Case-Mate Tough Extreme Review – iPhone 6

Design – It’s like there tiny little tires on your iPhone

We are very impressed with the physical handling of this case. The design of the edges on the case are basically mini tires as it has threads so there is a very low chance this case is going to slip out of your hand accidentally. However, this added texture makes it a little more difficult to put into your pockets since it gets caught on things.

Out of the tough iPhone cases that we have, the CaseMate Tough Extreme is the smallest. It comes in 2 parts and is fairly easy to install. If you do get this case, we found it easiest to install the side with all the buttons first. Putting the case together is quite easy as the inner sleeve/cradle slides smoothly into the outer shell. We came to the conclusion that this iPhone case is one of the easiest to install cases during our Case-Mate Tough Extreme Review.

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Protection – Cutouts/holes == bad water and dust protection!

In terms of protection, this case isn’t drop rated. The iPhone 5/5S versions were but while talking to CaseMate customer service, they couldn’t tell me what the drop height was. In fact, they couldn’t find the product at all which seems odd to us.

Based on our time with the case, we feel very comfortable dropping our iPhone 6 from a height of 6 feet in the Case-Mate Tough Extreme. The only thing you’d have to worry about is the inner sleeve/cradle popping out a little bit. Even if the sleeve/cradle was to come completely out, the iPhone 6 would still be protected as the sleeve/cradle cover the edges and front of the iPhone 6.

In terms of water and dust, these cases won’t keep water out and it will do very little to keep dust out. The gap in the screen protector means that stuff is going to get between your screen protector and iPHone so cleaning the case periodically is recommended. Good thing it’s easy to take apart.
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Functionality – This is a great iPhone case if you don’t need to use your touchscreen much?

The one thing that doesn’t sit well with us is the screen view ability and usability of the case. The screen protector doen’t sit flush on the screen, there is a bit of glare and it diffuses the iPhone 6’s Retina HD screen. As result, your screen usability also suffers as the gap is noticeable and annoying and subsequently, you lose a bit of sensitivity on your touchscreen.

The last thing about this case deals with the port covers of this case. They are functional but they are not as easy to use as other cases as you have to bend them slightly in order for them to fit into the case. This may not be an issue for some but we found it a little annoying have to take an extra second to close the ports on the case.

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Now between the Otterbox Defender, Griffin Survivor and Ballistic Hardcore, we’d recommend the Case-Mate Tough extreme if you think all these cases are too big and you still want a bit of drop protection, don’t work in a dusty environment and want to customize your case. If you’re looking for something that’s offer’s better dust protection, go with the Survivor as it has everything covered and if you’re looking for an extremely tough case, grab the Hardcore as you can drop it from 12 ft.