Protective Case Suggestions and Ideas

[lameboyadvance 98]

20 hours ago, EskeRahn said:

How thick is the whole thing closed?

As it is (unmodified) it seems to bulge slightly in the middle, with a maximum thickness of around 25mm.

While the case latch does close, the case is so tight it doesn't take much force to unclip it.

[EskeRahn 5,471]

3 hours ago, lameboyadvance said:

As it is (unmodified) it seems to bulge slightly in the middle, with a maximum thickness of around 25mm.

While the case latch does close, the case is so tight it doesn't take much force to unclip it.

I see. I feared it was worse with the extra layer. Cutting out the creditcard-part is likely to reduce the thickness and at the least reduce the closing issues.

On the simple cases I'm using I 'broke' the edges slightly (cardboard beneath the fake leather) to ease the bend. Similar might be possible on yours.

[Tsunero 215]

After a long search I found a case that might work out of the box.

https://www.puro.it/en/smart-wallet-universal-xxl.html

I will let you know about it once it arrived.

Edited May 16, 2020 by Tsunero

[OliverTypes 152]

7 minutes ago, Tsunero said:

After a long search I found a case that might work out of the box.

https://www.puro.it/en/smart-wallet-universal-xxl.html

I will let you know about it once it arrived.

Ha, neat!

[EskeRahn 5,471]

16 hours ago, Tsunero said:

After a long search I found a case that might work out of the box.

https://www.puro.it/en/smart-wallet-universal-xxl.html

I will let you know about it once it arrived.

It (or something very similar) is mentioned earlier in the thread. The problem i had with it (as i recall) was the gripping and the buttons/fingerprint reader

[Tsunero 215]

9 hours ago, EskeRahn said:

It (or something very similar) is mentioned earlier in the thread. The problem i had with it (as i recall) was the gripping and the buttons/fingerprint reader

I think the buttons and fingerprint reader will be fine because there is a hole on the side of the grip. The grip itself could turn out badly but we will see. In case it will block the screen from opening I will just shave away the top of it or something. A bit expensive for an experiment but I want a case with the least amount of DIY modifications.

I found similar cases but their grip didn't have a hole and I figured I would just break those trying to make a hole.

Edited May 17, 2020 by Tsunero

[Tsunero 215]

The Puro case arrived. (https://www.puro.it/en/smart-wallet-universal-xxl.html)

It's a mixed bag. (sorry for crap photowork tho)

Size comparison with the pre-order sleeve:

It's a bit bigger but the size is correct, including thickness. The quality is very nice and this eco-leather is amazing to the touch. The magnetic latch is very strong.

About the mechanism inside:

Thanks to the holes every button is accessible. However you can only position it in two ways. You cannot position it on the power and volume buttons. (red)

1. Together with the power button and fingerprint reader. I deemed this the best as it's almost dead center. (green)

2. Only with the fingerprint reader. (yellow) This is off center a bit so not the best.

The mechanism itself is very strong but the curvy plastic part is in the way and it forces itself between the keyboard and screen so you cannot close it properly.

The sliding part is also a bit problematic, it's too short so only one camera is visible when you pop it up.

To be honest I am not sure how to go about modifying it.

I could either grind that plastic somehow to make it fit better and allowing the screen to close. Not sure what would be the correct tool. I don't want to mess it up badly.

Or scrap the whole inside part and somehow install something that will fit the phone correctly. I would have to cut the camera hole though.

Edited May 22, 2020 by Tsunero

[EskeRahn 5,471]

4 hours ago, Tsunero said:

To be honest I am not sure how to go about modifying it.

Thanks for all the details. Yeah, it does look like it would be a bit hard to get a good result

I guess it could be a possibility to make a minor cut for the secondary camera and a hole exposing the flash when slid up.

And possibly you could reduce the height of the two 'jaws' to allow a better close, while still keeping a good grip.

And anyway a (tiny) hole for the secondary microphone when down should be considered. The position might not be that easy to gett right though, as I guess the natural thing to do for calls would be to slide it up about 1cm to expose the earpiece.

[Slion 1,201]

9 hours ago, Tsunero said:

Or scrap the whole inside part and somehow install something that will fit the phone correctly. I would have to cut the camera hole though.

I'm most satisfied with the TPU case I used on that mod:

I used some shoemaker glue to fix it to the leather, works great.
I did four cutouts, power button, fingerprint reader, camera button, USB port.
If I was to do it again I would possibly not cutout an opening for the camera button as it adds a tiny bit of instability in that corner. Though the phone still holds in place nicely so I guess it is still acceptable if you fancy using that camera button.

[mv 85]

On 5/22/2020 at 12:41 PM, Tsunero said:

The Puro case arrived. (https://www.puro.it/en/smart-wallet-universal-xxl.html)

It's a mixed bag. (sorry for crap photowork tho)

Size comparison with the pre-order sleeve:

It's a bit bigger but the size is correct, including thickness. The quality is very nice and this eco-leather is amazing to the touch. The magnetic latch is very strong.

About the mechanism inside:

Thanks to the holes every button is accessible. However you can only position it in two ways. You cannot position it on the power and volume buttons. (red)

1. Together with the power button and fingerprint reader. I deemed this the best as it's almost dead center. (green)

2. Only with the fingerprint reader. (yellow) This is off center a bit so not the best.

 

The mechanism itself is very strong but the curvy plastic part is in the way and it forces itself between the keyboard and screen so you cannot close it properly.The sliding part is also a bit problematic, it's too short so only one camera is visible when you pop it up.

To be honest I am not sure how to go about modifying it.

I could either grind that plastic somehow to make it fit better and allowing the screen to close. Not sure what would be the correct tool. I don't want to mess it up badly.

Or scrap the whole inside part and somehow install something that will fit the phone correctly. I would have to cut the camera hole though.

What happens if you flip it around?

Edited May 24, 2020 by mv
cut out media

[Tsunero 215]

On 5/24/2020 at 5:24 AM, mv said:

What happens if you flip it around?

It's the same sadly.

[Tsunero 215]

@EskeRahn

Did you test a TPU case for the Huawei P30 Pro by any chance? It's almost identical in size to the P20 Pro but it has a hole next to the camera already which would be good for the secondary mic so I am wondering if it would fit or would that extra 4mm in height make the case pop off? What do you think?

Edit: Nevermind, on pictures it does seem pretty significant when the phones are side by side.

Edited June 3, 2020 by Tsunero

[EskeRahn 5,471]

4 hours ago, Tsunero said:

@EskeRahn

Did you test a TPU case for the Huawei P30 Pro by any chance? It's almost identical in size to the P20 Pro but it has a hole next to the camera already which would be good for the secondary mic so I am wondering if it would fit or would that extra 4mm in height make the case pop off? What do you think?

Edit: Nevermind, on pictures it does seem pretty significant when the phones are side by side.

I have tried some that are for other models, that has the pop-off issues. I do not recall if it was p30 pro or some of the others.

I have used these criterias as the primary search:

https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nHeightMin=153&nHeightMax=155&nWidthMin=73&nWidthMax=74&nThicknessMin=6&nThicknessMax=8

The relatively new "Huawei Nova 5T" with 154.3 x 74 might be interesting (haven't tried). See a compare here

https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=9106&idPhone2=9635&idPhone3=9803

It also matters how round the corners are, depending on the elasticity of the case. In general you do not want a too stiff case, as the back of the pro1 for the last 1cm or so is curving. So a stiff case for a device with a flat (e.g. glass) back will give a poor fit.

[acoppens 45]

On 2/24/2020 at 3:38 PM, PC_ said:

Thanks to the guys at MediaDevil, after a couple more attempts we found that their iPhone 6/7/8 Plus leather pulltab case is a far better fit for the Pro1.  They ship internationally and I could not recommend their customer service enough.  Also the quality and workmanship of the case is excellent.

https://mediadevil.com/collections/apple-iphone-8-plus-accessories/products/artisanpouch-leather-pouch-case-apple-iphone-6-plus

Although I was never really a fan of this type of sleeve over just a rubber skin type cover I ordered this one as well and it does fit perfectly - quality is great too. It was a bit expensive...I think something like 30 or 35 euro's + shipping. in any case I do think it was well worth it.

[Tsunero 215]

8 hours ago, EskeRahn said:

So a stiff case for a device with a flat (e.g. glass) back will give a poor fit.

I discovered this the hard way....Got a P20 Pro stiff case thinking it would fit but nope. I was lucky it was cheap at least so not a big loss.

[Tsunero 215]

In the meantime I am doing another case experiment.

This time it's the Dux Ducis Universal case.

This one really doesn't seem it needs any tinkering since you can fold it to access the camera.

Although directly gluing the phone inside seems a bit sketchy...so I also ordered a Huawei P20 Pro soft case based on @EskeRahn's experiments. So in case the adhesive lets go there will be still some bumper protection.

So the idea is, pop the phone in the silicone and insert it in the flip case like that. Hopefully there will be enough space for it to fit comfortably so I can close it but it seems on the video there will be enough room on the thickness front.

I will update once I got it.

Edited June 3, 2020 by Tsunero

[EskeRahn 5,471]

16 hours ago, Tsunero said:

This one really doesn't seem it needs any tinkering since you can fold it to access the camera.

Looks interesting, and nice and simple! Though it is clearly not build for opening to the left. It might work perfectly well doing so(!) That is NOT using the fold down function. SO I suggest experimenting a bit in either direction before glueing it on.

The flip cases I'm currently using are opening like a Japanese book to the right. The great benefit of this is that the flap is under the display when the Pro1 is opened, and not in front of the keyboard. Plus the keys and fingerprint reader are protected when closed (no accidental fingerprint triggering taking it out of your pocket either). Opening to the left it obviously can be folded under the keyboard, but I tried both, and the 'Japanese' is clearly better IMHO (though it for a 'westerner' do feel a bit odd at first, to NOT open it to the left like a standard Latin-lettered book).

[Tsunero 215]

The Dux Ducis Universal case arrived (this is the 5.5-6" version of course). Overall not great, not terrible. The Pro 1 is just way too thick of a phone lol.

In size it's almost identical to my Priv case which is very good because the previous Puro case was considerably bigger to the point it was almost very pocket unfriendly, just like that pre-order pouch.

I put the Huawei P20 Pro silicone on the glue, it holds alright. (sorry about my horrible cutouts..sadly I don't have precision tools and this was done with small scissors)

 

Sadly the case can't close naturally by itself, too bad it doesn't have a small flap because it would be perfect otherwise. I did not cut holes for the side buttons here since all of them work just fine. Managed to nail the fingerprint reader, so yeah no more accidental touches here, ever. You have to legit push deeper to open it.

Upside down it's somewhat better..but that's an unnatural way to always put it down I guess. It's also a pity it has that vertical fold so it's not 100% flat in this position.

Phone opens no problem.

And the sides are actually magnetic so when it's folded it's not moving at all.

This horizontal fold is amazing though.

 

@EskeRahn I passed on the Japanese opening style, it's not for me.

[mv 85]

4 hours ago, Tsunero said:

... quoting to highlight reply

Thanks for the pictures on this and the thoughts. I am wondering what your impression was with out the case being glued in and if by chance the fold was a little tighter?

[EskeRahn 5,471]

6 hours ago, Tsunero said:

Sadly the case can't close naturally by itself,

Most likely the stiff parts are made with cardboard between layers of plastic. So it should be easy to extend the thickness by bending close to the fold over the edge of a table or the like.

[Tsunero 215]

2 hours ago, mv said:

Thanks for the pictures on this and the thoughts. I am wondering what your impression was with out the case being glued in and if by chance the fold was a little tighter?

It was just a tiny bit more tighter so the case glued in didn't make much of a difference to that.

48 minutes ago, EskeRahn said:

Most likely the stiff parts are made with cardboard between layers of plastic. So it should be easy to extend the thickness by bending close to the fold over the edge of a table or the like.

The stiff part has metal in it . I'd rather not mess with that. But as you can see on the pic, when I push it down with my finger (and when it's upside down) it's good because the leather bit still has space.

I am researching a way now to put a fitting closing flap / latch thing on there somehow to keep it closed.

Edited June 4, 2020 by Tsunero

[EskeRahn 5,471]

13 hours ago, Tsunero said:

The stiff part has metal in it . I'd rather not mess with that. But as you can see on the pic, when I push it down with my finger (and when it's upside down) it's good because the leather bit still has space.

Yes it is really close to fitting, so if someone wanted to let the adhesive go directly on the Pro1 that extra 1mm might be enough for it to close. 🙂

Had it been me, I would venture the bend. Say over the edge of a table using some books or small blocks of wood, like this sketch

[Tsunero 215]

7 hours ago, EskeRahn said:

Yes it is really close to fitting, so if someone wanted to let the adhesive go directly on the Pro1 that extra 1mm might be enough for it to close. 🙂

Has it been me, I would venture the bend. Say over the edge of a table using some books or or small blocks of wood, like this sketch

That's a good idea. Thanks!

Before I try and bruteforce it I am now putting some weights on it and see if that can stretch the leather at the edge a bit more in the long run.

[mv 85]

The challenge i have is that one it is not available in the US but secondly I dont do leather, was really hoping it was faux leather, but seems it is real.

[EskeRahn 5,471]

12 minutes ago, mv said:

The challenge i have is that one it is not available in the US but secondly I dont do leather, was really hoping it was faux leather, but seems it is real.

I'm not sure who you were replying. The Dux ducis is plastic. See their own page