor. The black trim doesn't match the "black mist" of the front of the phone very well. There is also a very small gap between the PU leather and the plastic trim on one edge that seems picks up lint/dirt. My ideal would be the entire back covered in the leather (like similar covers for the Note 2), but this is still a big step up from the stock back cover.

I think I'll go ahead and order the Carbon Fiber print as well based on the fit/finish of the pebble leather. I also may try brushing the black gloss trim with Scotch-Brite to give it a brushed look (a trick I picked up for hiding scratches on plastic-chrome Apple products), but not until I have an extra on-hand.

Thanks to the leather battery back and a matte screen protector, I now have a (nearly) smudge-free and smudge-resistant S4!

CHUUZE · May 29, 2013

shopkins82 said:
I received my black pebble leather back yesterday and I'm quite happy with it. I paid a bit more ($13 vs. $7) to get it from a US seller and it arrived in 2 business days.

The added thickness is marginal and the texture/softness makes the phone much easier and surer to grip. My only real complaints are minor. The black trim doesn't match the "black mist" of the front of the phone very well. There is also a very small gap between the PU leather and the plastic trim on one edge that seems picks up lint/dirt. My ideal would be the entire back covered in the leather (like similar covers for the Note 2), but this is still a big step up from the stock back cover.

I think I'll go ahead and order the Carbon Fiber print as well based on the fit/finish of the pebble leather. I also may try brushing the black gloss trim with Scotch-Brite to give it a brushed look (a trick I picked up for hiding scratches on plastic-chrome Apple products), but not until I have an extra on-hand.

Thanks to the leather battery back and a matte screen protector, I now have a (nearly) smudge-free and smudge-resistant S4!

when/if you do brush with the scotch-brite can you post some pics? I am very interested in what that looks like...

shopkins82 · Jun 5, 2013

Instead of trying to ScotchBrite or Paint the gloss black on my pebble-leather cover, I ended up getting this PU Carbon Fiber cover from a US seller on eBay for around $11... I think they can be had for around $7 out of China. It's the same type of carbon-fiber-like PU material as the last case in the OP, but goes NEARLY edge-to-edge with a very small FLAT-black edge left exposed. It's much more the look I was going for. I've not found it any Pebble or Alligator leather, but there are four color options (black, silver, pink, off-white). Just like the OP's back, it adds a bit of thickness (again level with the camera lens), but given the more premium feel of the material, texture, and color compared to the slick blue-grey-purple plastic of the stock back, I can live with the added thickness any day of the week. I'm going to pair this with a Mercury matte screen protector with black trim to really black-out my S4 and do away with as much of the blue-grey-purple "Black Mist" as possible.

These are the eBay seller's pictures, not mine:

CHUUZE · Jun 5, 2013

shopkins82 said:
Instead of trying to ScotchBrite or Paint the gloss black on my pebble-leather cover, I ended up getting this PU Carbon Fiber cover from a US seller on eBay for around $11... I think they can be had for around $7 out of China. It's the same type of carbon-fiber-like PU material as the last case in the OP, but goes NEARLY edge-to-edge with a very small FLAT-black edge left exposed. It's much more the look I was going for. I've not found it any Pebble or Alligator leather, but there are four color options (black, silver, pink, off-white). Just like the OP's back, it adds a bit of thickness (again level with the camera lens), but given the more premium feel of the material, texture, and color compared to the slick blue-grey-purple plastic of the stock back, I can live with the added thickness any day of the week. I'm going to pair this with a Mercury matte screen protector with black trim to really black-out my S4 and do away with as much of the blue-grey-purple "Black Mist" as possible.

These are the eBay seller's pictures, not mine:

I saw this too on ebay only thing that prevented an immediate buy was the "s4" instead of the "s iv" (i liked the roman numerals) but great find

Sent from the CHUUZ3D Galaxy via XDA Premium

hongant · Jun 5, 2013

CHUUZE said:
I saw this too on ebay only thing that prevented an immediate buy was the "s4" instead of the "s iv" (i liked the roman numerals) but great find

Sent from the CHUUZ3D Galaxy via XDA Premium

Do you guys have ebay link for this cover?

shopkins82 · Jun 5, 2013

CHUUZE said:
I saw this too on ebay only thing that prevented an immediate buy was the "s4" instead of the "s iv" (i liked the roman numerals) but great find

Sent from the CHUUZ3D Galaxy via XDA Premium

I'm fairly indifferent on "S4" vs. "S IV". The near edge-to-edge PU and no gloss-black were the major selling points for me. When I purchased I wasn't 100% sure if it was edge-to-edge PU or just molded plastic with a Carbon Fiber pattern/texture... I probably would have been happy either way. Coming from an LG Nitro HD with a great flat-black and heavily textured battery back, the snot-slick back of the S4 was a real let-down and something that had to be remedied quickly. The only thing that might replace this new cover is edge-to-edge pebble leather or saddle leather... a worn/distressed saddle brown leather would do it in a heartbeat but I've not seen anything like that for any phone.

hongant said:
Do you guys have ebay link for this cover?

Here is the US seller I purchased from for $10.99 shipped

Here is a Chinese seller for $7.99 shipped

th3xeroeagle · Jun 5, 2013

hi, does this give a "better" feeling when the phone vibrates? because now it feels like there is a "hollow"/flimsy vibration feel when the phone receives notifications... thanks!

shopkins82 · Jun 5, 2013

I never noticed the hollow feel, but it definitely rattles less when vibrating on a hard surface like a desk or table. It also feels much more secure in your hand thanks tocthe texture being much less slippery.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

CHUUZE · Jun 5, 2013

shopkins82 said:
I never noticed the hollow feel, but it definitely rattles less when vibrating on a hard surface like a desk or table. It also feels much more secure in your hand thanks tocthe texture being much less slippery.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

+1 it does rattle less on desk i think due to the softer back. Definitely agree that it feels more secure in my hands and less fingerprints on the back is a huge plus

Sent from the CHUUZ3D Galaxy via XDA Premium

th3xeroeagle · Jun 5, 2013

Cool thanks! Does anybody have a "trusted" ebay seller for this that they bought from and are happy with the product? Because the Amazon link won't ship to Canada :'(

gtmaster303 · Mar 27, 2017

Reviving this thread because I was wondering if anyone had any long term updates to the cover. How it's held up, wear, grip, etc?
I just ordered my own from China. Hopefully they ship fast
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261570986747?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

gtmaster303 · May 9, 2017

Just an update for anyone interested. A bit disappointed in this purchase. My cover turned out to be more slippery than the stock cover. Also made the device a little thicker, as mentioned. I could let go of the thickness if it added grip, but it does not. I will probably try to skin the stock cover or plastidip on my own. Want some extra grip, but don't want any added heft