– So you've just spent $500, $1,000, $1,400 or more on your smartphone and your smart watch or whatever combination of
gadgets you may have purchased. But what do you do now? What cases, what
accessories do you purchase to help protect your investment? Well, I'm going to walk you
through smartphone cases, both for looks and protection. I'm going to walk you
through some of my favorites. I'm going to walk you
through smart watch bands. Some of my favorites
and tell you, show you, how you can pick a quality
band over a low quality band and still not pay a whole lot of money. Third, we're going to walk
through some smart watch cases. Yes, they exist, some smart watch cases. And lastly, fourth, I'm going to walk you through
some honorable mentions. These are brands that I
have not yet had the chance to get my hands on, but I really liked the
look of their products.
Their products are highly regarded, and it's just I haven't
gotten around to them yet, but I'm going to include them on the back. So I'm going to put chapter
markers in the description for all of that, for the phone
cases, for the watch bands, for the watch cases and
for the honorable mentions, all four. So check that out in the description. Let's get right to it. (upbeat techno music) Hey, if any of these videos
have helped you, please, hit us with that thumbs up, hit us with that subscribe and
hit that notification bell, so you'll be notified when
we upload the latest content. Now you can look all over Amazon, eBay, any of the other
sales sites and you'll see hundreds, maybe thousands
of different cases at all price points from
$5, all the way up to $50, $60, $70. And in some cases you are
going to get what you pay for. But in others, what do
you want to pay for? What are you really looking
for in a smartphone case? Well, these are some of my favorites that I've been using and I'm
going to share them with you.
So let's start from left to
right, we'll start with Speck. If you're looking for something
that's just really minimal and is going to give you solid protection, and if you bought a phone that is- has really nice color to it, let's say you picked
up an iPhone 12 pro max in the gold color and
you want to show it off, something with a clear colors
obviously going to be great, but Speck, they make
some really minimal cases that have solid protection, good cutouts, fit the phones well, you can
push them on the phones well. I looked at their Presidio,
their armor cloud. That's a really good case from
them, a really good product.
And you are definitely
going to get what you pay for with Speck. They're going to be in some
cases, no pun intended, a little on the pricier side, these aren't the $10 cases or $5 cases, but you can find Speck cases on Amazon from anywhere from like $13 and up. So they are actually a good one if you're looking for inexpensive. One of the things I really like
is, I like statement cases. So Pivet, My Pivet, is something I actually found on Instagram and they make this awesome
case for the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
This was on my pro max. And so this one on the back of it, you may have seen it in
some of my other videos. It says, "Nah – Rosa Parks, 1955." In other words, she wasn't
getting up out that seat. She was tired. So, nah, 1955. I actually, like I said, I
really love statement cases. Their case is soft on the inside. It's a really nice case. Most importantly, you want
to look for the cutouts. The button cutouts or
the buttons on a case that's going to go over
the buttons on your phone. You really want to get one
that has good tactile feedback. The My Pivet cases actually have that. They have good feedback on the buttons. It isn't the best. There are ones that I've
had better tactile feedback, but there are some that you have to like- like you're bench pressing
and you have to really push. And this is not that, they
are pretty responsive. So that's really cool. And one of the things
that I really like about the My Pivet line, is
they have this new case, their Aspect quartz case, this one's for the iPhone 12 mini.
The aspect quartz case- and I'll show you another one
like this from another brand. These are compostable. So if you're really into recycling, if the environment is an issue with you if that's something that
you're passionate about you can pick up my Pivet. And by the way, the links to all these will be in the description as well. You can pick up the My Pivet case. Again, this is the iPhone 12 mini, and this is biodegradable, even the packaging it comes in is recyclable
and biodegradable. They call it self cycle. If you want to look it up, it has this tototoa
material that it's made of that allows it to self cycle, as they call it on the back there. And so My Pivet, again, you
can find them on Instagram really liked them and moving on, a case manufacturer that
I've been digging as well because I also liked their
watch bands is Urban Armor Gear.
They have a case that is biodegradable that is compostable as well. This is their Outback series. This is on an iPhone 11 pro max. The buttons are real
responsive are really like- did you get a nice click from them? A nice, tactile click
on both sets of buttons. This is a great case in terms of that the only thing that I found with it, again this is a compostable case
is it does scratch real easy. So, you are going to
have some wear on this. If you're somebody that's
into having your case kind of have that worn look, you'll definitely like this case. If you're somebody who's into having your cases look pristine this may not be the case for you. Like I said, it does show
and does take on scratches really easily, but it's for a good cause their Outback series compostable. The other one that I like that is a really cool case
is their plasma series. Their plasma series is great if you purchased a phone
that you really want to see the color again like that
gold tone, iPhone pro 12 max that's a really good one for that.
These are solid cases. They have these bumped edges here, bumped up edges so that you're protected. Your corners are protected during drops. So that's a really, really nice one. And moving on, let's talk about some manufacturer cases really quick before we get in to some
of these Amazon cases. And one of my other cases, I like Supcase. So One Plus has some
really, really nice cases. They have these sandstone cases which have (scratching on the phone case) a wonderful texture to them and it really has great grip.
And of course, since they
make the cases and the phones the tactile feedback from the buttons on the cases is just wonderful. The cutouts are wonderful and
they color match the cases. So whichever color phone you have they have certain cases
that will color match those. But if you're not necessarily
into the color matching you can also go with some of
their cases that have designs. I really like this case. It has that kind of like high-tech digital innards
kind of look to it where you can actually
see a representation of some circuitry and circuit boards and different things like that. So very cool. Again, the buttons are great, great tactile feedback, great cutouts. So that's really cool. One of the things that I
like with leather cases and these you're going
to pay a little more for, is over time after having a leather case, you get a nice patina. So that is wear, and that is a discoloration as the leather and the oils from your hand
kind of seep into the leather.
It gets this nice color to it. So leather cases, these are
Apples' leather cases, these after a time, just take on
just a wonderful hue of aging. So these are really
nice, really like these. And one of the things I
will say about Apple's original manufacturer cases
is they are very, very, very- the buttons are great. The cutouts are great. They're really well manufactured. You're going to get a lot out of these in terms of the tactile
feedback from the buttons. And they're really well
raised above the case. So, really cool Apple's OEM but there's also another
leather manufacturer that I'm looking forward to checking out. I'm going to get to them
at the end of the video. Moving on. One of the things that- and this is a Spigen case. One of the things people buy a lot of these cases for are kickstands. And so I've purchased some kickstand cases for my note devices, and I have to say with some of them I
wasn't really impressed. This is a typical design
you'll see on a lot of cases.
And what I found is it just
isn't really that sturdy when it comes to holding my phone up, unless it's in landscape mode. If it's in landscape mode, it
holds the phone up just fine, works just fine. If it's in portrait mode, forget about it. I just- the phone's too heavy,
not really all that great. But it is a solid case with great cutouts. The buttons are pretty good and it is definitely something to consider because you get the
kickstand for landscape mode you get great cutouts
that are really well done and you get solid protection. So that's something to check out. Something else that before
I get to the last one, is I saw this on Amazon. It kept coming up in ads. This is a company called, what is it? It's called I-blason. And this is their Cosmo case. I don't know why the box is
so hard to open up before now. Cause I haven't taken it out
and checked it out before. One of the cool things about
the Cosmo case from I-blason is it has great colors to it.
Now the one thing I will say
is the colors look different in person than they do on the site. It actually makes this look
like it's almost marble. Like it's got that kind
of hard sheen to it but it is plastic and it is- it just doesn't look exactly in person. Now it's still bright. It is still really nice looking, it's a beautiful case and
it has this ring on it that you can use to hold your case, so I really liked that part of the case. The buttons are okay, the
tactile feedback on these buttons not one of my favorites, but they're not- you're not going to feel
like you have to put 50 pounds of pressure
on it to get it to work. But again, not the best, but it's still a solid case overall. In terms of protection
I can't really speak to the drop testing. I did not drop phones with this. So, it feels like this is a case that if you're looking for protection,
if you're rough on phones this may not be the one, but because it has the loop on the back, it actually may go get
you more mileage for you because you have something
that secures the phone to your hand and you're not going to
worry about dropping it.
And then last but not least, Supcase. Supcase makes some really,
bomb-proof just you know, really heavy duty cases. This is the unicorn beetle,
which is one of their own- specifically this is
the unicorn beetle pro. Which has one of their heavy duty cases. And I've had other cases on
this note I had the Spigen, I had the Urban Armor Gear,
this case, the plasma series but I keep coming back to
this unicorn beetle pro. It is just great. It has great cutouts. It has protection because the area where
the cameras are is raised it has a plug in the back, a
dust cover for your USBC port.
The S pen is still easily
accessible through the case the tactile feedback on the
buttons is really solid. And it's easy to take the
case off if you need to put in or remove the SIM card. And it also comes with this huge holster. I don't use holsters anymore. I really do keep the phone
in my pocket or in a bag. So don't really get into
the holsters anymore. But if you're someone
who rocks a holster still the unicorn beetle pro
does come with the holster. It is made to mill standards. And specifically for them
it's mil standard eight one OG which you know, generally
carries with it, you know, dust protection,
shockproof, shock resistance all that kind of stuff.
The other great thing is
it's rubberized on the edges. So you really get great grip on it. So this is one of my favorite cases and it also has a kickstand. Now I will say my thing that
I'd like them to do next time is make the kicks down a little wider. It does knock over somewhat
easy if you bump it or knock it.
But in portrait mode,
the kickstand is solid. And in landscape mode,
this kickstand is solid. So of the kickstands I've used this is probably my favorite so far. And so I can recommend it over the other kickstand cases I've used. And the other case I actually really like from Supcase is this one here. This is the regular unicorn beetle. It doesn't come with the kickstand, and it does come with
a clear cutouts here.
They're not cut out, but
clear panes here so that you can actually see
the color of your case. So if you want to see
that pretty rose gold of your Galaxy Note 20 ultra, you can pop it in this
unicorn beetle case. You're going to get great
protection out of the case, great cutouts, great tactile
feedback on the buttons, but you'll also be able
to see the beautiful color of that phone. And so you'll still be
able to show that off. And while we're talking
protection, I'm going to end with one bit of protection that
I see people needing a lot and that's data protection. Data protection specifically
for iPhone users. This is SanDisk's iexpand flash drive go. What is this? Well, you may have guessed, it has a lightning port on it and then a USB port on the other side. So what you can do is you can connect this directly to your iPhone and download their iexpand drive app. And once you connect it and
you have the app on your phone, you can copy all the photos
and videos off of your phone onto this drive and then
store them on your computer.
So this is really great
because a lot of iPhone users when it comes time to update
their operating system I've always heard them and help them with issues of not having
enough storage space not having enough storage to
actually update their phones. So this is an easy way
to get all the photos and videos off your
iPhone and back them up. Also, if you're going to take
your iPhone in and upgrade get a new phone, I've had
friends, who've lost everything on their phone because
when they did the upgrade and tried to transfer things,
it just didn't work out.
Or only some of the things transferred. So this is a great way, a rock solid way to before you bump up that phone, to backup all your photos and videos so you don't wind up losing some precious moments and memories. So I highly recommend this the SanDisk iexpand flash drive go. Now just so you know, full disclosure. Some of these cases I've bought myself. Some of the products I had them sent to me because I wanted to test them out. But all of these products are products that at some point I've purchased prior. So Speck, all these- the only one I hadn't purchased
prior was the Pivet cases. These ones I had not
purchased, they sent it to me. They saw a video, they liked what I did. And they were like, hey, check this out. – [Siri} Sorry I'm having
trouble hearing you. – You don't need to hear Siri. So they sent that to me, they
wanted me to check it out. So other than that, all these cases at some
point I've purchased. And then when it came
time to do this video and they had newer versions
or different things I wanted you guys to know about, I asked them to send it to me.
This one was sent to me as well but it's a really solid device, really solid way to backup photos. All right, now let's get to the
watch bands and watch cases. Now, something many of
you may not know about me is at one point I wanted
to be a fashion designer. That's right. In my teenage years, I
wanted to actually go to FIDM the fashion Institute of
design and merchandising here in downtown Los Angeles and I actually was into wanting
to design women's fashion also that was during
the era of cross colors and a lot of that hip hop, urban fashion. And that was a lot of
my inspiration as well. I wanted to get into that. I actually used to airbrush
and do my own jeans and different hats and
different things like that. So I was really into the
whole urban designer thing. So, when it comes to watch
bands, and buying my own clothes but specifically here, when
it comes to watch bands I often look and scrutinize
the products on Amazon. And again, you can find
watchbands anywhere from a few dollars on
Amazon, all the way up to $50 or more on some brands' websites.
So, a couple of the things I look for when I'm purchasing a watch band is, first off what am I
going to be using it for? In the case of the Apple watch, one of the things I was looking at was the fact I was going to
be exercising with it a lot. So, I didn't want a
band that I was going to beat up and tear up, but that
I'd be paying $50 or more for. So I went to Amazon, and I found this particular band, that I'll put the link for
in the description below, and what it is is a sport
band, similar to Apple's but at a fraction of the cost. And it has the Velcro on
it, it has the loop on it so that you can adjust the sizing. But if I was going to
beat it up and tear it up I really didn't care.
And also it was kind of a test
to see how well it's lasted. And you know what this thing
has lasted me about a year and it's still going, it's still fine. I've rinsed it, washed
it, and it's held up. The Velcro has held up. It's lightened up just a
bit since I first got it but it's still strong enough
that it holds on the watch but there is a definite
difference between the fit and finish of each of these sport loops the one from Apple and the
one that's a third party from Amazon.
The weave is definitely higher
quality on this Apple band. The Velcro feels to be of a
higher quality on this ban, but again, for my purposes, for using it for working
out and destroying it, this was better option for
me at the price I paid. I think this was probably around somewhere between $10 and $13 for that. But again, if we're talking fit and finish you're definitely getting what you pay for with the OEM with Apple,
Samsung's bands' even, they're really solid products.
And one of the other
products I spoke about in my case section of this
talk here, this conversation, was Urban Armor Gear. I've been wearing this and you've probably seen
this in a few of my videos, this is the Urban Armor
Gear active straps. And this one is a combination of Velcro and a stainless steel bar,
stainless steel hardware on it. It is a really nice watch strap. It comes in multiple colors. I'm gonna buy the dark camo
version of this eventually, cause I love all things camo. But Urban Armor Gear also
makes NATO style cases. And I purchased a NATO
style case off Amazon because I wanted to see
what the difference is in the cases of these watch bands were.
So the real difference in
these watch straps from Amazon versus Urban Armor Gear is thickness, the tightness of the weave and the cutouts for the fitment of the watch strap. These are very different. This one is real supple. And honestly, when you first put it on it really feels good
because it's nice and soft. The nylon on the Urban
Armor Gear is thick, and you'll have to wear
this in a little bit as you wear it, it'll soften. But it is definitely of a higher quality. And this is definitely
going to last you longer because as I used this one I can definitely feel how the
holes on this are stretching. This is such thick nylon here that these holes are not going to stretch. And if they do, it's going to
take some time before they do. This is on a tic watch pro GPS three. And these just also look really good. The color is nice. The stitching is really nice. It's really good stitching. So this is going to hold up. The difference in these two
is going to be about $13 versus with some of the
Urban Armor Gear watch straps you're going to pay $45 or more.
So that's a difference 13 versus 45. But I can tell you, I believe, this one will last you a
whole lot longer than these. So in the long run, do you
buy two or three of these? Do you buy one of these? If you have it, I say buy one of these. Old phrase, quality hurts only once. So you're definitely good with those. And one of the other things
that I wanted to talk about when we talk watches is,
obviously there's hundreds and hundreds of straps online. I just shared with you
the Urban Armor Gear and some of the Amazon and an Amazon strap and talked about Apples' straps, which are excellent quality as well. But, let's say you're
somebody who gets outdoors. You're a rugged individual
and you need more than what Apple has or
more than what Samsung has and their proprietary or their OEM, the straps they make for the devices. What do you do? Well, I also spoke of Supcase earlier and then we'll get to these ones. But I spoke about
Supcase earlier and their unicorn beetle pro being
my favorite case so far for my Galaxy Note 20 ultra, they also make a unicorn beetle pro for the Apple watch, for all the series.
This one is for the
Apple watch four or five but it also fits the series six. So what these cases do
is they give you some more protection against
bumps, and against drops, and against anything you may encounter. If again, if you're out, and you like to be out hiking and be in places where you
might scratch them up, they have a really high raised
protection over the screen. They also sell screen protectors if you just really want
that extra protection. So this is a series four
that I've popped into here. The bands are these heavy
silicone or rubberized or plastic bans, depending
on which case you purchase from them, which band, the
hardware feels heavy duty. Everything about these just
feels really beast mode. It has raised protection over the dial, so, and it has the buttons on the side so you can access the
buttons on the watch. The other thing I like about it is if you like really big watches, if you're somebody who likes, you know, instead of 44, 42 millimeters if you're somebody who likes
50, 60 millimeter watches that's the other thing that's
really great about these is they really add a level
of beefiness and heft to the watches.
So if you want a larger watch,
if you want a larger case you see to get that bigger
watch on your wrist. If you like Nixon's or you like some of the other fat style watches I'm drawing a blank on the
other one, the hip hop one, I forget. So coming to the other watches that do a similar thing
as unicorn beetle pro, as Supcase's unicorn beetle pro, there's a company called Catalyst that makes life proof cases. Maybe you've seen them, maybe you own one. And the life proof cases
are waterproof, shockproof. They are really hardcore cases
for people who are living again that kind of
outdoors active lifestyle. This right here is the
Catalyst drop proof case. This has a three meter
rating it's mil spec, eight ten G, fits your 44- this is for the 44 millimeter watch. So this should, according to
them, take a nine foot drop.
It should be able to withstand that. So what you're really thinking
when you're thinking drop cause hopefully you're not
falling from nine feet, but shock resistance, impact resistance that's what you're really
kind of looking for when you look at a watch
like this, and again just like the Supcase unicorn beetle this one just pops right in
through the back of the case. And then once you have
it popped into the back you can go ahead and put it on. It has really beefy silicone band here. It feels very solid and it feels like it is just going to
withstand a lot of things.
If you're somebody, for instance, who likes to go shooting
like a day at the range this may be a watch that
you consider checking out. I also have one here that
I'm going to show you in just a second here that's
even beefier than that. And I really like this
because it really gives you just a great size on your wrist if you like larger watches as I do. And now, let's go to the last
catalyst case I have here. This one, again, whatever you're doing, if you're going to just
beat a watch up this one, I highly recommend this is
going to be really large on your wrist, but it's going
to allow your Apple watch to still record heart
rate and various things.
But this case completely
covers your watch. This is the Catalyst waterproof case. This waterproof case is waterproof or water resistant up to 330 feet. So that's a hundred meters. This watch actually requires
you to take an account with it in the case, it requires you
to actually unscrew the watch from the rear here and take
the back of the case off so that you can get the case- so that you can get the watch body in. So you unscrew that, then you
are going to remove the top.
Here's the little dummy
watch that they had in there. You'll take this rubberized protector. You'll put that on the back of your watch. And then you'll put the
watch back in the case. And with that you'll actually have your water proof, your waterproofing, your protection, the rubber
gaskets, it's all there. So, this is definitely
one you want to consider. It does not have the screen- it does not actually have
a screen protector in here but it does offer these
rubber gaskets, which go into the bottom, which are
going to seal up the area that's open under the bottom of the case and the rubber gaskets form around the front edges of the case.
So once you actually have
the top installed on this this does form a seal on it. And with the Apple
watch's own waterproofing, and the addition of the rubber gasket, and the seal from the top lid of the case you're going to get that water proofing. Those are really just a small sampling of the hundreds and hundreds of cases and watches, and watch bands, watch straps that you can find out there. So search to your heart's content but Urban Armor Gear, Catalyst, Supcase, these are some of my favorite things. Now with many of us working from home, this accessory is actually
an important accessory. This is the Polly sync 20 plus from Polly, who you may have known as
Plantronics previously, but they are now Polly. This is a speakerphone. Now I don't know about you
but some of the phones, the speakerphones are questionable. Some get loud enough, some don't. This eliminates the
issues across all devices because you now have with this, a device that can connect to your computer or to your smartphone via Bluetooth- it even comes with a Bluetooth
dongle for your computer if your computer doesn't have Bluetooth but it'll connect to
smartphones via Bluetooth.
It even has a cable built right into it to allow you to connect. It comes with a bag to
keep it and carry it in. This is just a really smart speakerphone and Plantronics or Polly has long been actually one of my favorite
Bluetooth headset manufacturers. Long before I started doing tech reviews, my Bluetooth ear piece of choice was the Plantronics Voyager pro. I used to buy those every few years. And when I got into tech reviewing and started reviewing some
of the Plantronics products their audio quality just was consistent and blew me away always. So the Polly sync 20 plus,
or the Polly sync 20, the difference is one comes with a Bluetooth dongle for
your computer, one doesn't. These are Microsoft teams certified.
These are great to use
if you're on a zoom call, these are great for you for
those work-at-home folks. I'm going to have a larger review of this on my own YouTube channel in the future but having been using this, I
can definitely recommend this. Now the Polly sync 20 products
and the Pollys sync line cause there are larger
speakerphones or speakers that come with the Polly
sync line at different sizes, the 20 to 50, this is the 20, you're going to pay for these. These are not like $10 Amazon speakers. These are high quality speakers
and microphones that are- for those of you who are working from home and having to talk to people at work, bosses, coworkers, and you
really need clear communications. Highly recommend this. They sent this to me to
try out, to test out. And so far I have to say,
I am not disappointed. So, honorable mention. Honorable mention goes to Nomad. Nomad makes some really cool products that I'm definitely
going to be checking out in the near future. You should go ahead
and give them a looksee and see if their products,
they're minimalists leathers, different things, if their
products work for you.
Another product that
you may be familiar with that I haven't checked out
yet personally, is Dbrand. I really liked Dbrand. I really liked the cases. I really liked their
products, the look of them. Haven't ordered, haven't tested out yet, but I will be soon. And I will come back
to you with the results and what I think of those products. Another one that I
found on Amazon recently that I'm really digging and
haven't had the chance to order, cause I just found them,
is Cave Leather Company. This looks to be a small,
probably one-man-band outfit somewhere here in Los Angeles.
It looks like there- or Southern California, it
looks like they're based out of. And they make some great
looking watch straps. I really liked the pin placement
on the leather wrist strap. Really cool stuff. I'm definitely looking forward to giving Cave Leather Company a try and seeing how good their leather watch
straps are for those days when I want to dress up my Apple watch and not necessarily look
sporty or bright, but wants something a little
more subdued and something a little more refined.
One last thing that I'm
looking forward to trying out is there's a company called Ampere, who recently sent me a pitch, and they have a charger
called the Unravel. The Unravel looks to be a
really cool travel charger that I'm definitely looking
forward to getting my hands on and testing out and
seeing how well it works. It's a really interesting
concept, a really neat design. I think it's really cool. And it's definitely something
that I'm looking forward to testing out and checking out. All right. So I know this was a long video, but I really wanted to
walk you through things and really talk to you about
kind of my insights here on the quality of watch straps and cases and kind of what they are. If you have any questions, leave
them in the comments below. I will get to them. As always, we don't take it lightly that you spent your time watching with us.
I'm Tshaka Armstrong for reviews.org. Thank you for watching..
