titleWith a lot of people still waiting for their Google Nexus 4 to come in the demand for cases is only starting to grow. A lot of owners have been limited to TPU cases available on amazon and on Ebay or if they are lucky the LG bumper that is perpetually out of stock on the Google store. We just so happen to have in our hands the newest bumper on the market for the Nexus 4, the Poetic Borderline Bumper. It’s so new that it’s still not listed on their website, but we were able to preorder one about a month ago and it finally came in (sooner than promised to boot).  Today we are going to take a quick look at the case and compare it to the official bumper that we have been using on our Nexus 4.

Product Name: Poetic Nexus 4 Borderline Bumper

Review Sample Provided by: Wes

Written by: Wes

Pictures by: Wes

 

Packaging

The borderline shipped to us in a black and white box with a window on the front showing off the bumper.  Around back the packaging has a short list of features listed in four different languages. Down at the bottom they have the definition of Poetic, showing the meaning of the brand.

po-et-ic [poh-et-ik]

Poetic is a lifestyle that is in each and every one of us. Poetic is what connects us and makes us unique. Poetic can be bold or it can be subtle. No matter who you are or how you express yourself. You Are Poetic.”

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Poetic vs Official Bumper

Having both the Poetic and LG bumpers we have the unique chance to check out the differences between the two. First I should point out the biggest difference is their prices. We got in on the Poetic at half price preorder making it only $5 but the normal price is $9.95. Shipping is also only a few dollars and it’s also available for free super saving shipping if you spend over $25. The Google bumper on the other hand is $19.99 plus $5.99 shipping and tax. Even at the full price for the Poetic bumper, you are looking at less than half. My total for the Google/LG bumper shipped was $27.80 and the TWO poetic cases I ordered (while on sale for half price and with super saving shipping) was $12.90.

The next biggest difference between the bumpers is that the Poetic is noticeably thinner. They did this by using a very thin flexible plastic ring around the outside rather than the thicker hard plastic that the LG/Google bumper uses. This is especially noticeable when you flex ether of them, they both move but the Poetic bumper is much more flexible. The rubber used on the top and bottom halves are also a little softer.

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Where you will see the biggest quality difference is when you compare the power and volume buttons. They both use a proper cover and are both much nicer than a normal TPU case that just has a cutout for the buttons. The official bumper uses real buttons that are much like the buttons on the phone itself where Poetic went with a rubber button, they both work but the quality of the official bumper is noticeable here.

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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!

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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.

 

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Overall and FV

With it all said and done, I think the decision on what bumper to go with is going to depend on your pocket book. The price difference between the two is enough to give anyone pause. For your money you are going to get slightly more protection for your phone and better quality overall. But The cheaper Poetic bumper has its perks as well, for one it is thinner and easier to take off and put on your phone. It also does a better job keeping your phone from sliding around on some surfaces. I didn’t like the overall quality of the Poetic when compared to the official bumper, it’s funny though because I think the quality is better than my Ringke Slim TPU case though. The rubber button covers are much nicer than TPU case offerings currently. Overall, if money is tight the Poetic Nexus 4 Borderline Bumper is a great option to go with if you don’t want your case to block your view of the back of the Nexus 4. Protection is going to be limited, but it is still an improvement over nothing at all.

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Author Bio
garfi3ld
Author: garfi3ldWebsite: http://lanoc.org
Editor-in-chief
You might call him obsessed or just a hardcore geek. Wes's obsession with gaming hardware and gadgets isn't anything new, he could be found taking things apart even as a child. When not poking around in PC's he can be found playing League of Legends, Awesomenauts, or Civilization 5 or watching a wide variety of TV shows and Movies. A car guy at heart, the same things that draw him into tweaking cars apply when building good looking fast computers. If you are interested in writing for Wes here at LanOC you can reach out to him directly using our contact form.

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garfi3ld's Avatar
garfi3ld replied the topic: #28752 28 Dec 2012 21:25
For those Nexus 4 owners out there, case options are starting to slowly trickle in.
Wingless92's Avatar
Wingless92 replied the topic: #28753 28 Dec 2012 22:10
Nice bumper but no doubt that the Nexus 4 launch has been anything but a disaster. Shame on Google too, it's a great phone.

How does this compare to the Google bumper that they sell?
garfi3ld's Avatar
garfi3ld replied the topic: #28755 28 Dec 2012 22:57
the whole review talks about how it compares to the google/lg/official bumper :p

and yeah there have been a lot of crappy things about the launch. I'm not upset about the wait, I mean they had no idea it was going to be as popular as it was. But the lack of communication and random shipping was a MAJOR issue in my opinion.

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