Armond Aluminum Case Review – iPhone cases by 4th Design – iPhone 6/6 Plus

Design – CNC machined Aircraft grade aluminum goodness!

In terms of design, the 4th design Armond case is pretty light and will not add a lot of bulk to your iPhone. The case feels really nice. The sand blasting finish on the bumper gives it a nice texture and the top/bottom of the case have these divits that just make this iPhone bumper feel interesting.

We do have an issue with the fit of the case as the two pieces aren’t completely flush but that seems to be an issue across all of these two piece, metal cases. Installation of the case is just so painful as you have to install all the felt bumpers yourself. If you have big fingers, this might be the thing that makes you walk away from the case. We will also note that the foam that the cases come in have this incredibly strong chemical smell. It’s so strong that it I can feel it in my eyes.

Certain edges of the case are also quite sharp, like on the inside of the back of the iPhone but they won’t break skin. Over time, I started to really like that edge on the case as it made the case feel really unique.

But once everything is installed, you will forget about all these minor little things. The Armond case makes your already nice feeling iPhone feel even more expensive.

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Protection – An anti-#Bendgate case

In terms of protection, this case isn’t drop-rated, there aren’t multiple layers and it doesn’t come with a screen protector but given the rigidity of the bumper, it’s going to protect your iPhone from an accidental drop. The thing we really like is that the edge of the case extends far enough that your camera isn’t the thing holding up your iPhone. The edges of the case are also far enough away that you can easily install a front/back protector on your iPhone and not worry about it being peeled off by the case.

We do have to note that this case doesn’t offer much in terms of screen protection as the edges don’t extend too far past the iPhone so if you include a screen protector, the edges aren’t going to be holding the iPhone off the surface.

Now, in terms of #Bendgate, this is one of the few cases that will actually prevent your iPhone from bending mostly because its made from a fairly thick piece of aluminum. We get asked a lot about cases that will protect from bending and from my perspective, whatever on your iPhone needs to be more rigid than the iPhone itself to prevent bending. This Armond case is.

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Functionality – Bigger buttons == Good?

In terms of functionality, once you get all the felt stickies on, the buttons work well. Since the buttons aren’t actually attached to the bumper of the case, the tactile response of the buttons doesn’t change at all. The buttons are a little larger than the iPhone’s button so it does make accessing your iPhone a little easier. Getting to the iPhone’s touchscreen is a breeze in this case but we will note that the cutout around the lightning port isn’t large enough for bigger cables like the ones from Awesome Cables and Amazon basics.
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