You love the look of your iPhone 5 and naturally, you want to show it off. While you spend a few minutes considering going without a case, you come to the realization that going naked could result in scratches, dings and other scary things happening to your iPhone. Read on for our comprehensive Luvvitt Cristal iPhone 5 case review to see if it’s for you. A crystal or clear case is an option for those who want to revel in the beauty of their iPhone, but not at the expense of exposing it to the elements. Is this crystal case the perfect solution?
Instead of calling it a crystal case, someone at Luvvitt thought it would be a good idea to call it a ‘Cristal’ case, taking naming cues from the popular brand of champagne. I suppose the intent was to have the name resonate as being of high quality, but let’s be frank, it’s tacky.
You came here for a case review, so with branding pet peeves aside, let’s get to it. The Luvvitt Cristal case is a hard shell constructed of Japanese polycarbonate, which the company says is of a higher quality as compared to other cases on the market and also features an anti-scratch finish. This definitely is a hard case, with very little flexibility.
Using this case for two weeks, I noticed a few small scratches on the case. The case itself still looks to be in good shape, but you can expect it to scuff with use. Still it’s better that any scratches are reserved for the case and not your iPhone. Still it’s worth noting that the scratch resistant case will scratch over time and might adversely affect the overall appearance.
The fit of the Luvvitt case was quite good. There was zero movement and I felt confident that if I were to drop my iPhone 5, it would not dislodge from the case. Equally important, I found it relatively easy to remove the case, if necessary.
Luvvitt provides generous gaps in areas where you’ll need access to your iPhone. Wide openings at the top and bottom make it easy for Lightning dock connections or accessing the sleep/wake button. A sizable opening on the left side also provides for unfettered access to the volume buttons and ringer switch. The bezel of case is ever so slightly raised from the display, so in the event you lay your iPhone face down (please don’t do this), you could risk damage to the screen. Overall, the case is thin, light and adds a very slight footprint to the size of the iPhone.
This being crystal clear, with 100 percent transparency, people were able to easily see I was carrying a black/slate iPhone 5. While it has an anti-scratch coating, this coating does not offer any sort of fingerprint resistance. On a scale of 1-5, with a 5 being most susceptible to fingerprints, this case scores a 10. It’s not easily polished either, so a quick t-shirt rub won’t bring back the showroom shine. The result is a case that has a consistently dirty look to it. It’s also incredibly slippery, that you might be better off without a case, as I’d speculate that your chances of dropping your iPhone go up given the slippery nature of the Luvvitt Cristal. As with any crystal plastic, you will see rainbows when it catches different angles of the sun.
Luvvitt Cristal iPhone 5 Case Review: Pros & Cons
Pros:
- 100 percent transparency
- Good fit
- Low-moderate protection
Cons:
- Fingerprint magnet
- Slippery
While I can understand why you might want to show off your iPhone, I’m certain that this particular case and maybe crystal cases in general, might not be the best route. Despite a great fit and overall good quality, the Luvvitt Cristal case suffers from incredibly tacky branding, but that’s of little importance to most folks. What is important is that the case is a fingerprint magnet which I found detracts from the stellar design qualities of the iPhone 5.
The Luvvitt crystal case is available in an assortment of translucent colors including black, grey, pink, blue and clear.
I have this case on a white iPhone and it looks great. I don’t see any fingerprints unless I remove the case and despite what you say it’s very easily cleanable. I’ve used several clear cases for my phone and this is my favorite. For some reason I think your review is very biased for such a great case with so many great reviews.
I did see plenty of good reviews at Amazon. I wrote the review based on my experience. There is no bias, just didn’t care very much for the product.
Who includes their dislike of a case name in a review? It’s not like the name is even on the case!
The case name had no influence on my review. I was simply drawing a parallel between poor branding and what I felt overall was case which wasn’t very good. I do see your point and see how my choice of words could have been misconstrued.