[Nexus 5 Accessories] mmmmBACON:
Okay, before I pic spam the thread with juicy red and black titanium goodness, thanks [MENTION=5091753]dbrandSkins[/MENTION] for a speedy delivery! It’s probably because it’s within Canada and from Toronto to Winnipeg, but 2 days is still pretty damn good. I got them Thursday, but only had time to snap some pics today. Also, cheers for the bonus back!! That was unexpected, but entirely awesome. If I ever get tired of the black titanium (which may be never, it’s amazing! I might force myself to switch it up though) I’ll definitely rock the WCF. Maybe I’ll do the red and white for Canada Day!

I’m not doing any company vs. company skin comparisons folks, I don’t give a damn about that. I wanted to throw some support to dbrand as well. I don’t mind supporting multiple/competing companies. My experiences with the product/customer service will dictate where the dollars flow. I don’t particularly enjoy public bickering. I’ve simply heard a lot of good things about dbrand and I wanted to give it a shot as well. Also, Black Titanium! Red and black is probably my favorite colour combo, but red and metallic black, damn!

Material Quality:

Hmmm, vinyl, good vinyl! It mimics the look and feel of metal pretty well. Nice striations, nice variations in groove thickness and shading. The skin didn’t stretch at all; the lettering was even and pretty much perfect. The camera and flash cutout were also perfect. There is nothing really to complain about in terms of the quality of material, cutouts, and design/feel. The material feels durable, and seems like it can take a beating with no problems.

The colouring of the Black Titanium didn't exactly follow the colouring from the dbrand website, but since they are revamping the site, I'm going to guess the pictures will be a more accurate portrayal then. The colour isn't super dark like the site, it is more of a dark metallic gray. That makes sense as it is trying to mimic metal, but just an FYI for those of you thinking it's very dark. Depending on the lighting and angle though, as you'll see from the pics, it can look gray, to metallic shimmering, to almost black. So overall, I'm happy with the colour and the effects.

**NOTE: People have said that the skins don’t go very close to the edge leaving a bigger gapped border. I’m not going to dispute that, the skin does leave more of a gap. In this particular case though, I preferred that, for two reasons. First, it made installation ridiculously easy. Put it on, press it down, hit it with a hair dryer for a couple of seconds around the edges/corners and down it all went. Second, this is circumstantial due to the colour of the skin and phone. The effect on the back of the phone with the skin, mirrors the effect on the front between the screen and the red borders of the phone. When you look at the front of the phone, you see the red outline around the screen. When you look at the back of the phone, you also see the red outline around the skin! It just happened to work out that way with the red phone, and it just happens to be an awesome effect!

If I was to really nitpick, I could say the edges were a bit rough against the hand. But I guess there’s nothing you can really do about that, it’s just how the edges are when they are cut. Maybe they can be cut at an angle in the future, to create more of a beveled edge. I do use a bumper (though I want to go naked) so I won’t feel the edges anyway though.

Installation:

I only chose the back skin. I like having a simple glass slab on the front. It keeps things clean, smooth, and minimalistic. There is also a Nillkin H+ tempered glass screen protector on the phone, and I wouldn’t want to put a skin over that anyway. I also chose not to have side skins as I wanted to keep the red border. I’m using bumper cases anyway, so it was pretty much pointless.

Anyway, installation was a breeze. The fit around the camera cutout was impeccable! Not a hint of red anywhere. I appreciate how the NEXUS cutout is a little more “forgiving” by being a tiny bit thicker. The lettering is still even, exact, and precise; but having wider openings lets a little more of the red through, which I really like. It allows NEXUS to pop a little bit more in contrast.

The corners and sides went down very easily and remained even throughout. There is no wavy unevenness anywhere along the edge. Using the hair dryer made things very simple, and it only took a couple of seconds to make the skin more pliable. You could see the corners fold down on their own when heat was applied. Then it was just a quick smooth over with the fingers.

As I mentioned earlier, lining up the NEXUS was very easy because the cutouts are a little bit wider than the letters on the phone. You can see a slight outline beyond the indented letters on the back of the phone, but these were also even within the cutouts and just made a nice border.

Overall Look:

@#$%ing SEXY! That’s pretty much all that needs to be said. I bought a red phone as a replacement specifically because I wanted to skin it and have red letters through the skin. The red colour itself is nice; I like how it’s such a ridiculous neon red. There were a couple of times where I was planning to just go skinless, but I’m glad I didn’t. It won’t suit every look, or every type of skin, but when you put specific types of skins on, such as the Black Titanium or Black/White Carbon Fibre, it is gorgeous. The black and white phones can’t compare when the right skin is on this phone. Black Titanium is one of those skins. The look is just hot!

Pic SPAM:

Hey mmmmBACON... Shut up and show me more pics!