Phone cases drove me insane for a few weeks

Is this really 'clear'?

I recently acquired a Galaxy Z Fold 7, wonderful phone that I will write a review eventually, in fact this was supposed to be an intermission in the review, but I think it's big enough for its own post. I think this phone looks absolutely stunning, so, when I bought it, I got the official clear grip case¹; made sense in my head, it was clear, a strap for better grip, and I was aware that Samsung had chosen to only make back cases for the seventh generation of the Z Fold. I didn't mind, this phone is crazy thin and light, it made sense to not add bulk. Don't mind the price, I basically got it for free on a deal.

The case is exactly what it looks like, a clear plastic case that covers the back, plus the white strap. Yet, as I looked at it, I just... hated it. The plastic was glossy, and it made the phone look like a toy. The classy frosted glass look was gone, replaced by a shiny plastic that made the phone look cheap. Oh well, life sucks.

Why do we get cases again?

The case made me stop and think for a bit: Why do we get cases for our phones? I'd argue that there are three schools of thought on this:

1. Whatever you have: You just find a case, whatever it's on the store you are in, or even better, whatever comes in the box. End of the story, easy, simple, effective.
2. Protection first: You want the most protection you can get, so you go for those "armor cases", with glass or plastic on the front, cushions, even screws if they have it. This phone will not break on your watch.
3. Purists: You bought a hell of a pretty phone, there's no way you aren't going to show it off, right? You need a simple case, clear, minimalist.

Here in Brazil, it is very common to see those accessory stores selling a "combo" of a screen protector (usually tempered glass) and a case (commonly referred to as "capinha", meaning "little case"). You bought an expensive device (even cheap phones are expensive, in a way), you want it to last, sure, it has all that fancy Gorilla Glass, but are you going to test it? No, you won't, so you grab a case.

For most people, the choice isn't a big deal. You get whatever looks fine at the store you're in, and that's that. I doubt many people check multiple stores to find something they truly like, it's just a case, after all. But this would be a boring post if this was it.

I hope it's obvious that I find myself on the third group. I always hated that Samsung chose my case for me on the Z Fold 5, because it had the damn S Pen. I always disliked not being able to show off the phone, even if the case was very sturdy (though annoying with the raised front edges). But now? No S Pen (damn you, Samsung), I had an open field of cases, right? Wrong.

All these cases suck and I want to go home

Back to the clear case, it was acceptable, but I thought I could do better, and I had the ideal on my mind. Like I was Plato: The Arc Pulse cases, mainly for iPhones.² They are exactly what I was thinking: minimalist to a fault, just a few scraps of metal. Sure, you lost some protection and grip, but the phone looked great in its natural beauty. This is not an advertisement, I wish it was, I would shill for them if they asked me to.

So, Arc Pulse, except that design doesn't work on a foldable, it relies on the edges of the phone. And like a lot of american phone products, it's iPhone only (or at least iPhone first). There are dozens of chinese copies on AliExpress for half the price, I'm sure one of them was what I wanted, right? Eh, kind of.

Foldables are a special breed when it comes to cases, the hinge really complicates things, and you'll find a very small variety of cases, sure, they look a bit different, but not that much. Especially because I had a lot of criteria I wanted it to follow: Minimalist, thin, clear or "nothing", and not glossy plastic. I was ok with back only cases, I was not going to go back to those damn raised edges again.

Here in Brazil my options were essentially limited to AliExpress, or perhaps some other website that sold from China, but fine, there are a lot of them, I could find something. So I started looking, and looking, and looking. There weren't that many unique designs, most were just variations of the same thing, there were matte plastic ones, but would it look good? No idea, no one posted photos on those reviews, and after getting disappointed once, I wanted to avoid that.

I then found a unique design, a strange Z-shaped hunk of metal, and my immediate thought was that it looked great. It left a lot of the back exposed, so the wonderful frosted JetBlack would be visible, and it added some functionality, a kickstand that doubled as a grip and magnet (that I can't use), but that was an added bonus. After some thought, I ordered it, I was fully prepared for it to suck, I had the glossy one if it went wrong.

A curiosity, the Z shape and the Z Fold? Complete coincidence, they sell that same design for the S Ultra, and a variety of others for different phones, including iPhones.

Huh, it's quite nice actually

The case arrived in about a week, fine for a China shipment, the other things I ordered on another website still haven't even shipped, I commend AliExpress logistics for that. It looked like the ads, which is never a given for those things on AliExpress. I had some trouble getting it off the phone, but I managed it, and yeah, I actually think it looks much better than I anticipated. I was afraid it would look "sci-fi", ruining the natural look of the phone, but no, it complements it quite well. I could do without the branding, but beggars can't be choosers.

So, now for an impromptu review of the case. First of all, I am unsure of what material it is made of, I do not think this is metal, it looks too bendy, I want to say it's some form of plastic, but I will leave as 'unknown'. It weights 36 grams, for comparison, the plastic case weights 23 grams, so it's not that heavy. That orange button is the release mechanism, and it does not work that well with the case on the phone, I had to lift it up from the camera bump to remove it. Cheap mechanism, but I can remove it, not enough to sour my experience. It looks a little thick? But given its uneven shape, it doesn't feel that way in the hand. And, of course, it looks great, back is visible, the colors all work out.

Naturally, there are some downsides. The case does not cover the sides, but this was all clear from the ad. The kickstand is fine, even if I find kind of silly, given it's a foldable. The hard edges do dig a bit into your hands, it is not as nice and the silicone strap of the Samsung case, but it's not unbearable. Since the sides are "naked", the phone is a bit slippery. It should add at least as much protection as the Arc Pulse, maybe more, uneven surfaces are a problem, but, again, this was all clear from the ad. I don't own any Qi2 compatible accessory or charger to test the magnet unfortunately. As a bonus, this decreases the wobble, a common complaint with the Z Fold 7.

As I mentioned, I had trouble taking it off, it is made of two pieces, and that orange button at the top (not at the bottom as the ad showed) should release them if pressed. For some reason, when it's on the phone, it doesn't work, I'm unsure why, maybe it's too tight and the mechanism can't move enough. To remove it, I lift it from the camera bump, and then wiggle it around, not great, but it works. Makes me think this is going to snap if it falls on the ground. But I will say, pulling it from the center? It does not come off, even if it lifts up a bit near the camera bump.

The corners all have these little rubber pads, which is nice, the box even comes with extra of them. Mind you, the case does not cover the antennas, importantly, everything worked fine. I have yet to test NFC however, but given they worked with my thick plastic case, I doubt there will be issues. I will update this post if I find any.

I still don't get it

After all that time, I have something I'm happy with, it's not perfect, but I'm willing to accept it's as good as it gets. Yet, I do ask myself, what is the point of buying a pretty phone if you're going to cover it up with a case? Sure, maybe you got the horrendous iPhone 17 Pro, just announced, that absolutely deserves a case to cover its back, even if the orange is great. You can absolutely get a skin, but you know what most transparent skins are? Glossy, again. At this point in time, I have bought a matte skin for the back of the phone, in my search for the perfect look. Now it feels less important, maybe I will add it later, maybe not.

So what's the point of buying a beautiful phone just to cover it up? After this entire ordeal, I still don't have a perfect answer. But I've learned that the "perfect" case isn't about ultimate protection or flawless minimalism—it's about finding the compromise you can live with. This varies from person to person, and, for now, this strange Z-shaped piece of unknown material is a compromise I'm happy to make.

Footnotes

1. Galaxy Z Fold7 Clear Grip Case, Transparent, on the Samsung Store US. ↩
2. Arc Pulse Cases ↩