When it comes to protecting our phones there are plenty of options. There are tons of different cases from tons of different manufacturers. Cases ranging from extreme protection to very minimal, with a range of different bells and whistles to a case that is plain Jane. This time around we are going to look at the Surface from Seidio. The Surface is a simple case with a metal kickstand on the back for angled viewing. Join me as I compare it to the Palette from Poetic as well as look at the new and different features it has.
Product Name: Seidio Surface
Product Review Sample Provided By: Seidio
Written By: Brennon
Pictures By: Brennon
Packaging
It is important to note that for this product we didn’t actually get to unbox the product ourselves. At CES Seidio literally handed us the clothes off their back so to speak. After a brief discussion about the case, the Seidio rep grabbed this phone case out of its display on the floor and handed it to us. A quick glance told us that this was the only Surface for Nexus 4 that they had at CES, and they put it our hands for review. Thanks Seidio!
The packaging for the Surface for Nexus 4 is very simple and elegant. It reminds me of the type of thing that you might see in the beauty section of your local store. It has a picture of an attractive woman on the front of the packaging as well as the phone that the Surface is designed to be used on. What the pretty woman has to do with anything, I don’t think anyone will ever know, but more confusing is that she is looking at. Is she looking at the top of the case? Is she looking above the case? What is she looking at? I MUST KNOW!
The case is displayed front and center through the clear plastic window in the packaging. It looks as if the case was the only thing inside of the package and was overall packaged very plainly.
Pictures and Features
The first thing I notice about the Surface is that it is actually two separate pieces that come together to make a whole case. The two parts come apart relatively easily when the case isn’t actually on a phone. This worried me somewhat when I was just inspecting the case before any actual use, but I will cover this more later when I get to the performance section.
Another thing I notice which differs from the Poetic Palette that I reviewed previously is the way that the power button and volume buttons are incased. These buttons, along with the charging port and the audio jack in the top of the phone are all completely surrounded. If you remember with the other case they were open towards the face of the phone, but with the surface, they buttons and ports are completely surrounded by plastic.
Another interesting thing to note is that on the inside of the case there is some cloth. Thought I am not sure the purpose of this cloth I can take a couple of guesses. I would think that it is there to protect the phone in a couple of different ways. It keeps the back of the phone from getting scratched up when removing or replacing the case between uses, and it also acts as a buffer, absorbing some of the shock that the phone my take if it were dropped.
The last thing that I notice is what actually makes this case special and that is the kickstand. The actual kickstand is metal with the word Seidio engraved into it. It is held into place on the back of the case with a magnet. When pried loose the kickstand jumps out into place because of the spring loaded mechanism. There is a bit I want to say about the kickstand and I will talk about it more in the performance section as well.
Performance
Again, since the case doesn’t offer to buy me a new phone if I manage to destroy mine while using it, I won’t be slamming my phone around. I will however, guesstimate, (That’s right Mrs. Carter, I said it.) the protection that it will offer. The Surface is a bit thicker than the Palette and will likely offer a bit more protection from bumps and bruises. That being said, the case will not protect your phone from any major falls so tread lightly. The padding on the inside of the case will also help absorb more of the shock that your phone might otherwise soak up. This padding is dual purpose because it will also keep the back of your phone from getting scratched up when putting the case on or when removing it.
Speaking of removing and replacing the case, I want to talk about the two piece design. Originally I thought that the two piece design, because of how it behaved while off of the phone, was going to be a pain when on the phone. However, the case holds together quite nicely when it is locked into place around the phone. The case that was once very loose and hard to keep together is not very tightly locked into place and very difficult to take apart.
Another difference from the Palette is the way that the buttons and ports on the outside of the phone are completely surrounded rather than having an open top area. I don’t mind this design so much for the buttons, it makes no real difference to me. What I do have an issue with is the ports. The standard charging cable that came with the Nexus 4 works well enough, but the charging cable that came with the PowerFort from Cooler Master does not fit. I had some similar results with the headphone jack as well. Most headsets worked perfectly fine, but a couple, including the Steelseries Flux In Ear Pro gave me difficulty when trying to plug them in. The fact that I have to remove parts of the case in order to use some of my other devices is somewhat annoying, and in my eyes a deal breaker. I would think that Seidio would have tested the design of the case a little better. I don’t expect that it should work perfectly with every device, but I would certainly hope it wouldn’t have compatibility issues with brands as big as Cooler Master and Steelseries.
It should also be pointed out that the reason for the clearance issues on the power plug is the case being thicker above the plug. The one upside to this is that there should be less issues with the case cracking in that area. That is a problem area that some of the other cases on the market have run into.
The case has almost the exact same amount of gripping power as both the Palette and the Nexus 4 itself. The case does cause to phone to sit at a bit of an odd angle because the kickstand extends farther than the rest of the case. This causes the top of the phone to sit lower than the bottom. It also causes the phone to lift off the table if any amount of pressure is put on the base of the phone. This isn’t really a flaw or a feature in my eyes, just something I thought should be mentioned.
The last piece of the case that I want to cover is the kickstand. The kickstand is made of metal and seems sturdy enough, but I have some worries about the spring loaded mechanism being bent out of whack if too much pressure is put on it. I don’t think it will be a big issue for most people, but individuals with kids should be weary of it being bent out of place accidentally. The kickstand will only hold the phone up horizontally, which isn’t that big of a deal, but it would be awesome if Seidio had found a way to make it work both horizontally and vertically. Lastly, the magnet that holds the kickstand in place when it is not in use is a very nice touch. It makes it so that the kickstand almost closes itself with a simple push.
Overall and Final Verdict
At the end of the day I think that the Seidio Surface for Nexus 4 is a nice case, but a bit overpriced. At nearly $30 on Amazon, it simply doesn’t offer enough to make it worth that price point in my eyes. The kickstand, the extra padding on the inside, and the two piece design are all unique design features, but none of them really make it worth the cost. The lack of testing that went into the case is disappointing in the fact that two major brands that developed products that should work with the case simply don’t. The combination of the design flaw and the cost, with emphasis on the cost makes it so that I simply cannot recommend the Seidio Surface for the Google Nexus 4.
