Review: Seidio ACTIVE case with kickstand for HTC EVO 3D
There's still time to enter to win 1 of 15 limited edition Seidio ACTIVE cases with kickstands for your HTC EVO 3D!
My personal preference for HTC EVO 3D cases is usually something that will house an extended battery; however, the last few ROMs I've been running have been sipping less and less juice so I decided to give the black Seidio ACTIVE case with kickstand (and my stock battery) a try.
Like the kickstand-less Seidio ACTIVE we reviewed last summer, this case is made of two parts. There's a soft silicone wrapper that holds and protects the phone, and a plastic skeleton that adds corner stability and, in this instance, the kickstand. You can use the case without the kickstand if you want, as the gel portion of the case will stay on quite fine without it, but that would remove one of the main reasons to have this case.
Now, the kickstand is an interesting thing. Until I got my old HTC EVO 4G, I would have never thought about how useful one of those was for things such as watching a movie while on an airplane/propping it up on the tray table. When I got the 3D, well, it wasn't there. I miss it a lot more than I should. Seidio's case brings the functionality that was sorely missed.
(above – white skeleton shown for contrast)
The kickstand itself looks a little cheap. You don't see it so much on the black cases with black skeletons, but on the green and white case you'll notice it looks a little bit like a random very breakable piece of plastic. The good news is that I picked the phone up by the kickstand and shook it around a bit, probably put about 20 pounds of pressure on the kickstand sideways, and it didn't break.
I think I could probably bend the plastic kickstand itself if I tried, but it appears anchored in pretty decently by a metal pin. For normal use and accidentally being put in a pocket with the kickstand out, this will handle it. If you're setting out to destroy the kickstand, though, then I think you'll succeed.
I'm not entirely certain how much punishment the case will handle. It feels sturdy, it gets the camera lenses off the table, and it works with Seidio desktop cradles. The soft portion is slick, so it does not get caught in pockets when pulling it out. For a case, it seems to do the job.
I don't think the plastic skeleton adds too much other than corner protection (and kickstand), but the entire thing weighs next to nothing so it doesn't really matter if it's on or off. It doesn't snag on anything either, so it's no trouble to keep it on.
The case also seems to conduct heat pretty well, although I have absolutely no way to tell for sure other than to say that it heats up and cools off like the phone does with no case on.
It has all the normal cutouts needed for camera flash, audio, and USB without removing the case or skeleton.
In my opinion, it's a pretty nifty little case that brings back the kickstand functionality that never should have left the EVO realm, while providing a reasonable level of protection from drops, scratching, etc.
I don't think I would have purchased this case based on the pictures and description on Seidio's site (really, the kickstand looks cheap and breakable until you play with it), but that's mainly because I like my 4000mAh battery and the thought of going back to a 1700mAh battery is honestly kind of repulsive.
I've been in the case since last week and have not gone back to my extended battery, and that kind of surprises me.
Prices for the Seidio ACTIVE case with kickstand range from $24-$34.95 online.
[Seidio online store]
