Performance

With the bumper on, I’m sure you are all curious about how it performed. For one, I should point out that I spent far too much time waiting on my Nexus 4 to come in to just throw it around to test a case. Testing how well the two bumpers protect your phone will have to be subjective, sorry!

Putting the cases on, I found the more flexible Poetic case to be easier to take on and off. They were both very secure on the Nexus 4 once they were on though. The thinner design of the Poetic bumper was nicer to hold, making the official bumper feel bulky. Of course the reason its thinner is its thin plastic ring around the sides. The flexible plastic around the side of the Poetic bumper felt much cheaper compared to the official bumper and I also wasn’t a fan of the Poetic logo embossed into the side.  

How does using a bumper work as far as protecting your new Nexus 4? Well first thing is first, one of the biggest issues with the Nexus 4 is that it doesn’t grip to tables at all with its glass back. The official bumper’s rubber helps with this is some situations but not in all. For example, it grips better on our photo area that is made out of sheet metal but on our white plastic tables the Nexus 4 with the official bumper still slides all over. The Poetic bumper on the other hand did grip better to both finishes, but it’s still not as grippy as some will hope.

The amount of protection ether of the bumpers will provide is subjective and has been an argument on Nexus 4 forums already. The truth is, there is no way that ether will give you the same protection that a high quality case will provide, simply because the back of the phone is left open to be bumped. The Official bumpers thickness will come in handy when protecting from a corner drop though. The Poetic case has less protection and it actually puts the thin plastic right against the phone without a thin rubber layer that the official bumper provides. Because of this, in my opinion, the official bumper will protect your phone more.