Review: An Average Case at an Average Price
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 28, 2014
I own a small collection of Kindle Fire HDX cases including Amazon's own Origami case; two Belkin cases, the QODE (w/ BT keyboard) and Chambray; and an Otterbox Defender. So it's safe to say that when it comes to cases for my HDX I've got something for pretty much every occasion. The Incipio Hive is an interesting mix of loud colors, plastics, and silicone for a definitively unique looking product.--------------------DESCRIPTION & USE:The Incipio Hive case is one of my more interesting cases. The design is really unique and I love the look of the hexagonal, beehive inspired back honeycomb. The same honeycomb structure is present on the inner lining of the case and seems to impart some shock absorbency on top of simple aesthetics.The colored portion (mine's light blue) of this case is a silicone skin that actually peels away from the white portion which is made from a hard plastic. I found that the easiest way to get my HDX in this case was to first peel off the silicone skin, wrap my HDX in it, and then pair the skin to the plastic backing.The hard plastic backing also features a folding stand that server to prop the HDX in landscape mode.I found that construction and fitment is quite good. All the requisite cutouts for the HDX are exactly as they should be. The power button and volume adjustment controls are still quite responsive wrapped in the silicone skin. One minor issue is the cutout for the headphone jack. On a couple of my headphones that feature L-shaped connectors the presence of a considerable amount of silicone from the skin is too much for the headphones to work. Standard shaped plugs worked just fine. Just be aware that L-shaped or oversize audio jacks will likely not work with this case/skin.--------------------WHAT I LIKE:(+) Looks great and the fit and finish of the product is excellent(+) Fits my 7" HDX perfectly(+) Relatively easy to slip the skin and plastic case on with the caveat that it's best to slip them on individually--------------------WHAT COULD BE BETTER:(-) The stand only works in landscape mode(-) The stand isn't very rugged and feels quite flimsy(-) The extra depth of the silicone skin may make the audio jack unusable for certain earbuds/headsets--------------------CONCLUSION:Incipio delivers a good performing cover that's priced right in the middle of the road for HDX covers and offers a good amount of value without the "wow" factor of higher priced alternatives like the Origami case. If you're looking for a cool case with splash of color then this might be the right case for you. Recommended.