titleRecently I took a look at the Poetic Borderline Bumper for the Nexus 4, I was impressed with some of its features and found it to be an amazing value when compared to the LG/Google official bumper. Of course it wasn’t perfect, and I didn’t feel like it would do much to protect my easily damaged Nexus 4. So I was excited just a few days later to get in the second Poetic case that I had ordered, this time around a full case, not a bumper. Today I’m going to talk about my experience with the Poetic Atmosphere for the Nexus 4 and put it to the test against two bumpers and one other case to see what is the best case for your new Google Experience phone. My Atmosphere came in just in time for CES, perfect timing and a great way to put the case to the test.

Product Name: Poetic Atmosphere Nexus 4

Review Sample Provided by: Wes

Written by: Wes

Pictures by: Wes


Packaging

The packaging for the Atmosphere was spot on the same as what we saw previously with the Poetic Bumper. Poetic’s packaging is simple with a white front that includes a window showing off a fake Nexus 4 inside of the case. Around back there are a few small details posted in multiple languages along with the meaning of Poetic down at the bottom. Inside there isn’t much going on as well, you are just getting the case itself and the insert that looks like a Nexus 4.

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Pictures/Features

It’s easy to tell that the Atmosphere is a little different than all of the other cases we have taken a look at up until now. For starters the design is semitransparent, up until now most of what we have seen have been bumpers or the white Ringke SLIM. The Atmosphere also has a unique design feature with small feet, something I was very excited about when I ordered because of how slippery the Nexus 4 can be when sitting on a table with a slant. Much like the Poetic bumper that we took a look at, the design of the Atmosphere actually is part plastic with rubber infused around the front (and the feet as well). This rubber is used to fill in around the top of the case to hold the phone in. They also have rubber over top of the power and volume buttons, a major improvement over the Ringke case where it just has large cutouts around it.

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Here is a good look at the bottom of the case, Poetic went with the rubber around the charge port rather than have a thin/weak section of plastic that will break, you can also see the hole for the microphone from this point of view. Here you can see that the rubber used is more of a grey color than black, with the phone being almost all black I was surprised they went with this color, but it looks good.

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The volume buttons with the rubber covering, it’s not as nice as the google/LG bumper with its real buttons but the rubber is much nicer than most cases that just cutout around buttons. This normally makes the case feel less like a case over your phone.

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The Atmosphere’s most unique feature are the small feat that are on each corner of the back of the case. As you can see there isn’t much to them, but you do get a small nub of rubber to lift the case up off of the surface you are sitting it on as well as giving it a rubber grip to keep it from sliding around. We will see how much they helped in the performance section.

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Performance

Getting to spend all of CES with the Atmosphere was a major benefit. I was ready to write about it before the show but ended up a little to busy with everything. The extra week of hands on time solidified my opinions on the case, especially considering how much time I spend on the phone between meetings at CES. Let’s start from the beginning though. For starters, as similar in design as the Atmosphere is to the Poetic Bumper, when using the case there was a world of difference. They share a similar design with the rubber that holds the case in. But having an actual back to the case was the difference between me worrying about dropping or breaking the phone and me tossing it around without a worry in the world. Seriously, without a doubt I would have broken my phone the way I tossed it around at CES. But with this case on it I wasn’t worried or nervous like I was before. I even found myself pulling it out over balcony’s to take pictures for example. Something I would have been very worried about without the case or even with the bumpers. Why the difference? Well the semitransparent plastic used is actually very grippy, a major improvement over all of the other cases we have tested at least. I still think a rubber coating might work better, but for the first time I wasn’t worried about it slipping out of my hands.

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To be fair, much like the Poetic bumper I didn’t feel like the design would absorb a lot of impact like an Otterbox or Ballistic’s case would. But the solid frame felt like it would absorb more than the very thin bumper. Speaking of that, the plastic used on this felt thicker than the bumper as well. 

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Like most cases, the case did make the fit around the headphone port a little tight for some headphone cords. We ran into the same issue with the power plug area as well, but only when playing around with a slimport cable, not any of our standard charging cords. Other than those issues all of the openings cutout are perfectly placed. The rubber buttons over the power and volume buttons feel good and are much nicer than what you have available on most other cases, other than the lg bumper of course. On the back you can still see through enough to see the glamor finish on the back slightly and the Nexus logo is very visible. The last part of my testing was related to the small rubber feet on the back of the case. With the phone in the case I had no issues with it sliding off of any tables. When compared to the other cases/bumpers, the Atmosphere gripped our test surfaces (metal and a white plastic table) better than the others, especially compared to the Rengke Slim and the Nexus 4 without a case.

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Overall and FV

The Poetic Atmosphere was surprising to me, when I ordered it I wasn’t really sure what to expect. When it came in I wasn’t all that impressed with its style. But after putting it on my phone I was very happy with the case. It will cover up some of what I call the “glamor” styling on the back of the Nexus 4, but it is still transparent enough that you can still see the Nexus logo through it. Performance was impressive when compared to the two bumper’s and one other case that we have on hand, especially when it comes to in hand grip. The improved grip and full coverage back made a world of difference in my comfort levels when using my Nexus 4. Before I was always nervous about breaking it but the Atmosphere helped me relax finally. The only thing that is missing really is a high quality screen protector to go with the case and I would be good to go. Considering that this case is less than $10 on Amazon right now and eligible for free shipping you really can’t beat it frankly. Not only is the price right, but this is the best case we have had in hand to date for the Nexus 4.

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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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