A mixed bag, but decent overall
The good:
- The fabric on the main portion of the outside is smooth and, though different from the official Google one, is still nice to the touch.
- The fabric on the inside is finely weaved and doesn't leave the phone with any imprints or blemishes, at least not from what I can tell.
- The fingerprint cut-out is bigger than the official Google one, which is great for people with big fingers.
- The cutout for the USB-C port is just the right size to fit official cables and some third-party cables (I only know Belkin's USB-C cables work because they're the only ones I use now, but Google's pack-in cables still fit). The official Google USB-C to 3.5mm dongle works with this case.
- The case still works with the squeeze function (i.e. squeezing the case's bottom half to call the Google Assistant still works).
- The screen-side rim is tall enough to keep the phone from touching a surface screen-down, but not tall enough to intrude on its normal use (at least to me). The case is also thick enough to prevent the camera bump from touching a surface when the phone is screen-up, too.
The bad:
- Taking the case on and off feels mildly infuriating. The case is extremely tight, which is good for protection, but bad for people wanting to more thoroughly clean the fingerprint reader and camera/flash top portion.
- The buttons are somewhat hard to press. They're not impossible, but more difficult than I'd like. At least the user won't be able to press anything accidentally.
- The edges where the fabric and plastic meet on the case feel scratchy and raw; they aren't polished. I wonder if sanding them down with sandpaper would fix that, but that shouldn't be something I have to do on a phone case in any instance. I can't tell if this is just my unit or if this is a problem with all of them, but it's something I experienced using this case, so I figured I should share it.
Overall, I'd recommend the case even with its downsides, but if you can get an official Google fabric case for cheap, go for that instead. This Incipio case is generally less expensive, but the official Google case is still my preferred case between the two because it had fewer problems, at least to me.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: New