Seidio and Case-Mate discussions for the HTC EVO 4G LTE

[NeoteriX]

I've used the Barely There case for my 3D and liked it a lot. The only problem I had with it its that it allowed a lot of dust between the case and the back of the phone. I'm wondering if that ultimately contributed to the dust I ended up with under the screen.

In the past (for my BlackBerry, Hero, and OG EVO, I used a Sena case, and I loved it. I may check to see if they will have it for the LTEVO. Wonder if the One X case would work? I believe they have them in stock.

Sena Cases - Designer Leather Cases : BlackBerry case, iPhone case, Treo case, iPod Touch case, and other PDA cases

The barely there fits very tightly against the phone -- you have to "snap" it in, and it actually takes a lot of effort to get the case off -- which is a lot different than the barely there for the evo3d, which I could get off one-handed, so maybe this will be better for you than the evo 3d case.

Regarding the dust -- the glass is optically laminated to the display so there shouldn't be any dust creeping into your LTEvo!

 

[Rose4uKy]

It does? Cause I have a purple surface case on the way and today I won a contest on the Sprint Users and I am getting this guy the convert combo which he had for his 3D it's like 69.95 but he loves it and says it's the best case and hoslter combo he's ever had. I wasn't sure whether to get the surface or active which I've always liked better but I wanted to use the phones kickstand and I bought a car dock from Sprint like I did last year and the surface fit in it the active didn't. Same with the Seidio home dock the surface fit better in it. So I chose Surface. But I may buy an Active to try later on down the line just to have as an extra case for when I am going out and not needing my car dock.

I have the Surface Case, which I really like except for one big flaw: the case prevents the camera button from pressing.

 

[KenjiSpencer]

It does (prevent the camera button from pressing)?

Sadly, it does for me. If you have better luck, be sure to let me know. Too bad for me, because I really like the case otherwise. I have the Convert Combo with the holster and it's outstanding in every other way.

Edit: I just used my Swiss army knife to cut away a little of the plastic that limits the downward movement of the case's camera button, and the button now works just fine with the case in place.

 

[Rose4uKy]

The guy I go out with loves the convert combo he got to review one from Seidio for our 3D and I just won him one off this Sprint Forums contest.. I don't have my surface case yet using the pink Otterbox Commuter I bought from Sprint with my car dock. It will hold me over till I get the Seidio one. Seidio is all I ever buy this is my 1st Otterbox. And after cutting off the little flap that covers the charging port it now works in the dock so I have to keep it I can't return it. But I like it. I'll see how the seidio one is with the camera button.

Sadly, it does for me. If you have better luck, be sure to let me know. Too bad for me, because I really like the case otherwise. I have the Convert Combo with the holster and it's outstanding in every other way.

Edit: I just used my Swiss army knife to cut away a little of the plastic that limits the downward movement of the case's camera button, and the button now works just fine with the case in place.

 

[Complex757]

Anyone used these cases before on another phone? What are your feelings about them? How is the quality? Are they Best Buy exclusive or is Platinum Series the brand of the cases and they are sold at other stores?

Platinum Series - Case with Holster for HTC EVO 4G LTE Mobile Phones - Black - HLC22SB

From the looks of them, they look similar to the Seidio Surface cases. Who knows if they compare in quality though.

The Platinum line seems to be Best Buy's Seidio case. I had the holster combo for my 3D at first. Same as my Seidio one when I got the active combo.

 

[PattiCakeUS]

I ordered the Case Mate Barely There in pink, and a Diztronic TPU case in purple glitter. They both showed up today so I tried them both on, and I think the Case Mate is going back. It's really nice but the pink clashes with the red on the phone and it doesn't seem like it would really provide much protection if I dropped it (or should I say.. WHEN I drop it!). The TPU case also doesn't increase the form factor very much and I like that since it's such a big phone to begin with.

 

[seidioseidio]

I have the Surface Case, which I really like except for one big flaw: the case prevents the camera button from pressing.

I apologize about this and we will gladly replace this for you. Can you please PM me your order information?

 

[Granite1]

The Platinum line seems to be Best Buy's Seidio case. I had the holster combo for my 3D at first. Same as my Seidio one when I got the active combo.

I bought this case when I got my phone from BB, I took it back. The case is a 2 piece plastic shell with no rubber. It's practically a thin plastic shell with no real drop protection IMHO. I grabbed a rocketfish gel plastic case for the time being until I can get a OB commuter, or something with a hybrid silicone/plastic combo.

 

[rkkeller]

My Case-Mate Tough case came yesterday and I like it. I never saw it in person before I bought it so I did think the hard plastic part covered a little more like the OB Defender but overall I am happy.

It does keep the size down compared to the OB Defender so that is good plus it offers more protection than just a silicone case so good again.

 

[CYNICALifornia]

I'm going this route:

Amazon.com: Diztronic Matte Back Black Flexible TPU Case for HTC Evo 4G LTE (Sprint) **Only For New 2012 LTE Model** [Diztronic Retail Packaging]: Cell Phones & Accessories

It's cheaper ($10), has three 5 star reviews, and I like that it has a ridge to protect the camera lens. (I know it's resessed, unlike the OG EVO, but still, I like the protection) And there is a 10% coupon code when you buy two: GYJSL8X7

Thanks for the great discussion though!

 

[novox77]

I tried a Seidio Active case for my ipad2. Love it. For my phones, I had been getting Otterboxes, but haven't been so happy with them. So I was all set on getting a Seidio Active case for the LTEvo. But like Rose said above, I really wanted to use the native kickstand instead of the one built onto the case, mainly because I know that the native stand works in 3 orientations. I suspect the Seidio kickstand only works in one orientation.

So at the moment, I'm deciding between the Seidio Surface or just going naked. The aluminum trim does look good and it would be a shame to cover it up. Tough call this time around...

 

[Rose4uKy]

I saw a casemate barely there case last year and loved the pink color but it didn't cover the top and bottom on the front and I didn't like it. I always buy from Seidio and there Active has always been my favorite and this time I'm am doing doing surface which I also like and have had before. The Active looks nice but I wanted to use the phones own kickstand but it's not like the kickstand on my 3D surface case so now I kind of would like to try the Active. I wish there was a pink one. I am always doing the purple. But the active didn't fit in my Sprint car dock the surface did. But Sedio is great I love there products and hope they make a home dock really soon!

My Case-Mate Tough case came yesterday and I like it. I never saw it in person before I bought it so I did think the hard plastic part covered a little more like the OB Defender but overall I am happy.

It does keep the size down compared to the OB Defender so that is good plus it offers more protection than just a silicone case so good again.

 

[Rose4uKy]

On my Surface case with Kickstand for the 3D it was spring loaded and I think it did do all 3 ways landscape and portrait and landscape for charging. This may not be bad I don't know. If the active fit in my dock I would think about trying it cause I love the Active cases the best. It's weird but holding the big phone in my hand while texting it just felt great and the grip was good. I loved it. I saw one on Amazon for 23 something but it was red. From Seidio it's 35 but with warranty.

I tried a Seidio Active case for my ipad2. Love it. For my phones, I had been getting Otterboxes, but haven't been so happy with them. So I was all set on getting a Seidio Active case for the LTEvo. But like Rose said above, I really wanted to use the native kickstand instead of the one built onto the case, mainly because I know that the native stand works in 3 orientations. I suspect the Seidio kickstand only works in one orientation.

So at the moment, I'm deciding between the Seidio Surface or just going naked. The aluminum trim does look good and it would be a shame to cover it up. Tough call this time around...

 

[rkkeller]

I saw a casemate barely there case last year and loved the pink color but it didn't cover the top and bottom on the front and I didn't like it.

That's what I thought too, why buy a case when a lot of it is not protected????

Also why I went for the CM Tough version. The silicone covers the entire phone and then the semi hard material covers 75-80% on top of that.

If I would have shopped around more I might have bought something else not really sure yet but most cases were out of stock or not available when I ordered mine and I wanted something ASAP as the phone is so large.

 

[NeoteriX]

That's what I thought too, why buy a case when a lot of it is not protected????

Because I don't plan on dropping my phone

(knock on wood)

The case is there (and why I like thin cases is) so that the finish isn't damaged when I set the phone down -- whether it be dirt or sand on the surface of a table or some rough concrete surface and what not. It's not for drop/impact protection. In all my years of phone ownership, I've never dropped my phone at a height of or to the point of breaking the screen, so it's frankly not an issue for me.

(...again, knock on wood )

 

[Jceinc]

I'm going this route:

Amazon.com: Diztronic Matte Back Black Flexible TPU Case for HTC Evo 4G LTE (Sprint) **Only For New 2012 LTE Model** [Diztronic Retail Packaging]: Cell Phones & Accessories

It's cheaper ($10), has three 5 star reviews, and I like that it has a ridge to protect the camera lens. (I know it's resessed, unlike the OG EVO, but still, I like the protection) And there is a 10% coupon code when you buy two: GYJSL8X7

Thanks for the great discussion though!

Just received mine. Best TPU case I've had by far

 

[NeoteriX]

My full review on the "Case-Mate Barely There" that I submitted to the Case-Mate website:

I've actually bought both Black/Matte and White/Glossy cases so I can comment on both.

First, the cases are nice and low profile with very low, tight tolerances. In other words, both cases snap onto the Evo with authority and actually take a bit of effort to get off. This is in contrast to the Evo 3D version which was fairly loose and had noticeable gaps between the phone and case in some parts. Also, the cases have small built-in holes for a lanyard or phone charm which is a nice touch.

The Black/Matte has a nice soft touch finish that gives it a premium feel. The White/Glossy however is slick and a little cheaper feeling -- you can more easily see the glue seams and there was still some plastic flashing ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_(manufacturing) ) left at the edges. Overall the White/Glossy doesn't feel as good and also doesn't inspire confidence when holding it because it's so slick.

For the aforementioned reasons, I would recommend the Black/Matte case and would otherwise give it high marks for a nice, low-profile case that will protect from scratches and other small things.

However, there is a significant design flaw with the cases -- one of the vaunted features of the Evo LTE is its kickstand, and the cases effectively prevent its use. The problem is that the kickstand is already fairly hard to get out without a case on--it's thin and require you get a fingernail under it to pull out. The case-mate case is so close to the edge of the kickstand that there is effectively no possible way to get your fingernail under the kickstand. As you may be able to see from the attached photos, there is less than a 1mm of space between the edge of the case's hole for the kickstand and the kickstand itself. The case hole for the kickstand really just serves to show the red accent and cannot functionally use the kickstand.

The kickstand isn't a huge issue for me, and I'll continue to use the case, but people should know this upfront--

 

[J03]

I'm going this route:

Amazon.com: Diztronic Matte Back Black Flexible TPU Case for HTC Evo 4G LTE (Sprint) **Only For New 2012 LTE Model** [Diztronic Retail Packaging]: Cell Phones & Accessories

It's cheaper ($10), has three 5 star reviews, and I like that it has a ridge to protect the camera lens. (I know it's resessed, unlike the OG EVO, but still, I like the protection) And there is a 10% coupon code when you buy two: GYJSL8X7

Thanks for the great discussion though!

This case looks great. I think I may jump on this instead of waiting for the black silicone one.

Unfortunately I just made an >$25 purchase yesterday so I need another ~$16 in products to avoid shipping charges for this thing.

 

[PattiCakeUS]

I got the Diztronic purple TPU case with glitter - it's great! I'll be sending the Case-Mate Barely There back, most likely tomorrow now that I have my RMA number. It really is a gorgeous case but I like the TPU case a lot better.

*pictures taken with my old Shift

 

[Shawn0413]

I ve had a case mate tough on all the phones I ve owned..from my original evo to my epic touch lived than all. Got one for my lte and have to say it is perfect. Doesn't make the phone too thick,fits perfect and snug,and leaves plenty of room to open the kickstand much Better than the case ate barely there. I have to say case mate tough case Is one of the best cases out there if not the best...

 

[suprmallet]

I got the Diztronic purple TPU case with glitter - it's great! I'll be sending the Case-Mate Barely There back, most likely tomorrow now that I have my RMA number. It really is a gorgeous case but I like the TPU case a lot better.

*pictures taken with my old Shift

I love purple but not a fan of the glitter. I'll have to see if diztronic is selling a solid purple. I'm currently rocking the diztronic matte black and I absolutely love it. It makes the phone easier to handle while providing protection (including a lip for the front of the phone and the camera) and not too much bulk.

Edit: Nope, glitter for pink and purple, then matte and glossy black is all they have right now. I'm sure they'll add more options later.

Meanwhile, if you want something a little more ostentatious, this Cruzerlite TPU case is pretty unique: http://www.cruzerlite.com/cases/htc/evo/cruzerlite-androidified-a2-tpu-case-for-htc-evo-4g-lte.html

 

[Gizmo15]

Can anyone tell me how well the Surface case holds the phone? I've gotten my shirt caught in these clip type of cases before, and the phone pops out. I usually just wear a pouch type case, but I'm looking for something different this time.


Edit: Just got my Seidio Surface. This is the sexiest case I ever had. Glad I pulled the trigger on this one :-D

 

[BeerPimp]

I'm going this route:

Amazon.com: Diztronic Matte Back Black Flexible TPU Case for HTC Evo 4G LTE (Sprint) **Only For New 2012 LTE Model** [Diztronic Retail Packaging]: Cell Phones & Accessories

It's cheaper ($10), has three 5 star reviews, and I like that it has a ridge to protect the camera lens. (I know it's resessed, unlike the OG EVO, but still, I like the protection) And there is a 10% coupon code when you buy two: GYJSL8X7

Thanks for the great discussion though!

IF you or anyone for that matter gets that case can you comment on the grip of the case. I have had glossy cases and they all seem to have a good amount of grip but not too much. I bought a matte case for my EVO 3D that was glossy around the edge. The part that was matte had much less grip it was not bad but not sure I would buy another matte if this is the case with all of them.

 

[BeerPimp]

I'm anxious to see pics when people start getting their phones, hopefully we can see how the phones look in some of these cases. Right now I'm leaning toward either the white or pink Case-Mate Barely There and either the smoke or purple Dura-Gel: HTC EVO 4G LTE Dura-Gel Waffle TPU Case

Too many choices!!!

I have this case I will post pictures when I get home. Its not hard plastic like the Case-Mate its TPU which is not hard but not really soft like silicone. TPU cases are my favorite type I have had one for every EVO I have owned.

 

[rkkeller]

In all my years of phone ownership, I've never dropped my phone at a height of or to the point of breaking the screen, so it's frankly not an issue for me.

I bet the guy in the forum to be the first to break his, said the same thing.

I did not have a case or screen protector on my iPhone 4S but with something this big, I wanted a decent sturdy case on it plus a screen protector right away.