When it comes to cases for iPhone 5, some of you might want to encase your phone in bulky cases to ensure that its safe from drops while others would opt for the minimalist style, preferring those slim and thin cases just to protect the iPhone 5 from scratches and then just using caution to make sure that your phone isn't dropped.
The SwitchEasy Nude and Spigen Ultra Thin Air is in the category of the minimalist cases. Both sports a thin design that won't add weight or bulk to the iPhone 5 but when it comes to best bang for the buck, who's the winner amongst the two?
Protection from Scratches
SwitchEasy Nude Crystal Clear |
Spigen SGP Ultra Thin Air |
The main reason you would opt for a thin case rather than an Otterbox is so that you could show off the iPhone 5's thin profile and design but still maintain some sort of scratch protection especially if you have the black one which is prone to scuffgate.
Both cases of course offers back protection so its the sides that you should worry about. Spigen's top and bottom side are wide open and there's also space on the volume and mute buttons. As for Switcheasy's Nude case, its only the bottom part that is open but you can easily cover that up because they've included a plastic bottom protector, the only downside to this is that you have to remove it every time you charge.
For me, the clear winner is SwitchEasy Nude as it offers total side protection for your iPhone.
Style
The Switcheasy Nude comes in 12 colors to choose from while the SGP Ultra Thin Air comes in 7 colors. If you're the type to match their iPhone case with their clothing, you'll have far more choices with the SwitchEasy Nude.
Build Quality
The Spigen Ultra Thin Air is made of soft bendable plastic while the SwitchEasy Nude is made up of hard plastic. The materials used by Spigen seems more durable as the SwitchEasy seems more prone to breaking because of the hard plastic, however, the Spigen has a black rim around the camera hole and it easily popped off.
I would lean towards the Ultra Thin Air on this one but the shoddy black rim that popped off would make this a tie, however, I may have gotten a lemon.
Bang for the Buck
All of SwitchEasy Nude's colors are priced at $19.99 while the SGP Ultra Thin Air is the same price, you have to add $2 more if you opt for the Clear or Soft model. The SGP Ultra Thin Air comes with a screen protector, their Steinheil Crystal Clear ones which, based on experience, is a top notch screen protector. The SwitchEasy Nude comes with 2 screen protectors AND a back protector as well. Not to mention that it includes the protector for the bottom part of your phone. Both the Nude and the SGP has the microfibre cleaning cloth included and a squeegee. Now the SGP Ultra Crystal Clear screen protector is around $7 worth right there so it seems the SGP Ultra Thin Air might have the best bang for the buck, however, if you're not too particular on your screen protectors, 2 is always better than 1 plus if you're in the market for a clear case, $19.99 sounds a lot better than $21.99.
This is a close one but I have to give this to SwitchEasy Nude.
Winner
I really love the SwitchEasy Nude Crystal Clear. Its just a better case when it comes to scratch proofing your iPhone 5 and yet still maintaing that slim profile. Don't get me wrong, I think the SGP Ultra Thin Air, especially the Soft color would withstand breakage more since its bendable and more lightweight but it just leaves too many open spaces for the scuffgate to rear its ugly head.
Mobilefun.com provided the SwitchEasy Nude Crystal Clear for this review. Check out their website for more slim cases for the iPhone 5 and other smartphones.