Protective Case Suggestions and Ideas

[VaZso 1,998]

Just now, EskeRahn said:

I would not be at all surprised if quite many of us would be interested in one (or more) of those.

Right. I would be interested in at least two - so maybe four or five.
...in black colour, if possible please.

[Keyahnig 80]

47 minutes ago, Bloodhoundje said:

Do you happen to have the files in Fusion360 format

Sorry, I don't.

I wouldn't even know if it would be a good idea to turn my model into a mold anyways. The measurements were all taken with a basic ruler or were estimated so it won't be that accurate.

[Bloodhoundje 78]

1 minute ago, VaZso said:

Right. I would be interested in at least two - so maybe four or five.
...in black colour, if possible please.

The first test molds will be transparant to make sure it all is a good fit. After that I will likely only produce them in black unless there is alot of interest in other colors (Every one of them will be produced at home and I do it purely as a hobby 😁.

[Bloodhoundje 78]

5 minutes ago, Keyahnig said:

Sorry, I don't.

I wouldn't even know if it would be a good idea to turn my model into a mold anyways. The measurements were all taken with a basic ruler or were estimated so it won't be that accurate.

Thanks for the quick response. In that case I will draw one out from scratch with my caliper when I have the time 🙂

or perhaps @Erik knows someone at F(x)Tec who is willing to share a 3d model of the outer shell of the Pro1?😏

Edited January 20, 2020 by Bloodhoundje

[david 929]

4 hours ago, Keyahnig said:

The front part is definitely not perfect yet. It even covers the notification LED

How does it hold onto the front part?  For that matter, how does the bottom part hold on?  Do you tape them in place?

[Keyahnig 80]

23 minutes ago, david said:

How does it hold onto the front part?  For that matter, how does the bottom part hold on?  Do you tape them in place?

It's basically the same like every soft case. There's a small lip that holds onto the gap between keyboard and display. There's no tape or anything and both parts didn't slip of yet so it holds on pretty good.

The sides on the front part are pretty thin and fiddly though.

[lameboyadvance 98]

I guess I too will have to start considering case options...

So the best current non-3D printed option is the case from a Huawei P20 Pro?

I don't really want to use a flip cover case, but considering the curved screen of the Pro1 is my greatest worry its probably going to have to be that, or this 3D printed option if it can be made strong & accurate enough.

...I'm guessing this dual sided case couldn't be modified to fit both sides of the Pro1? https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Huawei-P20-P30-Mate-20-Pro-Lite-P-Smart-2019-360Shockproof-Protective-Clear-Case/173825524687

[EskeRahn 5,471]

52 minutes ago, lameboyadvance said:

I guess I too will have to start considering case options...

So the best current non-3D printed option is the case from a Huawei P20 Pro?

I don't really want to use a flip cover case, but considering the curved screen of the Pro1 is my greatest worry its probably going to have to be that, or this 3D printed option if it can be made strong & accurate enough.

...I'm guessing this dual sided case couldn't be modified to fit both sides of the Pro1? https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Huawei-P20-P30-Mate-20-Pro-Lite-P-Smart-2019-360Shockproof-Protective-Clear-Case/173825524687

The slightly modified flip cases is the least bad currently available.

I highly doubt the linked would work. At best the bottom part would fit and the top part be too loose. But it is certainly an affordable experiment....

[Bloodhoundje 78]

Just finished a quick sketch of the bottom part of the protective cover:

 

Will run a test print tonight to get first dimensions with hard plastic to see how the shell fits, then adjust and further develop. The plan is that the fit should be about 0.5-1mm too tight. That way silicone will grab itself onto the enclosure :).

 

The holes for the switches are temporary for allignment, on the end design these will be filled in with silicone aswell, that way the entire bottom is enclosed and the rockers will go slightly heavier from pressing the silicone layer between them.

Edited January 20, 2020 by Bloodhoundje

[EskeRahn 5,471]

2 hours ago, Bloodhoundje said:

Just finished a quick sketch of the bottom part of the protective cover:

Looks good! Though I think the flat part is a bit wider, that is the curved part is less. I would say about similar to your drawing but on the other side of the flash.

And I think you should try to narrow it a bit towards the top, that is not a straight side.

ADD: tried to take a picture against a grey screen, with the other Pro1, stock camera-software, slightly rotated and cropped.

[Bloodhoundje 78]

57 minutes ago, EskeRahn said:

Looks good! Though I think the flat part is a bit wider, that is the curved part is less. I would say about similar to your drawing but on the other side of the flash.

And I think you should try to narrow it a bit towards the top, that is not a straight side.

ADD: tried to take a picture against a grey screen

 

The chamfer is about 1-2mm. Right now I have taken the most outer dimension. Once I remove 1mm from that the silicone will fill in the empty space considering it will be stretched "over" it.

 

+1 for the great photo btw!

[KingOfTerrible 69]

If someone comes up with a completed case that works well like @Keyahnig showed, I would definitely be interested in purchasing multiple.  I haven't gotten my Pro 1 yet, but I've already bought like 10 different cases for Huawei P20 Pro and Samsung Note 7 (based on @EskeRahn findings) in hopes of having decent protection when my phone arrives.

[EskeRahn 5,471]

1 hour ago, Bloodhoundje said:

The chamfer is about 1-2mm. Right now I have taken the most outer dimension. Once I remove 1mm from that the silicone will fill in the empty space considering it will be stretched "over" it.

 

+1 for the great photo btw!

Ah I see.

If you rely on straight edges being held by the stretch and friction, I think the conic shape might trick you. That is preventing all the hard cases and hard cases with soft inner shell i tried in staying on. Of course they ALSO have the problem that the bottom is stiff, and that helps pulling them off

I believe the reason why the soft TPU and  Silicon cases for Huawei P20 Pro and Samsung Note 7 fit so well is because they are made for a rounded shape so the top of the shell is going inwards, and this just catches the phased edge of the lower part.

BUT these cases/shells are taking more than half of it. so it is going to be hard to get both halves to grip at the same time, without interfering with the slide.
IF that fails, you just might consider having the lower part gripping on the long edges, and the top part on the short edges! So the top long edges comprises sort of a rubber band connecting the two end-parts.

Below is a close up of P20 Pro flip-case grip. It is only the outermost that is part of the case

( @abielins please don't look too close, at has not been sterilized )

[david 929]

6 hours ago, Keyahnig said:

It's basically the same like every soft case. There's a small lip that holds onto the gap between keyboard and display. There's no tape or anything and both parts didn't slip of yet so it holds on pretty good.

The sides on the front part are pretty thin and fiddly though.

Can you define thin and fiddly? :-)

I guess, besides fit, the other thing we'll want to consider is how much cushioning something like this will provide.  I would imagine, with a 3D printer, you could create air pockets in the outer walls of the case parts.  With the mold approach, that's not possible.

[david 929]

3 hours ago, Bloodhoundje said:

Just finished a quick sketch of the bottom part of the protective cover:

 

Will run a test print tonight to get first dimensions with hard plastic to see how the shell fits, then adjust and further develop. The plan is that the fit should be about 0.5-1mm too tight. That way silicone will grab itself onto the enclosure :).

 

The holes for the switches are temporary for allignment, on the end design these will be filled in with silicone aswell, that way the entire bottom is enclosed and the rockers will go slightly heavier from pressing the silicone layer between them.

Will you be doing a piece for the screen too?

[david 929]

8 minutes ago, EskeRahn said:

( @abielins please don't look too close, at has not been sterilized )

LOL! 😂

[david 929]

To the point of the parts that wrap around to grip the halves of the phone and possibly getting in the way of the sliding mechanism, tape is a viable option. It certainly isn't as fancy as no-tape, but it does work.  And it isn't like we are going to be taking the back off the phone frequently, since it doesn't have a quickly removable battery.  The plastic fingers on my last usable case for my Relay 4G broke off earlier this year, so I had to resort to tape.  It has been holding the case on very well.

I like the idea of the long side vs short side option, @EskeRahn.

[EskeRahn 5,471]

2 minutes ago, david said:

To the point of the parts that wrap around to grip the halves of the phone and possibly getting in the way of the sliding mechanism, tape is a viable option. It certainly isn't as fancy as no-tape, but it does work.  And it isn't like we are going to be taking the back off the phone frequently, since it doesn't have a quickly removable battery.  The plastic fingers on my last usable case for my Relay 4G broke off earlier this year, so I had to resort to tape.  It has been holding the case on very well.

I like the idea of the long side vs short side option, @EskeRahn.

Tape is definitely an option but it tends to act badly with time and micro-movements when taking it in and out of the pocket. But It could easily become a habit to change a few strips of thin double adhesive tape every one or two month.

There is also the possibility of a clear full covering silicone top!! Like in the double-case @lameboyadvance linked above. A more drastic approach, but might be quite a lot easier to get a good grip. And the Pro1 has a very touch sensitive screen, so I think it would work through thin silicone too.

[EskeRahn 5,471]

2 minutes ago, EskeRahn said:

There is also the possibility of a clear full covering silicone top!! Like in the double-case @lameboyadvance linked above. A more drastic approach, but might be quite a lot easier to get a good grip. And the Pro1 has a very touch sensitive screen, so I think it would work through thin silicone too.

Just tried to take the silicone shell of the Pre-prod unit and put it on the screen part. It works flawlessly! The grip is not good, and can't work well with another shell, but the touch works just fine! so 1mm silicone is NOT an issue, So you might even consider going for that as the primary choice!

[Bloodhoundje 78]

26 minutes ago, david said:

Will you be doing a piece for the screen too?

Yes I will eventually, starting with the bottom part. once that one is working as intended I will start on the top part 👍.

[david 929]

5 minutes ago, EskeRahn said:

Tape is definitely an option but it tends to act badly with time and micro-movements when taking it in and out of the pocket. But It could easily become a habit to change a few strips of thin double adhesive tape every one or two month.

For some reason, the tape I am using has gotten stronger with age on the bottom part of my Relay 4G case.  The case is hard plastic though, so the tape can probably stick to it better than any soft materials.  But I agree.  Tape isn't optimal.  But if a non-tape design can't be made to work, I'd settle for a tape design. :-)

5 minutes ago, EskeRahn said:

There is also the possibility of a clear full covering silicone top!! Like in the double-case @lameboyadvance linked above. A more drastic approach, but might be quite a lot easier to get a good grip. And the Pro1 has a very touch sensitive screen, so I think it would work through thin silicone too.

Yep, that's an option.  It is going to affect the display quality a bit, I'd imagine, but it would certainly protect it more. :-)  I guess water getting in through the holes needed for the front-facing camera/sensors might present a problem with the water getting sandwiched between the case and screen.  But if it is easy to take on and off, that's not a huge problem.  Getting all the dust off before putting something like that on is always a challenge.  And I guess dust would get in through any cut-outs too, over time.

Personally, I'd like to stick with a regular screen protector for the screen and have that design @Keyahnig has for the screen, in black.  And, ideally, have many micro air pockets in the walls to protect it better from drops.

[EskeRahn 5,471]

3 minutes ago, david said:

Personally, I'd like to stick with a regular screen protector for the screen and have that design @Keyahnig has for the screen, in black.  And, ideally, have many micro air pockets in the walls to protect it better from drops.

No no, you need the micro air pockets in your floors not walls... 😇🤣

The problem I see with a case for the top is that the 'arms' at the sides are going to be either so thick that they will be annoying, or so thin they could be flapsy and will be vulnerable, Of course if we combine it with some software reducing the active display area (display and touch), then the sides can be made more sturdy.
 

But a transparent silicone 'top' can follow the edge screen smoothly. But yes it obviously has its drawbacks too.

[david 929]

6 minutes ago, EskeRahn said:

No no, you need the micro air pockets in your floors not walls... 😇🤣

Well, from the insulation standpoint, that's important too.  We want to keep all that heat in while fast charging the heck out of the battery, right?  :-)

6 minutes ago, EskeRahn said:

The problem I see with a case for the top is that the 'arms' at the sides are going to be either so thick that they will be annoying, or so thin they could be flapsy and will be vulnerable, Of course if we combine it with some software reducing the active display area (display and touch), then the sides can be made more sturdy.

But better than a broken screen. :-) 

I'm just thankful people have gone down this path, so we have some options.  I don't have a 3D printer, but I was considering using this as an excuse to get one.  I asked a *long* time ago if they could release the dimensions of the phone for this purpose.  Glad other people are making this a reality.

Speaking of my old posts, I can see them when I search, but when I go to the topic in question, the posts don't exist anymore.  And some things that I know I posted aren't even showing up in searches.  There must be some gremlins at work. :-/

[ps555 22]

OK. Now with "Pro 1 is coming", I began thinking about protection for the phone.

Until now I see "P20 Pro cases" are the best known solution, with flipcases for a little protection for the screen part.

 

1. A case like the slide-out hardshell of the Priv is impossible because the Pro 1 does not slide straight - correct?

 

2. But what is about a simple bumper "frame" like the Moto Z (the first one) has been deliverd with?

 

Together with a simple PU-Case for the keyboard-part such a bumper could protect the display, when dropping the Pro 1.

The main problem could be, that this frame has to be very slim between the keyboard and the display, maybe with this you could solve the "touch the screen while using number-row on the keyboard"-problem for some users.

3. Another idea for the screen-part:

 

Did anyone already test such a universal bumper?

 

 

 

 

[EskeRahn 5,471]

8 minutes ago, ps555 said:

OK. Now with "Pro 1 is coming", I began thinking about protection for the phone.

Until now I see "P20 Pro cases" are the best known solution, with flipcases for a little protection for the screen part.

 

1. A case like the slide-out hardshell of the Priv is impossible because the Pro 1 does not slide straight - correct?

 

2. But what is about a simple bumper "frame" like the Moto Z (the first one) has been deliverd with?

 

 

Together with a simple PU-Case for the keyboard-part such a bumper could protect the display, when dropping the Pro 1.

The main problem could be, that this frame has to be very slim between the keyboard and the display, maybe with this you could solve the "touch the screen while using number-row on the keyboard"-problem for some users.

3. Another idea for the screen-part:

 

Did anyone already test such a universal bumper?

1: Yes - at the least I can not imagine it

2: Clearly possible for the lower part. A bumper for the Huwei P20 Pro would be a good one to modify

3: The problem is that there is very little to grap on the top part, and the screen active almost all the way, so I highly doubt we will find anything 'standard' or generic that will fit.