The CandyShell was pretty awful BUT the Grip variation is pretty awesome. How does that work?
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Today we’re going to be reviewing the Speck Candyshell Grip. We were a little hesitant to review it since we didn’t have a great experience with the regular Candyshell since our screen broke during a drop in the video but we’ve been blown away by the Speck Candyshell Grip.
The best part of this case is the grip which is really important when it comes to handling your iPhone 6 plus in one hand. The design of the case, though almost identical to the Candyshell is better but some might find the edges to get in the way on the 6 version and the back is still a magnet for scratches.
Based on our time with the case, we gave it a score of 4.2 Eh’s out of 5. This is a decent case and ranks up there with the Urban Armor Gear and the Incipio Dual Pro but still falls short to the Griffin Survivor Core and Thule Atmos X3. If you’re wondering how this case fares against other cases, check out our comparison tool!
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Design – Gee, they just added rubber strips to the regular CandyShell
In terms of design, the Grip is close to doubling the thickness of your iPhone and adds a minimal amount of bulk to your iPhone in terms of width. The case fits well together but if you’re dropping it on concrete, will show a bit of wear and tear. The edges of the case are far enough to use 3rd party edge to edge screen protectors. The glossy part of the case will show wear and tear just as quickly as a regular CandyShell but the rubber grips takes your eyes away from the awfulness of the scratches.
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Protection – Drop-rated but from how high?
In terms of protection, the Speck CandyShell, according to Speck is drop tested to meet or exceed military standards but don’t say how high you can drop it. From our guess, your iPhone is going to protected from a 4ft drop but you wouldn’t get that from Speck’s page since clicking on their link for the MIL-STD-810G brings up a popup with nonsense that includes molten lava. How comfortable are we in dropping the case? Pretty comfortable.
The edges of the case are quite so it will give your iPhone’s touchscreen a bit of clearnace which is necessary since Speck doesn’t include a screen protector with the case. The SpeckCandyShell fits tightly around the iPhone that you’re not going to get lots of dust and debris between the
case and iPhone.
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Functionality – Access to the iPhone is lacking but the screen accessibility is really nice
In terms of functionality, this is where the Grip shines. You can easily use 3rd Party headphones and cables. The buttons are easily accessed through the case and the edges of the case don’t get in the way of accessing your swipe menus. We will note that users of the 6 version may find the edges get in the way due to the smaller screen and since we’re talking about the screen, there’s nothing there so screen viewability is top-notch.
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Have questions about our Speck CandyShell Grip Review for the iPhone 6/6 Plus? Please ask them on our Google+ page or on our Facebook page.
Jered Espanola
April 9, 2015 at 6:00 am
Is the case easy to put into pant pockets. Does the grip part of the case make it difficult to slide on a table or make pockets difficult
Aaron Ho
April 9, 2015 at 3:41 pm
The grip keeps it on a table quite well and its not too bad sliding it in/out of pockets. The grip doesn’t cover any of the corners which is usually the part that gets caught in a pocket.
CCA
July 30, 2015 at 9:23 pm
Hey Aaron. I love all your reviews and I am trying to decide between the candyshell grip and the incipio dualpro for my iphone 6. I’m kind of leaning towards the dualpro and was wondering if the yellow lime color is appealing or not. Or, do you like the red color better? Thanks.
Aaron Ho
July 31, 2015 at 2:03 am
I prefer the red…the yellow tends to stain (the red does as well but isn’t as noticeable).
Linda
October 24, 2015 at 8:52 pm
Just got the iPhone rose gold 6s plus. Love the color and want to show it off but want good protection too. Looking at the clear speck candy shell or the frost Incipio. Which one do you think would be best protection but still show my rose gold? Tks
Aaron Ho
October 26, 2015 at 1:17 pm
Incipio Frost? I don’t think I’ve heard of that one. Incipio cases are generally drop rated whereas Speck just says it is but has no specific drop height for their products. I’d go with Incipio…another one to check out is the Spigen Ultra Hybrid Tech. I haven’t reviewed it but have it on my 6s right now and I really like it.
Jason
September 3, 2016 at 12:53 am
Hi Aaron!
Can you please help me decided between these two cases for my new iPhone 6s that you’ve already tested and reviewed? If you could pick only one, which one would it be?
Evutec Karbon SI (Osprey version i.e. same as your review but without a micro SD cut out)
or the
Speck Candyshell Grip
Thanks! You do a great job of your reviews and I really enjoy your website and channel 🙂
Aaron Ho
September 3, 2016 at 4:58 pm
Grip if you drop your iPHone a lot. The SI if you’re decent with your iPHone.