5stars
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Durable100% agree
Stylish50% agree
Good protection100% agree
2 Reviews
Not as good as case for S3 but still very good
This is now my second Ballistic case I've ordered. The first one was for my now dead (but repairable) Galaxy S3. When I first received the Ballistic case for my Galaxy S3 I was pretty amazed at the quality of it.
It just felt well made and very exact. The case for the S3 fits that phone like a glove, with no extra room top, bottom or side. Just a nice snug fit.
The Ballistic case saved my Galaxy S3 so many times I've lost count. Unfortunately during my last mishap with my Galaxy S3, the phone fell screen first from a height of about 10' on to the METAL foot of a stool, and alas, I heard the un-mistakable sound of shattering glass. The screen didn't survive, but that has nothing to do with the Ballistic case, that was just bad luck.
At that point I considered all my options, and as it turns out the Galaxy S4 which is one model up from my S3 just went on sale, so even though I will repair my S3 at some point, I decided I would just pick up a new S4 so I have a phone to use right away.
Of course, having been very happy with the Ballistic case for my S3, I didn't hesitate in the least to get a new Ballistic case for my new Galaxy S4.
The order arrived promptly and well packed. Once I removed the new Ballistic case I did notice right away some differences with the case for the S3
The "bumper" corners on the case for my S3 are noticeably thicker and more robust. I really like that feature because most of the time when my S3 got accidentally dropped, it would hit the ground corner first, and you could actually see how those bumper corners with completely absorb the impact and then bounce the phone right back up.
Although I've already dropped this new phone once with the new case and everything was ok, just as the new reduced bumper corners would imply, it didn't seem to offer quite as much bounce-back and probably as much protection as the older version.
I'm going to venture to guess that this was a compromise made by the manufacturer in order to allow this phone to slip in to a pocket with more ease.
I can totally understand that and I will admit, the older case that is on my S3 is indeed quite difficult at times to slid in to a pant pocket. Those big chunky bumper corners on the S3 Ballistic case besides offering fantastic protection, also act as anti-pocket mechanisms lol. They literally try to stop you from sliding the phone in and out of your pocket easily. So it's a trade off.
With the new version, the Ballistic case for the S4 the reduced size of the bumper corners does indeed make it much easier now to slide in and out of your pockets, so I will give it that.
There are other differences. For example, the case for my S3, the cutaways for the USB charger socket, the cutaway for the head socket, as well as a cutaway for some sort of sensor at the top of the phone on the S3 also fit perfectly and molded very carefully so that it wouldn't interfere with accessing those sockets.
With this new version, it's not so exact of a cutaway. Instead they left plenty of room around each socket, much more than is actually needed. Why? I don't know, but I do like the exactness of the S3 version better than this S4 version.
Also, the actual top to bottom fit of this S4 Ballistic case is not as snug as the S3 Ballistic case.
As a matter of fact, it's a bit too loose. If I push up on the bottom of my phone while it is inside the case, that extra room will show up as a gap at the bottom of the phone, and the whole bottom of the phone is actually visible and no longer snugly inside the case.
I'm not sure the Ballistic case for the S4 has all of these minor but noticeable lower design standards versus the same case for the S3, but in order to provide an accurate review and rating, there are enough of those little differences that I can't just ignore either.
Therefore, based on a slight decrease in overall fit and function of the Ballistic case for the S4 versus the exact same case for the S3, I am going to deduct 1 star and thus give this S4 case a rating of 4 Stars.
I would really like to see Ballistic go back to the standards and exactness they had with the S3 case.
My Ballistic S3 case was definitely a 5-Star.Read full review...
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: new | Sold by: greenplanetcoll...
Almost great
Since I couldn't find the Spigen Tough Armour for my S4, I tried this bumper case.
Although it does provide good protection, its rubbery body is too grippy for easily getting the phone in and out of the pocket, and it's rather bulky.Read full review...
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: new | Sold by: imagedeck