Just sharing another Fairphone case

Last year, I ordered a great case for my Fairphone via Shapeways (the designer was so nice to recreate one of his iPhone cases for Fairphone based on the CAD file). Now, the same designer made this lovely minimalist bumper case. I’ve tried a prototype, and I quite like it!

You can find (and order) it here: http://shpws.me/vy55 (photos are of my phone in the case).

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This one looks really nice! I like it very much! :slight_smile:

PS: does it make the FP lie flat on surfaces?

I quite like it! I’m guessing it fits the phone quite well?
I don’t like big cases, but this one looks like it fits the phone well while not really adding much to it in size. I’ll definitely consider ordering it!

It’s not completely flat, but much flatter than without the case. Flat enough for comfortable message typing.

It fits really well. When putting the phone in the case, it is a little bit hard to snap the fourth corner on, but because of that, the case fits nice and tight.

Hey,

is your Bumper still good?

Thanks!

It is! I wouldn’t go for the yellow one next time (it’s gotten quite
dirty), but it is still doing its job quite good. Perhaps even too good, I
recently needed to take out my SD card, and I had quite a hard time getting
the bumper off :slight_smile:

Avoid!
I would NOT recommend this case - I bought two, loved the design (& the shipping costs are quite high) - one for me and one for a colleague (different colours) and it
a) does not last long and more annoyingly
b) coloured the phone red (I got a red one)

A few more toughts:
The plastic is only superficially in the specific colour. It quickly rubs away to reveal little bits of white underneath
It broke quickly at the smaller side of the corners, earlier for my colleague than for me but at the exact same places (as he sometimes puts the phone ins his pocket, I don’t)
He was actually lucky to not be able to use it after a month, as mine lasted about two months and now my phone has ugly red stains in the white rim. And no, I can not remove them, they have deeply coloured the plastic.

Happy to send pics to prove it. Absolutely frustrated.

It almost sounds as if your bumpers were printed in a different material than mine! My bumper is still pretty fine. Dirty, but otherwise in perfect shape. No rubbing off, no broken pieces.

I got mine from Genghis on shapeways.com - where did you get yours from? How is the surface on yours? Don’t know how to describe the materials - I guess a different material might make all the difference - I heard about a shock-absorbing 3d printing material in the meantime and I am almost tempted to give it a shot - I loved the design.

I also ordered mine from Genghis, but he only made the design. The idea of Shapeways is that the products are printed by a local 3D printing company, who ships it to you. So I guess it is possible that your local printer decided to use another material than the (Dutch) company who printed my bumper.

It is indeed hard to describe the material. Mine is lightweight, kind of rough to the touch and it is really impossible to scratch the surface off.

Mh, that must be it. With mine it doesn’t really “scratch” the surface off, but it is rubbed off at several points and where it broke you can see that the inside is white. As far as I remember mine came from the Netherlands as well (which is weird, as we have several 3d printing labs around here as well, I just did not have the time to pop in there myself)…

I bought one of these for my Fairphone and have been reasonably happy with it. The plastic is rather brittle, I would have preferred a more rubbery material, but the fit is good. When fitting it the first time, I was worried about breaking it. Heating the case up a little in a glass of warm water and then drying it off before putting it on solved the problem.

Yesterday the case broke. While a more flexible material wouldn’t have broken so easily, I am happy with the case anyway. It did absorb the impact when I lost my phone on a tile floor, so my phone is still in good shape. As for the colour rubbing off - I noticed, but didn’t mind.

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Hi Karin,

I would love to hear more about your experiences with your cases!

I currently have a custom 3D-printed case. Very rigid material with some sharp edges, but the fit is perfect. So far it has done its job — my Fairphone has survived many drops without a scratch. However, the case is so stiff that it is incapable of absorbing any hits, it just shatters (see pics).

Now I’m looking for a replacement which is:

  • Better designed (rounder edges)
  • More flexible material, so it survives my violence along with the phone

I like the ones that you talk about, by this guy Genghis

  • Which was your previous one? Indra? Lotus?
  • The pointy decorations on these look cool, but do they not get caught on clothes, etc.?
  • Where did you have yours printed?
  • Is the plastic rubbery enough to withstand shocks?
  • Do you have any technical info about the best type of filament? (I’m pretty new to this)

Sorry for the onslaught of questions, but you seem to have some valuable hands-on experience :slight_smile:

Thanks!