Spigen Neo Hybrid Aluminium for the Galaxy Note 4 review

[General_Led]

 

Introduction

I first came into contact with this company several years ago when I first got my Samsung Galaxy S4. I had heard many good things about the company previously but never wanted to shell out the cash for their moderately priced products. Basically I was cheap. I finally purchased two products, an Ultra Crystal screen protector and Aluminum home button set of 3. They shipped the products quickly and was quite pleased when I received and installed both items onto my phone. I then purchased the SGP Neo Hybrid for the S4 around Christmas time and again I was extremely pleased with some small minor issue however not deal breakers. Now we come to 2 weeks prior, I had decided I was going to order a Galaxy Note 4 off of amazon while it was still on sale. Before I was going to do this however I had to decide what case and screen protector I was going to go with. My first instinct was to go and see what Spigen had to offer. Unfortunately they do not offer a glass screen protector for the not so I went with the Illoome Screen Mate Flex. However I was pleased to see that they did offer a new kind of Neo Hybrid for the Note 4. This new one had a metal outer bumper instead of a plastic one that my S4 had. I love the color scheme of red and black so I immediately decided to go for it. And the best part was that amazon offered it for $24, $11 less then the $35 retail price on Spigen's website. Two days later I received a package via UPS.

 

 

First Impressions

My first impressions of the product were very good. The case had almost no blemishes or imperfections from the factory. The TPU material used seemed to be very good, it was rigid yet flexible and appeared to be that it would take an impact quite well. The Aluminum bumper as well seemed to be very nice. It had a nice reflective chamfered edge that nicely complimented the rest of the case. 

 

 

Overall first impressions were very good and that opinion hasn’t changed at all today.

 

Pros

Extremely nice design

Good quality materials

Tactile Buttons

Large cut-outs for charging port and headphone jack

S-Pen is easily accessible

Small pumps beside speaker port to slightly raise phone to allow sound to get through(Kind of works)

Premium feeling

Aluminum bumper feels nice to hold

Back adds texture for better grip

Adds very little bulk

Allows for glass screen protectors of any type

Paint coating on bumper does not easily come off

 

 

Cons

Very small “lay on the table” lip, it only keeps the screen off the surface about 1mm

90% of the time the heart rate monitor does not work properly

Very difficult to put on and take off the phone

Speaker cut out could be slightly larger

Microphone cut outs seem to be small 

 

 

Conclusion

The case is a minimalistic and stylish yet protective. It offers decent drop protection as long as it does not land flat on the screen. The case uses quality materials that would appear to last for a long time. It has a textured back that offers good grip but does not appear unsightly like the Speck Candyshell Grip. Overall I'd give the case 4.5/5 DickButts.

 

 

[blackadder]

nice rating system.

[General_Led]

nice rating system.

It's the best and only rating system.

[PhilBoisvert]

 

 

Does the aluminum scratch easily? I have the same case but the plastic version.

 

(I think it's not in Canada yet)

[General_Led]

Does the aluminum scratch easily? I have the same case but the plastic version.

 

(I think it's not in Canada yet)

Not really. I keep my phone in it's own independent pocket however it has been thrown around a bit but I have not seen it scratch at all. I'm very certain it would if dropped on an abrasive surface but that's about it. On my plastic GS4 neo hybrid the plastic seemed to scratch quite easily but that doesn't seem to be the case on the metal model.

[timory]

That's a lot of dickbutts.  Been using SPG since my S2, quality products and am really happy about those cases!  I credit the survival of my s4's washing machine trip to its spg case!