NuGuard KX Protective Case for iPhone 5/5S review
Newer Technology has released the NuGuard KX Protective Case for the iPhone 5/5S, and it does what it claims to do: protect your investment with minimal bulk.
The NuGuard KX is a solid one-piece design case with recessed or inline power and volume buttons, so no accidental power ons or volume changes. The thickness of the back of the case keeps the camera off of the table, and the lip on the front keeps the screen from coming in contact with the surface, as long as it’s flat.
The extra bulk it adds is not particularly noticeable to those who have dealt with larger phones, although if you’re craving the slimness of your naked iPhone you might want to look elsewhere. While it claims it doesn’t add bulkiness, compared to some cases it’s on the lower side of what I would consider bulky.
The recessed buttons do take a little getting used to. They needed to put something like a braille bump on the power and volume buttons as the recessed plus and minus of the volume are just not discernable via touch. The power button is nearly indistinguishable from the case if you’re not looking.
The case adds a very nice grip to the things, and it looks pretty cool, but the branding on it is kind of absurd. Roughly 1/5th of the back of the case is devoted to informing you that it’s a NuGuard KX case. All design cues that this is an Apple product on the inside are lost. You have an indistinguishable phone with a case on it.
The manufacturer claims this has been military drop tested. I don’t doubt it. I however am not allowed to drop test the iPhone without $600 in hand to fork over if it breaks the phone, so this is something I didn’t get to test. However, the case feels like the ones designed to fall down a flight of stairs without issue that I’ve played with before.
All in all, it’s a pretty decent feeling case and at the current price of $26 on Amazon it falls into a good price for good protection, so I don’t have much bad to say about it. At the MSRP of $49.99 it is a little overboard to pay that much for being a walking advertisement for the company. I’ve been informed that the MSRP for the one I reviewed was $29, the $49 was for the 5C. So I have no complaints about the case for the 5, although I would feel the 5C a bit overpriced.
You can find out a lot more info at the manufacturer’s website.
The Newer Technology NuGuard KX Protective Case for iPhone 5/5S is available from Amazon for $26-29 and comes in many different colors. There is also a nice reasonably priced screen protector that we’re playing with right now.
