D
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Disclaimer: This review was neither sponsored, nor did I recieve any personal discounts. My personal opinion about this product is unbiased.
Pricing
dbrand lists the case with a skin for 39.90 USD. I applied a newsletter subsription and paid 35.91 USD. No shipping fees were charged.
Delivery
The case was shipped from Canada to Germany in about 12 days and a tracking code. Although I thought that sales taxes would apply and be collected by the customs, the package had a "customs free" sticker on it and no taxes were charged. I dunno why but I do not complain.
Pictures
Retail box
The retail box is a gem. I took some shots of it so you see what I mean. It contributes nicely to the product and makes you feel having purchased something precious. Nicely done, robots!
Assembly
If you purchased a skin with the case, you have to bring it up to the case first. If you watch and follow the video guide, this is fairly easy and led to a perfect result for me.
Build quality / Durability / Looks
For my last 5 phones, I used SPECK cases and therefore was used to bulky cases. In comparison, this case feels lighter and even slim. It sure is a good amount bulkier than typical "slim case" but it comes with a decent amount of drop protection. Thanks to the Pixel 5 being a compact phone, it still can be held with one hand in a comfortable manner when wearing the case.
The edges feature a slighly nobby texture that feels just great and should also prevent accidential slips. The texture of the Matrix skin looks dope.
All in all, this case looks high-class and also provides nice haptics. In my eys, it is worth the money.
Protection
The case feels sturdy and protective. I am confident that my Pixel 5 will survive some serious drops with it.
The lip on the frontside has the signature curve: Thick at top and bottom, flush at the sides. This makes the back-swipe gesture a breeze while still preventing screen contact when placed on flat surfaces. I am a bit unsure wether this will lead to trouble with face-down falls on uneven surfaces, but I assume that a evenly formed lid might not perform much better in this scenario.
Fitting / Cutouts / Buttons
The case fits like a glove. The buttons are super clicky and it's a joy to use them. The cutouts are precise and the port cutout should be big enough to provide space for most cables.
Unfortunately, the fingerprint cutout is rather small. This makes the "swipe down for notifications" gesture definitely harder to use although it still works. For me, this is not a show stopper but it might be for people withfat huge fingers. I just wish that dbrand would have made the cutout a little bit bigger since this is my only point of criticism with this case.
Durability
If you search the internet about the dbrand Grip cases, you will stumble upon many stories where the cases fell apart. Then I found this thread, where dbrand gave a comprehensive explaination why this happened and which counter measures were taken. This case is the latest generation and comes with all the described improvents. Only time will tell wether this case will hold up better.
Verdict
I highly recommend the drand Grip case for the Google Pixel 5: It looks and feels great, provides good protection without adding too much bulk. The customizablity with new skins is unique and might tempt you to spend more money. This being said: If you have huge fingers, the fingerprint cutout might be too small for you. I am confident that this case will not fall apart (or dbrand being obliging if it does).
Pricing
dbrand lists the case with a skin for 39.90 USD. I applied a newsletter subsription and paid 35.91 USD. No shipping fees were charged.
Delivery
The case was shipped from Canada to Germany in about 12 days and a tracking code. Although I thought that sales taxes would apply and be collected by the customs, the package had a "customs free" sticker on it and no taxes were charged. I dunno why but I do not complain.
Pictures
Retail box
The retail box is a gem. I took some shots of it so you see what I mean. It contributes nicely to the product and makes you feel having purchased something precious. Nicely done, robots!
Assembly
If you purchased a skin with the case, you have to bring it up to the case first. If you watch and follow the video guide, this is fairly easy and led to a perfect result for me.
Build quality / Durability / Looks
For my last 5 phones, I used SPECK cases and therefore was used to bulky cases. In comparison, this case feels lighter and even slim. It sure is a good amount bulkier than typical "slim case" but it comes with a decent amount of drop protection. Thanks to the Pixel 5 being a compact phone, it still can be held with one hand in a comfortable manner when wearing the case.
The edges feature a slighly nobby texture that feels just great and should also prevent accidential slips. The texture of the Matrix skin looks dope.
All in all, this case looks high-class and also provides nice haptics. In my eys, it is worth the money.
Protection
The case feels sturdy and protective. I am confident that my Pixel 5 will survive some serious drops with it.
The lip on the frontside has the signature curve: Thick at top and bottom, flush at the sides. This makes the back-swipe gesture a breeze while still preventing screen contact when placed on flat surfaces. I am a bit unsure wether this will lead to trouble with face-down falls on uneven surfaces, but I assume that a evenly formed lid might not perform much better in this scenario.
Fitting / Cutouts / Buttons
The case fits like a glove. The buttons are super clicky and it's a joy to use them. The cutouts are precise and the port cutout should be big enough to provide space for most cables.
Unfortunately, the fingerprint cutout is rather small. This makes the "swipe down for notifications" gesture definitely harder to use although it still works. For me, this is not a show stopper but it might be for people with
Durability
If you search the internet about the dbrand Grip cases, you will stumble upon many stories where the cases fell apart. Then I found this thread, where dbrand gave a comprehensive explaination why this happened and which counter measures were taken. This case is the latest generation and comes with all the described improvents. Only time will tell wether this case will hold up better.
Verdict
I highly recommend the drand Grip case for the Google Pixel 5: It looks and feels great, provides good protection without adding too much bulk. The customizablity with new skins is unique and might tempt you to spend more money. This being said: If you have huge fingers, the fingerprint cutout might be too small for you. I am confident that this case will not fall apart (or dbrand being obliging if it does).
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