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You are here: Home / Archives for iPhone

The Evutec S Series Wood Phone Case: A Review

11/02/2015 By Tom McLaughlin

Evutec S Series Wood Phone Case in Ebony for the iPhone 5S

Introducing the Evutec S Series Wood Phone Case

Recently, phone cases have become akin to articles of clothing. From time to time, you snap one on like a fashionable accessory. The designers tell you it looks smart. Meanwhile, it provides a good, but not great, job at protecting your phone. Other cases may protect your phone well, but more or less resemble a block. You swap between different phone cases from day to day or week to week until, of course, one breaks. What you end up with–less money in your wallet after you’ve spent it on a sub par case. There is a third choice. Along comes a different case, one that brings style and strength to the forefront, introducing the S Series wood phone case from Evutec.

The people at Evutec noticed this problem and dedicated themselves to solving it. “Stylish” and “superior protective solutions” are what they do best. When it comes to their S and SI Series wood phone case, this is no different.

Last week I entrusted my Apple iPhone 5s to Evutec’s S Series ebony wood phone case, to see if it held up to their claims.

Here’s what I discovered, and here are a few reasons why you should look at the S Series wood phone case this fall.

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A Beautiful and Sustainable Look

The seasons change quickly and with each one comes new looks and styles. Now, at the beginning of fall, people have put aside their past seasonal attire and replaced them with more appropriate traditional colors. Evutec’s S Series wood phone cases do well to compliment this changeover to fall. The Wood S Series comes in 5 choices–pretty much anything to fit the shifting landscape as well as your style:

  • Bamboo
  • Black Apricot
  • Black Pearl
  • Ebony
  • White Ash

The natural look of these cases effortlessly goes with any kind of style. And they won’t expire when the season changes again.

[envira-gallery id=”3499″]
Read:   The Case Logic Back To School Backpacks for Kids & Teens 2016/2017

DuPont™ Kevlar®

Yes, Kevlar®, as in the fibrous substance that is used to make anything from bulletproof vests to racing car shells. While I wouldn’t suggest testing out the Kevlar® by shooting a gun at your phone, I can say that the wood phone case will keep your phone protected in a some situations.

In case you’re worried about the claim that this is actually wood, don’t be. Evutec uses only 100% FSC certified sustainable wood veneers and layers them between woven DuPont™ Kevlar® fibers to give each Wood Series case its extra sturdiness. When finished, the product in your hand has the look and feel of wood as well as the strength of Kevlar® to keep it from falling apart anytime soon.

Evutec also went the next step and polished their cases with a 5-layer Evutouch® coating that shields it from scratches or marks around the body from wear and tear.

It’s important to make clear that even with Kevlar® being “5 times tougher than steel,” your phone is not. Your entire screen is left open. If you know you’re a clumsy person, this may not be the right case for you.

Read:   Speck's New Back To School Backpacks for 2016

The Slim, Comfortable Fit

With the sturdy complexity of the build, it’s surprising that the case still comes in at only .9 mm. The click into the case will hold it close and tight, while still easy to remove if you find a need to. It’s clear that one of the main focuses of the case was the slim look, which it fulfills remarkably.

With wooden phone cases, it’s hard to find that smooth, comfortable feeling without the delicate, rough texture that comes with them. Other manufacturers’ cases often are made of cheap products or pieced together with artificial look-a-likes. Evutec’s cases are an ideal blend of high-quality wood and Kevlar® material. The result is a polished, sleek feel that sits comfortably in your hand. [Tweet “Evutec’s cases are an ideal blend of high-quality wood and Kevlar® material. The result is a polished, sleek feel that sits comfortably in your hand.”]

Against my hands, the wood is more welcoming than those metal cases that I’ve owned. And since it isn’t made with any metal products, you won’t encounter any of the signal blocking that you often notice with a metal case.

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The Verdict

In the end, the look, feel, and durability of the Wood S Series is what sets it apart. It’s the type of case that looks great on your phone and gives you confidence that it will hold together.

What you won’t find from the Wood S Series is a case that protects your phone from much other than scratches and minor drops. It doesn’t offer any sort of screen protection aside from a bevel around the corners, so drops from heights over four feet may do your phone in.

The price is surprisingly good based on the reliability of the product. The Wood S Series pricing begins at $29.95 for smaller cases like the Apple iPhone 5/5s and runs up to $49.95 for the larger iPhone 6+/6s+ and the Samsung Galaxy S6.

The Evutec Wood S Series can be found in a variety of stores like BestBuy, Brookstone, Target and T-Mobile and online on Apple, Amazon, BestBuy, and Target.com. [Tweet “The look, feel, and durability of the @Evutec Wood S Series is what sets it apart.”]

If you are looking for that extra level of protection, then look no further than the Evutec all Kevlar-body Karbon Series. This case series has military-grade protection and drop-test approved (MIL-STG-810G Certified.) Not only does the Karbon Series cover the same models of phones that the Wood Series does, it covers additional models as well as Apple iPad tablets.

Overall, I believe this wood phone case is a worthwhile purchase provided you know what you’re looking for. You’ll not only see some protection, as evidenced, in this Evutec YouTube video, but you’ll also see a chic style that won’t be giving up on you anytime soon.

What do you think about the lack of screen protection? Do you think it’s something to worry about? If you have an Evutec case, have you noticed any problems with this? Let me know what you think in the comments!

EvutecWood_25

Read:   The Best Speck CandyShell iPhone 6/6s Cases of 2016

FTC Disclosure: Evutec provided Beantown with Two (2) S Series wood phone case samples for review purposes. Our opinions are purely our own.

Awards: Evutec won Best of Show at CTIA 2014: Best Product Design and Best Minimalist Case.

All photographs are the copyrighted property of Beantown LLC.

Filed Under: Phones Phablets Tablets Tagged With: Bamboo, Ebony, Evutec, Galaxy, iPhone, Phone case, S Series, Wood phone case 08/11/2016

Review: 4 Big Reasons To Consider The Amzer Crusta Case for your iPhone.

03/23/2015 By Reginald Agenor

Amzer Crusta Case

Is Amzer Crusta the right rugged case for your iPhone 6 or 6 Plus?

Concluding three months ago in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Consumer Electronics Show, better known as CES, attracts gadget makers of all shapes and sizes showing off the latest in consumer technology. But, it’s not just the gadgets that attract the masses to this omnipotent trade show at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Case makers such as Amzer utilize the trade show to showcase their newest offerings. Case in point (no pun intended), their newest offering is the Amzer Crusta (spelled Crüsta™) iPhone 6 Plus case.

While not a household name just yet, Amzer manufactures one heck of a rugged case. Don’t allow your unfamiliarity with Amzer brand to prevent you from considering the Crüsta™ case as a viable option for protecting your treasured investment. The question you iPhone 6/6+ owners have to ask yourselves is ‘would you protect your expensive investment with this case?’ Based on our lengthy testing, we can answer your question for you with an unequivocal ‘Yes.’ We came away impressed.

The recently released Crüsta™ case offers 4 layers of military grade protection. This multi-layer military grade protection consists of the following:

  1. A tempered glass screen protector
  2. An embedded tempered glass hard shell casing
  3. A thermoplastic rubberized ring with textured finish
  4. A 360 degree swiveling functional belt clip holster

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Amzer’s own Kristäl™ tempered glass offers complete edge-to-edge protection with easy installation. We came away impressed by the hardness of this glass, which ensures protection from unwanted scratches and scrapes. According to Amzer, Kristäl™ provides “maximum touch sensitivity and optically clear adhesive for HD quality.”

The case also features a 1.1 mm thick tempered glass backing along with an inner hard shell. This inner shell and outer bumper ring have cutouts to ensure no unwanted dust particles or other foreign substances enter the device’s orifices by happenstance. It incorporates precise cutouts for easy access to all your iPhone’s critical ports and buttons. All the device’s physical buttons are easily accessible and functional.

The belt clip conforms to various positions and comfortably fits on your belt or pant waist without any noticeable discomfort. The iPhone 6 Plus case even comes with a handy microfiber cloth (a necessity for cleaning any fingerprints from the fitted tempered glass.

After our thorough review, we strongly suggest this case for those who are accident prone or severely paranoid. This covers a lot of you folks. We grade this case with high marks and believe that it suits most working professionals who look for that serious mobile phone protection. How many brands boast about 6′ drop protection? Off the top of our heads, we’re only familiar with two. This level of protection comes from the “high impact resistant thermoplastic material with nano air cushion technology.” Amzer tells all “it’s okay if you let go.”

The Crüsta case is available in a wide array of color combinations, 42 to be exact. Watch the video below to see the color lineup or visit www.amzer.com/crusta. We prefer the Black on Yellow color combination as it resembles the colors of our NHL franchise Boston Bruins.  The Crüsta™ case is available on the Amzer website as well as on Newegg at a cost of $45. If you’re looking to buy it for a little less, wait and check around a holiday. Amzer currently has a 20% off sale for Mother’s Day. Use Code MEMORIAL at checkout. The Crüsta™ case is available for use with the following mobile devices:

  • Apple iPhone 5/5S/6/6+
  • Apple iPad Mini 1/2/3
  • Samsung Galaxy S5
  • Samsung Note 3 & 4
  • Amazon Fire (Why? We have no idea.)

FTC Disclosure: Amzer provided BR with a Crüsta™ case to review during CES2015. 

Filed Under: Mobility, Phones Phablets Tablets Tagged With: Amzer, Crusta, iPhone, Kristal, review 10/21/2015

Perfectly Clear App for Android Review

02/22/2015 By Hakan Can

Perfectly Clear 4.0 Catchlight Feature

Perfectly Clear 4.0–A photo app worth using

It seems like every day of the week, a new app is introduced to the public. And if it’s not new, then it’s an updated one.  Most apps just live for a moment.  Their effect or output lasts anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours. Such is the life of a tweet or a Facebook post.  Then there are those like Athentech’s Perfectly Clear app 4.0 for Android (and iPhone/iPad) whose output can last a lifetime or beyond.  What makes the Perfectly Clear app different from the pack is its ability to take a photograph and modify it to the users liking.  And it does so in such a way that you’ve probably never seen before, that is effortlessly and on the fly.  Don’t believe me? Then feel free to visit the Athentech website and witness the app for yourself.  Better yet, go to the Amazon App Store, Google Play, or iTunes and download the app.  You’ll soon see why this app, whose output lasts a lifetime or beyond, is well worth the $2.99 price.

How to use the app

Now this is simple: take a photo or use one already in your mobile device.  I focused on a photo taken with a staff member of Gold Lounge within the Aria Hotel in Las Vegas during CES2015.  The setting within the lounge was dark with all manners of dimmed lighting around us.  Now, rather than getting ahead of myself and describing the results of this edited photo, let me first talk about the inner workings of PC 4.0. We’ll get back to my story shortly.

For your purposes, let’s say your starting point is with an image. On this screen image, by my count you’ve got five icons to choose from. In the upper left, there’s a menu icon.  Within this menu, you can access your “Camera, Folders, Settings, Help, or Quick Start.”  The camera setting is where you take your photos.  Here, your mobile device’s camera becomes more like a DSLR.  It can be set to “Normal, Portrait, HDR, Panorama, Burst, or Timer” in either the front or rear camera.  It can also be adjusted for exposure, flash, focus, and the rule of thirds, among others.  All you DSLR users will find this most handy.  Within the settings feature, there are all sorts of camera, correction and sharing settings.  There’s also a link to offer feedback on the app.  The quick start feature shows you how to capture, correct, and share your output.  The help feature takes you to the Athentech website, which by the way is only accessible via mobile.  I was not able to access this URL from a desktop.  This help feature is lengthy and full of descriptive language and graphics.  These settings, help, and quick start features are worth investigating and becoming familiar with.

In the lower left, this icon displays image details, a cropping feature, rotation features, and the ability to delete the image.  In the upper right there’s icon that takes you to a page where you can share your image or share to app.  The lists of apps one can share to is based on what’s in one’s mobile device.

Perfectly Clear App 4.0 Auto Fix

PC 4.0 Auto Fix

The icons at the lower right are where the fun, the most action is at.  Here you’ll see a magic “Fix” brush and a pencil.  Tap the brush and you see “Perfectly Clear at work…”  This is where the on-the-fly photo editing occurs.  By moving your finger left and right across the sliding editor, you’ll see the “original” and “better” imagery simultaneously.  If you like the “better” image, save it.  If you don’t like it, tap the pencil.  This yields more correction features like “Fix Dark”, “Fix Tint, “Beautify”, and “Adjust.”  Tap “Adjust” and you’ll find 17 additional corrective features, for a total of 20.  These features are “Exposure, Depth, Vibrancy, Sharpen, Tint, Noise, Skin Tone, Perfectly Smooth, Blemish Removal, Shine Removal, Face Slimming, Teeth Whitening, Red Eye Removal, Eye Enhance, Eye Enlarge, Dark Circle Removal, and Catchlight”  Most of these 17 corrective features have sliding scales for adjustment.  My personal favorites are blemish, shine, and dark circle removal.  After a long day at CES, I think everyone needs some shine and dark circle removal.  For you teens and younger adults, do you want to be reminded of the acne you once had?  (A rhetorical question.)  My least favorites are face slimming and eye enlarge.  The physical shape of my eyes and face are what they are, and I don’t want them adjusted.  And as much as I enjoy Japanese Anime, I don’t want to become part of it.  So you choose what corrective feature you wish to implement, and go from there.  It’s that easy.

Now getting back to my story.  Just by using half of the corrective features provided by PC 4.0, I was able to transform the photo to my liking.  A little added exposure here, a little shine removal there and voilà, a photo to remember.

Android 5.0 Lollipop

Perfectly Clear App Android GUI

PC 4.0 Android GUI

If you’re using Lollipop, then terrific, you have additional features.  Per the folks at Athentech, you now have “full-resolution high speed burst, full-resolution panorama (Nexus 6 & 9), HDR shots of fast-moving subjects, full white balance control, and more.”  So don’t hesitate, upgrade to Lollipop and enjoy PC 4.0 even more.

Competition

The Perfectly Clear app does have some competition in the photo beautification space. I came across three such competitors in Google Play alone. The closest to Perfectly Clear 4.0 is one called PicBeauty from Active Beans.  While this app has over twice the downloads of PC 4.0, I believe this is solely attributed to it being a free product, nothing more.  In this instance, free doesn’t equate to good.  I downloaded PicBeauty to my LG mobile for comparison purposes.  I found it to be inferior to PC 4.0 in so many way that it’s too lengthy to list.  The biggest disadvantage is no on-the-fly image modifications, followed by a weak user interface and a short list of features. Plus it crashed on me.  The avatar is unappealing and needs replacement, and then there are the advertisements. Oh…how I dislike ads.

The two remaining apps are YouCam Perfect – Selfie Cam by Cyberlink and Perfect365: One-Tap Makeover by ArcSoft.  These apps have been downloaded well in the 7 & 8-figures, respectively, thus they’re well established products.  In addition to being free (initially), they too lack the on-the-fly image modification.  I say initially because these two apps have in-app products for sale starting at $0.99 per item.  But this is where the comparisons end.  They are actually decent apps but differ from PC 4.0 in many ways.  These two apps remind me more of Photoshop or Pixlr than PC 4.0.  They’re not only photo editing apps, they’re virtual makeup editing apps.  They are more complex than PC 4.0 thus requiring more time doing what you need to do.  Plus, the high majority of us men don’t need a makeup editor.

Conclusion

This photo editor is not only terrific, but it’s also effortless and fun to use.  For those you question the cost, my suggestion is don’t.  You won’t regret this purchase.

Check out their video “Perfection just went mobile.”

All photos and video are the courtesy and property of Athentech.

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On February 10, Perfectly Clear 4.0 was updated to version 4.06 for stability improvements.  It is now in version 4.07.

Filed Under: Apps Tagged With: Android, App, Athentech, iPad, iPhone, Perfectly Clear 04/30/2015

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