Product Review: Snugg Bamboo iPhone Case

by Randy Murray on January 14, 2014

Some really unlikely things can surprise and delight you. For example, I’m now sporting my iPhone 5 in a bamboo-wood case.

It’s nuts, really. I tend to be very practical, tactical even, about cases for electronic devices that I carry and use. The case that I’ve been using for the past year transformed my sleek and beautifully thin iPhone 5 into a thick and bulging brick, looking much more like an iPhone 4. But it had a built in stand.  I didn’t like it, but I felt very confident using it.

When the people at Snugg asked me to take a look at one of their cases I decided to go the other direction. Let’s try something thin and interesting. They sent me their iPhone 5 case (also works for the iPhone 5s) made out of bamboo. 

When I took the little case out of the box I immediately said, “No way. It’s too light and fragile.” It is amazingly light. It is, after all, made from a piece of bamboo. But I went ahead and pried my phone out of the old case (very difficult to get out of) and slipped the now-freed phone into the two-part bamboo case. It fit beautifully and the grain of the bamboo lined up on both parts.

It’s beautiful. It’s gorgeous to look at but beyond that, it’s a pleasure touch and hold. This wondrous thing of glass and aluminum is now suddenly organic. It’s smooth, but not slippery. And to my surprise I’ve kept my phone in it for the past few weeks. It’s not a little difference at all. It really is pleasurable to hold.

This bamboo case will provide only limited protection, so if you’re worried about big drops, it’s not for you. But if you’d like a little protection and you’re looking for something to soften the cold and hard tech of your phone this case is very, very nice.

Snugg iPhone 5S Real Bamboo Wood Case

Update 01/24/14: I can no longer recommend this case. While sitting in a movie theater seat my phone slipped out of my pocket and onto the floor—less than two feet. The case shattered, but the phone is OK. While I liked the case, it is only for cosmetic use.

Product Review: Snugg Bamboo iPhone Case by Randy Murray, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

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