[Nexus 5X Accessories] Alcolawl:
Introduction

I know the search for cases for this phone has been a little annoying and, in some cases, (hah!) underwhelming. I decided to pull the trigger on a case from a brand I've never bought before. I wanted a low profile case that provided, at least, decent protection. After some research, I purchased the Ringke FUSION Case over at Amazon for $12.99. My goal here is to provide people with some quick and concise information so they can make an informed decision when looking to buy a case for the Nexus 5X. So lets jump right in and see how this baby holds up to my expectations.

Disclaimer: I bought this case with my own money. I haven't been paid to endorse this product in any way. I'm also not a professional photographer, so the pictures I took with the M9's underwhelming camera is about the best my trembling, hungover hands could manage.

Details

It comes in two colors, "Smoke" (Grey) and "Crystal View" (Clear) -- Both are priced at $12.99

The case is made of Silicone TPU and the Plastic (maybe polycarbonate?).

No matter which color you choose, both come with an "HD" screen protector.

Initial Impressions

The case comes packaged quite nicely, sealed in a bubble-wrap insulated envelope. Upon opening the package we're greeted with Ringke's "ECO Package" which is supposedly saving the polar bears or something. It touts that they have sold over 10 million products, use non-toxic materials, and also instructs me to "feel good adout myself".

It's also a little funny because within this ECO package is another plastic Ziploc bag that houses the actual case.

Within this resealable bag you'll find the actual case. It has a protective film plastered on both sides of the clear plastic that shows off the rear of your beautiful new phone. This must be removed before installation. (Forgive me, I did not take pictures of this). The screen protector is also placed perfectly inside the case. My immediate impressions were that this case felt pretty decent for the price. It's light, the TPU sides felt grippy and the plastic (after having removed the protective films) felt a bit grippy and not brittle at all. This bolstered my initial confidence in the case that if I were to drop the phone accidentally on a hard surface that it'd shrug it off without a problem.

Installation and Fitting

The Screen Protector that comes with this case is a thin flexible film. It's plastic, not tempered glass and isn't the same material you'd experience with, say, a Skinomi TechSkin screen protector either. The screen protector comes with films attached to both sides. Both films are labeled with a description as well as a number to let you know which one you're suppose to remove first.

After washing my hands, I removed the adhesive film and carefully placed it on my phone. I placed the screen protector on the bottom and slowly applied it from the bottom up, using a credit card to smoothly apply the protector to mitigate any air bubbles. Application was pretty easy and just took about 3 seconds of patience. The protector fits almost perfectly. I applied it about a millimeter or two off center to the left, so there's a bit of a gap between the protector and the case now but it's hardly noticeable. As you can see from the picture above, the protective film that gets removed from the protector is colored blue, which I promptly removed, crumpled up and threw in the garbage before taking a picture. Because I'm an idiot.

The screen protector DOES have a cut out for the proximity sensor (are you listening Spigen?).

The case itself is a pretty easy installation. I slid the top portion of the phone in first, so that the buttons wouldn't get pressed during installation. With a satisfying hugging/click sound I then pressed the bottom end of the phone into the case. The case fits snuggly and does not allow the phone to move around at all. That being said, removal of the case is quite easy and can be done in seconds. This, however, I can't see happening by accident in your pocket or any other situation. This is exactly how I like my phone cases. Easy to install and remove without it just falling off from tumbling around in my shorts or something.

How the case fits the phone is a huge plus in my book. There is a TPU lip that goes around the entire face of the phone that provides some extra scratch protection if I were to place the phone face down.

On the back you can see the clear plastic allows the nice Nexus logo to shine through. There's a proper cutout of the Fingerprint sensor, Camera, Laser Auto-focus and Flash LED.

The plastic lays flush with the camera lense / glass, providing decent protection from a fall if the phone were to land on it's back. This case basically lets the phone lay flat on a desk or anything else due to little bumps at all four corners of the case. This is nice so that the phone no longer rests right on it's fragile camera when placed face up on a flat surface.

Features & Other thoughts

This case seems to be as well thought out as it is constructed. There is a properly sized cutout for the USB-C port as well as the headphone jack. The headphone jack, however, has a TPU flap covering it to prevent dust from getting in. This is a bit annoying sometimes to remove, but I like that they included it for the reason of cleanliness. There's also a cutout for the bottom microphone.

Moving to the right side of the case, we can see that there are TPU buttons covering the Volume Rocker and Power button. Normally I hate these things because they're hard to find and usually dull the tactile feedback from the buttons. But the way these are implemented are probably the nicest I've ever felt. They're raised from the side of the case, so they're easy to find and feel quite nice when pressed giving a satisfying click sound that you'd get from the naked phone itself. Well done, Ringke!

There's also a cutout at the top for the top microphone as well.

The case feels nice to hold and doesn't add much bulk at all. The TPU sides are decently grippy but the gloss finish on them makes it slippery at times. My only complaint with the case is that the clear backing is a fingerprint magnet. If you have greasy hands the back will look smudgy and at times can be quite slippery. Not a big deal but if it catches the light a certain way it looks pretty bad.

As for the screen protector, I'm not exactly thrilled with it. I actually ordered a different screen protector before I bought this case, but it hasn't shipped yet so I just threw this one on for now. I'm fairly sure the screen protector isn't oleophobic, so finger prints and smudging happens pretty often. Which is a shame because it feels pretty nice to interact with.

Overall

Overall, I really like this case. It offers adequate protection from minor falls and scratches for the price without adding nearly any bulk. It also allows the phone to lay flat on flat surfaces without resting on the camera, which is a major plus. The case is easy to install and remove and fits nicely. It's a well-thought-out case with no glaring oversights or problems. The screen protector, however, is a bit lackluster. But hey, it was a free and it's a stand in for my Tempered Glass one arriving in the mail next week. Those looking for a low-profile, comfortable and protective case for there brand new N5X, look no further.