I finally got with the times and bought a smart phone, being that I wanted to go with straight talk; the Google Nexus 4 seemed like the logical choice. The next decision I needed to make was what case I wanted. I took a look at the recent reviews Wes had written for different Poetic to see if they might have a case I would want. I expressed interest in their cases to Wes and he said he had another one lying around the office that needed to be looked at. So let’s take a look at the next case in the Poetic lineup, the Palette.
Product Name: Poetic Palette Nexus 4
Review Sample Provided by: Poetic
Written By: Brennon
Pictures By: Brennon
Packaging
The packaging for the Palette is what we have come to expect with Poetic products. The front of the package is a simple white with a glossy pattern all over. There is a window displaying a five cent version of the Nexus 4, not one from those auction sites you hear about at four in the morning, but a simple cardboard replica. We can’t really see much of the actual product other than a glimpse of the edges. On the front of the packaging we can see the product name and what phone it is made for as well as the poetic name and logo. Along the side we can see a few of the product features along with small graphics.
On the rear we can find the product name, brand name, and the product it is made for listed again. We can also see a short list of product features in a few different languages. Also on the back we can see the definition of the brand name again, which is a nice touch because a lot of times we will buy a product from a company and have no idea how or why they chose their name. This shows that Poetic cares enough about their brand to inform the end consumer about the name and what the brand stands for.
Pictures and Features
The first thing that I noticed when I removed the Palette from its packaging is that it isn’t your typical full case. The Palette just snaps onto the side of the Nexus 4 and doesn’t wrap around at all. The phone sort of just clicks into place when applying the case. The neat part about this design is that the headphone and the micro USB port are not built into the case, but merely cut out of the design. This allows you to remove and replace the case while the phone is charging or while listening to music. There are also holes in the back for both the camera and the on the rear of the phone.
The case is made of plastic, but it has a rubber like coating. The coating gives the case a soft feel andit should help with the amount of grip the phone has.
The settings for the power and volume buttons are not grooved out like the micro USB and headphone jack. Instead they are encased, with part of the case on all sides of the button. I would have liked for the design to be uniform, but I imagine there is some reason that these buttons are surrounded and the jacks are not.
One last thing that I find interesting is that at each corner of the case there is a groove cut out. I would think that is helps the case snap on and off with more ease.
Performance
While I will not slam my phone around to tell you what type of protection it offers, I can certainly speculate. The case will definitely offer protection from scratches and scrapes. It will also absorb a small amount of shock if dropped, but I don’t think it will protect the phone against a particularly hard fall. It does give a sense of security though, knowing the case is on the phone puts me a bit more at ease when carrying it around. I don’t worry constantly that every bump or scrape is going to damage my phone.
The phone popped into the case with ease and sat inside snugly. It didn’t wiggle around or rattle even after removing it and replacing it quite a few times. Speaking of removing the phone, it proved to be somewhat annoying. The best I was able to do was to press the top of the phone and case down against something, and take my thumb or index fixer and try to life it out from the bottom using the groove made for the micro USB charging cable. You could also press through the back in the slot made for the camera, but I would be afraid of getting fingerprints on the lens, or possibly even damaging it.
The material of the case is as I said before a soft rubber texture and I thought it would help with the grip. In reality the phone held no better with the case then it did without one. On glass, both the base phone and the case had a good grip. On metal both were very slick and had almost no grip at all. On both wood and plastic the phone and case did all right, but were still slippery enough that I would be worried if there was an incline to either.
Overall and Final Verdict
All in all I think the Palette is a great case. It isn’t one of the heavy duty cases that will protect your phone from a nuclear attack, but it will certainly absorb some shock and keep it from getting scratched up. The material, although it feels nice, leaves a little to be desired from a grip standpoint. But since it is no worse than the phone itself I really can’t complain. Most importantly and possibly the most impressive feature of the case is the price point. The Palette can be picked up on Amazon for only $4.95 and is eligible for free super saver shipping, or free two day shipping with Prime. At that price point there is simply nothing in my eyes that can compete with it. If you find yourself needing a case for your new Nexus 4, I would definitely recommend. At $14.95, which it normally lists for, I would still recommend it, but it isn’t the steal that it is at $4.95.
