[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Accessories] Pilz:
Incipio Stowaway: As a full-time undergraduate (soon to be graduate) student I don’t like to carry more things that I absolutely need on a daily basis. I always have my phone with me for the usual reasons like emails, browsing the web, music etc., but I’ve come to realize that some payment terminals are dumb and always give an error with Samsung Pay. (There’s one place around me in particular that does work, but it sometimes takes 4-5 attempts for an unknown reason; other times it works there flawlessly.) I decided that I wanted to get a wallet or rather card case for my S7 Edge to supplement Samsung Pay along with my drivers license, and credit card just in case.

Initially, I ordered this case way back when the S7 Edge was first shipping and Incipio posted pre-orders on Amazon. Then, sometime afterwards I canceled the order due to the release date still being unknown. Now that the case has been released I decided to still get one, but this time I ordered directly from Incipio.

The case comes with what at first seemed like an oddly small screen protector, but it’s nothing of that particular sort. Instead, the film is to be placed on the back of the device to prevent your cards from scratching the glass. Since the card area opens up directly to the glass of your phone in order to accommodate the 3 cards it fits, this was Incipio’s solution. I don’t mind the idea personally in order to cut down on the already large size of this particular case, but I’m sure there will be people out there that hate it. Incipio shows the card cover being used as a kick stand on their website, yet when I tried to stand the phone up with it, the phone would fall no matter what. Maybe at some point it will allow me to stand it up like that, but for now it simply won’t. I don’t care for kickstands anyway, so this doesn’t matter to me in the greater scheme of things. I like how the case is able to accommodate 3 cards (I had my drivers license, credit card, and CCW in there with a tiny bit of room left for maybe a business card too).

There were some issues since this was a first batch case from what I can tell after speaking with Incipio at length earlier this afternoon. I noticed tons of molding marks around the card flap that didn’t feel as refined as they should. Incipio was nice enough to send me a replacement, so for now I will leave that negative bit out of my overall rating by going under the assumption that the replacement will be better. If it is not better, then I will update this review to reflect that.

Ports: The micro USB port has no issues fitting cables from any of these manufacturers: Tronsmart, Choetech, Samsung, Motorola, Aukey, and Anker. If you have large ‘studio’ style headphones with a massive aux cable you won’t be happy with the normal sized cutout for headphones; all microphone cutouts are also present.

Volume/Power buttons: All of the buttons function with a pleasant natural click, and gave me no issues while using it this evening.

Overall: 8.5/10 Incipio made a nice looking case that hopefully won’t experience any of the issues seen on their Dual Pro after a few weeks of use. I am skeptical about the card cover working as a kickstand, but for now it doesn’t.

Incipio Stowaway:

LUVVITT TPU:

This is my first case from LUVVITT, and certainly won’t be my last. The case itself looks like a clone of the Spigen Rugged Armor, but in some ways it’s better. First, the case has a lower profile than the Spigen which is good if you want a thinner TPU case, but bad if you expect the same level of protection as the Spigen. The TPU has a nice feel to it, and almost features a ‘softness’ to the back which makes it comfortable to hold. On the backside the faux carbon is much less pronounced than the Spigen, but overall it still looks nice. There is also a raised lip for the camera to help prevent any damage when laying it down on the table.

Ports: The micro USB port has no issues fitting cables from any of these manufacturers: Tronsmart, Choetech, Samsung, Motorola, Aukey, and Anker. If you have large ‘studio’ style headphones with a massive aux cable you won’t be happy with the normal sized cutout for headphones; all microphone cutouts are also present.

Volume/Power buttons: This case has excellent buttons unlike some of the others. I cannot stand when cases have horrible buttons that don’t have a distinguishable click (i.e. not responsive). These click perfectly, so you should not be disappointed on that front.

Overall: 9/10 The overall feel of the case is great with nice tactile buttons, and low profile. The only downside I can find for this case is the fake ‘screws’ on the back, but that’s cosmetic and does not affect the quality of the case.

LUVVITT TPU

Spigen Wallet: After my disappointment with the Tech 21 EVO Wallet, I wanted to try another folio style case that might be better at a much lower price. I ordered this case a while ago during their $4 sale, and it just arrived the other day. Overall the feel of the case is about what I expected: the texture nothing fancy, but rather a simple generic faux leather like feel on the outside of the case. Inside you will find 3 card slots, and an internal pocket for cash, or some other small thin paper. The case that is affixed to the folio is actually their slim fit case with a few slight changes to make it fit inside the folio properly. I was disappointed to yet again receive a bent case from Amazon. I don’t know why I’ve been lucky enough to get damaged cases late, but it needs to be corrected. I won’t let that count against the case for this review despite the damage being quite obvious.

On the outside of the folio there is also a magnetic flat to keep the case closed when you’re not using it which is something that not every folio offers but should. It does fold around to the backside of the case in an attempt to keep it out of the way during use of the phone. I don’t like how Spigen has their card pockets inside because they’re quite large, and deep which allows the case to really get thick in a hurry. I had difficulty closing the case with the magnetic flap when 3 cards were inside of it with/without the phone. I even tried to ‘unbend’ the case to see if that would make a difference but it did not. I noticed how the flap would occasionally come off because of this design issue. Overall the case was harder to get used to than my Tech 21 Evo Wallet, and significantly thicker even without a card in it due to its design. There is also no sleep/wake magnet built into the case; not that I expected one even at its normal selling price. I don’t know why more companies don’t offer the sleep/wake magnet in their cases to make the folio better.

Ports: The micro USB port has no issues fitting cables from any of these manufacturers: Tronsmart, Choetech, Samsung, Nvidia, Motorola, Aukey, and Anker. If you have large ‘studio’ style headphones with a massive aux cable you won’t be happy with the normal sized cutout for headphones, but it works fine with my Bose QC 20’s, Freestyles, OE’s, Samsung headphones, and some others I’ve tried. All microphone cutouts are also present.

Volume/Power buttons: The case has cutouts for the buttons, so there is no issue using them.

Overall: 6.5/10 There are a few key issues with this case: First, the case has card slots that are overly large which adds bulk. Second, the durability seems questionable since it started to suffer plastic deformation when I tried to bend it back to it’s original shape slightly. (this is different than it arriving bent because it started to physically break when I use minimal effort to bend it back). Lastly, the phone is very difficult to use in the folio even when the back cover is folded back; when you add in the lack of a sleep/wake function it makes this case even harder to recommend.

Spigen Wallet:

Without Cards

With Cards in it

Spigen Rugged Armor:

Spigen cases are usually my go to when I get a new phone due to their quality, and overall nice design. I haven’t liked their recent offers with the disaster they created with their Nexus 6P NeoHybrid EX. I decided to stay with the cases that I know will always be worry free (from past experience). The Rugged Armor is one of their best-selling cases, and one look at it will explain why. Spigen has opted for a simple TPU case with faux carbon fiber ‘inserts’ that provide a unique look which many other case makers have copied (LUVVITT). Spigen’s offering is thicker than some of the other TPU cases out there hence its name ‘Rugged Armor’. This case is by no means intended to handle big drops like the Tech 21, Speck, or Otterbox, but it will work just fine for everyday accidents. Spigen added in a small raised lip for the camera too which I think is a nice touch to help protect your new S7 Edge from any potential damage. The back of the case has a nice smooth texture that is hard to really explain. It feels soft, but at the same time durable.

Ports: The micro USB port has no issues fitting cables from any of these manufacturers: Tronsmart, Choetech, Samsung, Nvidia, Motorola, Aukey, and Anker. If you have large ‘studio’ style headphones with a massive aux cable you won’t be happy with the normal sized cutout for headphones, but it works fine with my Bose QC 20’s, Freestyles, OE’s, Samsung headphones, and some others I’ve tried. All microphone cutouts are also present. Spigens headphone/USB port cutouts are usually on the larger side, so they might accommodate some slightly larger cables/headphones depending on how big they are.

Volume/Power buttons: Just like the Tech 21 case, Spigen has tactile buttons that are easy to press, but they are harder to accidentally knock.

Overall: 9/10Spigen has one of the best TPU cases out there today, (maybe Diztronic will make a S7E case soon) that provides you with slim good looking protection for your everyday routine.

Spigen Rugged Armor:

Spigen NeoHybrid Crystal:

With every phone I find it increasingly difficult to find a good clear case. The S7E has cases continue this trend with none of them really being great. I was really hoping Spigen corrected all of their mistakes on the Nexus 6P’s NeoHybrid EX (now called the crystal), and to an extent Spigen did. The buttons were removed from the frame, and molded into the TPU which helped fix one issue while also ignoring another one (see below in the buttons section). The clear area of the case has a ‘dot matrix’ inside texture that helps prevent the clear area from sticking to your phone and giving you the rainbow effect seen on the Ringke/Spigen Ultra Hybrid. I like the use of this pattern because it doesn’t distort the clarity of the clear section enough to be noticeable, yet it adds some good benefits. My big issue with this case is how the frame sits on the TPU portion. If you install the frame from either the top or bottom as described in the instructions the sides will be very loose. I’m not talking about the frame falling off per say, but the sides are loose enough to fit a business card between the frame/case. That’s not a good thing when you consider that I pulled the frame out in that area just by picking up my phone. My fingers will constantly ‘catch’ the frame along the sides thus pulling it out and making the case feel cheap. Since the frame is loose along the sides it also gives the case a ‘squishy’ feeling when you hold it. I cannot stand how much flex this has due to the frame not sitting correctly. It boils down to how the frame is tensioned when installing it. The bottom is secured first, then you pop it on the sides before finally pushing the top part into the TPU section. This puts a lot of tension in the 4 corners of the case, this making the sides loose since they are the longest part of the frame. The top/bottom have more TPU to sit in, so they are very snug, but the sides are just horribly loose. My Nexus 6P case had the same issue which was ‘revised’ later one, yet the issue persisted even with the new version. If Spigen does “try” to fix this for the S7E I can’t confidently say it will do anything beneficial.

I’m going to repeat some things here because there is only so much you can say about the port/headphone cutouts

Ports: The micro USB port has no issues fitting cables from any of these manufacturers: Tronsmart, Choetech, Samsung, Nvidia, Motorola, Aukey, and Anker. If you have large ‘studio’ style headphones with a massive aux cable you won’t be happy with the normal sized cutout for headphones, but it works fine with my Bose QC 20’s, Freestyles, OE’s, Samsung headphones, and some others I’ve tried. All microphone cutouts are also present.

Volume/Power buttons: The buttons themselves click perfectly fine until you install the frame. Now, since the frame is loose along the sides it almost sits flush with the buttons which makes them harder to located and press. Spigen needs to completely redesign their NeoHybrid Crystal to avoid this issue rather than adjust little things here and there while avoiding the bigger issue.

Overall: 6.5/10There is a lot of potential for this case, but all of that is wasted on a flimsy, poorly design plastic bumper that cheaply wraps together a great TPU case. The bumper is the single biggest let down here, and I hope it will be swiftly corrected. Spigen’s clear TPU is one of the best I’ve seen, so it’s disappointing to see it paired with such a terrible bumper.

Spigen NeoHybrid Crystal: