In actual validation tests, the slim case performed much better than the original ‘bumper’ case. We still have some TPU to absorb a share of the impact shock inside the case, and also by the design, the case splits open and the parts separate at impact, dissipating a lot of the energy in the fall. Think of legacy stick phones that we had in times past, they would explode in a large number of parts at impact, and then you put them all together and they worked fine. During the last validation test sets of the slim case, we had to drop the test units a large number of times from a significant height before the phone refused to boot up.
The black option didn’t look quite good during trials, so that’s why it fell off the original portfolio. We’re looking at updating the colour options. Stay tuned.
Design and spec are not the problem. Getting a tool set to work properly for this design is a different thing. We’ve spent a very large amount of time and money tuning this particular tool, and it is still a fussy chunk of expensive and precise high-grade steel with lots of moving parts. If someone wants to buy the tools (and the fixtures and jigs) and keep investing in it, and then source the materials (resin is sold in half tons increments basically), and establish a production line (because there are quite a few steps to produce this kind of part anyway, with many different processes involved as well), then we would entertain it.