The AL13 Slim is a decent aluminum bumper for your iPhone. Thin, light and strong!
AL13 Slim Review – Minimalist, thin, light and bendproof. What more can you ask?
Today we’re going to do a review on the AL13 Slim aluminium bumper made by Designed by Many (DBM). This is a minimalist bumper that has some of the best buttons we’ve used in a case and is the smallest bumpers we’ve reviewed for the iPhone 6’s. I have a couple of issues with certain parts of the design, but this is a good product. The packaging that the AL13 Slim comes in is pretty awesome as well.
For our AL13 Slim Review, we’ve given this aluminum bumper a score of 4.1 Eh’s out of 5. It does better than the average aluminum bumper’s that we’ve reviewed such as the Draco Design and 4th Design Armond and is better than the Bric+ Extreme. If you’re wondering how it stacks up against all the other bumper cases that we’ve reviewed, check the comparison tool.
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Design – Might need a trim in a couple of places
In terms of design, this is one of the smallest bumpers that we’ve come across. It’s smaller than the K11 Bumper as well as Draco Design case. The bumper is made from aerospace aluminum which means that its light and bending your iPhone in the AL13 is going to be pretty hard.
The bumper generally does fit well together though the rubber pads on our bumper needed a bit of trimming. Installing the case is quite simple as all you do is slide the device in and snap the case together. The look of the case may not last as long as other polycarbonate cases cases since the aluminum will scratch from keys and coins.
The only gripe that we have with this bumper are the sharp edges along the cutouts. This is a complaint we have for most aluminum numbers except the K11 Bumper by Thanotech. A plus is that the AL13 doesn’t have sharp edges along the inside of the bumper, something that occurs on the Armond.
The packaging that the AL13 Slim comes in is really nice. Its metallic instead of the normal cardboard and plastic and it slides open like its hiding something awesome. Which it is.
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Protection – It isn’t drop-rated but it will protect your iPhone from an accidental drop
For protection, the case will protect it from everyday drops and bumps. The AL13 Slim isn’t a tough case, but you won’t have anything to worry about if you accidentally drop it on concrete. The iPhone sits on rubber pads on the inside of the bumper which provides a bit of shock absorption.
We’re not particularly fond of the low edges as a glass screen protector will extend past the edges. DBM does include front and back protectors, but the included screen protector will also extend past the edge of the case.
The same goes for the edges on the back as the camera extends past the edges on the backside of the case. This shouldn’t be an issue as the camera lens is pretty tough but some people may not like have the camera lens making contact with whatever surface you place your iPhone on.
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Functionality – The best buttons we’ve ever used
The buttons on the AL13 Slim are awesome. We’re usually not fond of buttons that are flush with the case but DBM recessed the button areas, so it is easy to find them. The button action is very subtle but still it still feels like the iPhone. We liked the buttons so much that we left a few extra seconds of closeup footage in the video!
Accessing the mute switch is a little tougher due to the sharp edges as you’ll end up leaving pieces of your finger nail while accessing the mute switch. The headphone cutout fits Apple-sized headphone jacks, and the lightning port can handle slightly larger cables such as ones from Belaycords.
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Again, for our AL13 Slim Review, we gave this aluminum iPhone bumper a score of 4.1 Eh’s out of 5. Have questions? Please ask them on our Google+ page or our Facebook page or our About Us page.
