Hey guys,
I'm looking for case options. I'm currently wearing a Case-mate Tough on my Galaxy Nexus, and look for a similar amount of protection. It lifts off the screen from the ground by about 2mm, which has saved my phone plenty of times.

Basically it's some serious amount of silicone (especially around the screen! That's really important to me, that the screen is raised off the ground) held in place by some hard plastic. Or something like the Otterbox Commuter. Strictly no flip cover. If it's less slippery that's good. Glossy TPU is rather nice for example. Good looks are a plus, i.e. showing off the design of the phone. I like the tech21 iPhone cases, basically (IIRC) TPU around the edge (bumper style) with an additional layer of shock absorbing material around the edge of the phone, giving it great protection without adding much bulk elsewhere. Sadly I haven't seen such a thing for the Mi3...

Any ideas? So far I have found the Rock Shield Series TPU case, but I can't find it on their homepage.
https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=3231429&hl=# (Post 11)
It does look like it offers reasonable protection. The sharp edges are a put off though, I've tried a similar case in a shop and it felt unpleasant. Also, more protection of the back than of the front? I'd rather have the thickness where it matters...

There's also this:
https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=3279407&hl=
TPU is quite decent, but often a bit thin for me. This seems to be rather thick though...?

https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=3277569&hl=
This looks... interesting. No clue about the materials used...

https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=3231429&hl=# (Post 16)
Nice amounts of protection.

https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=3292582&hl= (Post 2)
Cocose Honeycomb. Another one that looks good. Nice design it seems. Doesn't lift off the screen all that much (not sure how those other TPU cases do...). Seems to be less than 1mm

https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=3233281&hl=
Saw it in a shop. Not comfortable edges, tries to look like an iPhone Protection seems reasonable...?

Also, what is the point of screen protectors? Glass or not? Cause shouldn't it be gorilla glass, so it shouldn't get scratches? I'm just worried about breaking the screen...

This is nice, though a bit excessive. I wish they'd do an in between product... one that adds a bit of bulk for enough protection (rather than ridiculous amounts of protection), without adding 2 cms to each side...

Yeah, that is my favourite so far. Have you dropped the phone on asphalt? How does it feel in your hands? Is it slippery, or more like glossy TPU? I'm really worried about the sharp edges. The Mi3 has a nice, rounded case, which is, well, nice, and they ruin that buy making it square with sharp edges Just so it looks more macho.

Mh. Is the squarish thing comfortable to use? Doesn't it cut into the hand? The Mi3 is already stretching it... my hand isn't so big.

I've used my Galaxy Nexus with a rubbery screen protector (self healing) for a while, but in the end I chose I'd rather have scratches. It's not like they disturb in regular use. And the GN uses softer glass because of the curved screen.

No alternative to the rock? And which affordable glass protector would be good? Hm... Would it be more reflective? Will the casing still fit properly?

I wish Otterbox, Case-mate or one of the other established players would be making cases for it...

This post has been edited by kadajawi: Aug 13 2014, 11:06 AM

That was me. But while I appreciate the protection I'm not looking for something that increases the size of the phone to that of a small planet. Those mid range protective cases (adding a bit of bulk and good protection, not too much) is what I look for. The Rock for example. Just I don't like the looks and the shape... :-/ My casemate is nicely rounded, making the phone more comfortable to hold than naked. I wonder if the established players will release cases too, but I guess if, it'd be for the Mi4.

Found a few more cases:
http://www.mikaruonline.com/en/cover-case/...one-casing.html
The colors are... striking.
http://www.miui.in.th/threads/review-nx-ca...xiaomi-mi3.488/
Not sure how thick the lip around the screen is, and the quality looks to be... meh. It's curved though, so that is a plus.

I did find something extremely sexy though:
http://www.dx.com/p/retro-protective-bambo...3-yellow-323813
They also have other wood types (is it real wood?) Sadly the protection is probably not going to be what I'm after... But damn is it sexy.

Also, how about http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Spig...2010551367.html ?
I doubt it's actually by Spigen (after all they don't mention anything on their website, just like Rock also doesn't mention "their" product on their website), and it looks a lot like the tough armor by some other brand that is sometimes offered as a SGP/Spigen case... except for the garish iPhone look a like cutout in the middle. Making it actually quite nice.

Mh... so you use the Mocolo SP with the case? Does it fit properly? How much was the SP? Am considering either the Rock or a clear TPU case with a glass SP now... clear TPU would look better (and be cheaper ), and worst come to worst I guess only the SP will shatter...? In that case 100% protection isn't needed, can replace the SP if necessary...

Also, my Mi3 has passed the processing stage... how long will I still have to wait?

I got 25, though I just bought a phone yesterday and registered the day before (it thinks I bought some accessory too? I tried to... I tried... but all those greedy jerks snatched the power bank to resell it... Xiaomi should make it so that one can get a power bank in case you buy a phone... like a priority line, and limit the number of power banks you can get per address/paypal account/credit card/whatever. It's really not fair, I hope these shops and resellers choke on their power banks!).

Also, what am I supposed to do with a coupon towards a new phone, when I just bought one?

People there already complain, I doubt they are doing anything to fix the situation... or it is too much effort or whatever.

I know what they are doing to get the powerbanks, but quite frankly with the internet connection I have here (TMNet...) it's impossible to be as fast as they are. I already kept refreshing all the time before and after noon, and I didn't even once see it being available. that's how slow the site was... at least for me.

Also, the first part of the post was valuable information I believe, cause someone suggested that you have to be registered for a long time and have bought a lot in order to get the RM 25 coupon... that's clearly not the case.

Maybe I've overlooked something, but how much are the Pistons going to cost outside of a bundle? Or is that info not known yet? I guess there'll be a run on them on Saturday too...

This post has been edited by kadajawi: Aug 13 2014, 10:50 PM

Cause that's better. Easier on the eyes. My AMOLED screen also quite yellow. And my monitor is set to warm

Bypass seems useful so that it first charges the phone, and then the PB. No need to swap device, can charge while asleep.

Thanks for the advice on how to get a PB.

And thanks for the pricing of the piston.

The one I ordered on Tuesday just left Hong Kong too... and I thought they had a batch of them in Malaysia already. I guess I don't have to hope it arrives on Saturday... I just hope it won't be like dx.com, have to wait a month...

Ok, just saw the estimated arrival time. Monday the 25th?

This post has been edited by kadajawi: Aug 14 2014, 10:35 PM

Haha, nah it's fine, as long as it reaches me in time. But don't you know that feeling when you ordered a new toy and can't wait for it to arrive?

I'm a bit surprised that it makes sense for them to send the phones from China... at least when they sell batches of a few thousands I would have thought they would ship them all in a container to Malaysia and then send from there. I guess shipping from China is pretty cheap...? Otherwise how can dx.com work...

Bought a SP today. Kemiao. Feels quite nice, with rounded edges, RM 20. It's not going to be great, but I guess it'll do the job, and I won't feel much pain when it breaks.

This post has been edited by kadajawi: Aug 14 2014, 11:45 PM

FedEx. Dispatched from Shenzhen, went to HK to the airport. Started the journey on the 14th, should arrive on the 25th. I wonder why it takes so long when it is already at the airport... maybe no flights for the next few days?

Oh, sorry. Didn't know that one was for shipping. I posted in that thread instead now. (It's in Sepang now btw...).

I'm curious about the Pistons... maybe I can get one during the next sale if they offer separate. My Xears (the wooden model...) broke not long ago, so hopefully I can compare. How easy is it to get a proper fit? That was the one thing that was extremely annoying with the Xears... they sounded quite good for the price, but only when inserted exactly the right way. They could easily move around though, at which point they didn't sound good anymore. Very annoying. If it's this hard to get a proper seal I'll give it a pass.

Ok, me again, with case questions: I've been looking through shops yesterday, trying to find a case for my phone. I've given up the hope for something like an Otterbox... the Rock thing is too unergonomic. There's also a Rock-a-like that sometimes gets sold as SGP (but isn't), which has a circular cutout in the center, tried that one on, and it didn't fit. The front lip was basically at the same height as the glass screen (including screen protector). The back was very well protected... the part of the phone that is the least sensitive. So basically a case that makes the phone not so nice to hold, big and fat, but doesn't protect properly.

Plenty of TPU cases out there, but I could not find even one that is the WCDMA version. Why do these shops import the cases for the SCDMA version of the phone? It has holes in different places.

So basically... does anyone here have a TPU case, ideally clear or tinted grey, glossy back (not so slippery), no prints, with holes in the right places? The more the screen is raised off the ground the better.

Thanks guys!

Btw., anyone tried Mi2raw Cam yet? It is _awesome_. Lets you get so much more out of the camera. As long as you can deal with 25 MB files per photo.

Wasn't it sold out on the Xiaomi website?

Looks good. Did you post process it? It is usually quite noisy, but that can be fixed in Lightroom. If you compress to DNG you will get much smaller files. Use lossless for very noisy shots out where you want to keep the best quality, and lossy in other cases. I usually got to around 10-12 MB with lossless.

Have you burned them in yet? I have only for maybe 7 hours so far...

In any case they sound fine for the price so far. Not sure if the profile for them is better or not, I can get used to both sounds after a minute. They seem to sound better on my laptop, which is a big disappointment. I thought the Mi3 was supposed to sound good? I had some wooden Xears before (cable broke)
They were better, if you had a proper fit. Which was nearly impossible to get. That is very easy with the Pistons. Also the price of the Xears is 3x as high (official price of the Xears is even 11x or so). So yeah... not too bad. The Pistons are fun, look great, are well made and dirt cheap. I can understand the hype a bit.

Whaaaat? Got case + glass screen protector and the screen still cracked?!

Though that case looks like one of the useless metal back cases... I knew they wouldn't protect the phone.

Actually I'm quite surprised by how good TPU cases should be. Watch TPU drop tests... I just wish TPU case makers would, say, do a version that is extra thick instead of extra slim... say 2x the regular thickness + a 1.5mm lip around the screen (can be tapered so you can still reach the corners of the screen). That would give more than enough protection for normal drops, especially with a glass SP. One big problem with SP seems that they don't go to the edge, so if you hit it in the wrong place... also yes, if the frame gets dented that could put stress on the glass (at least Xiaomi didn't expose the glass directly at the edge...).

The official soft gel case should be TPU, right? Looks quite decent. The ones imported by shops are usually of lower quality and made for the Chinese version, so they cover up the microphone holes. I temporarily picked up a cheap one until I can find something good that fits 100%. There is a user here selling a spare one that is pretty good it seems, but wrong holes. If you don't mind that one seems worth it... looks like better quality.

Whaaaat? Got case + glass screen protector and the screen still cracked?!

Though that case looks like one of the useless metal back cases... I knew they wouldn't protect the phone.

Actually I'm quite surprised by how good TPU cases should be. Watch TPU drop tests... I just wish TPU case makers would, say, do a version that is extra thick instead of extra slim... say 2x the regular thickness + a 1.5mm lip around the screen (can be tapered so you can still reach the corners of the screen). That would give more than enough protection for normal drops, especially with a glass SP. One big problem with SP seems that they don't go to the edge, so if you hit it in the wrong place... also yes, if the frame gets dented that could put stress on the glass (at least Xiaomi didn't expose the glass directly at the edge...).

The official soft gel case should be TPU, right? Looks quite decent. The ones imported by shops are usually of lower quality and made for the Chinese version, so they cover up the microphone holes. I temporarily picked up a cheap one until I can find something good that fits 100%. There is a user here selling a spare one that is pretty good it seems, but wrong holes. If you don't mind that one seems worth it... looks like better quality.