Dbrand has mainly been known for their phone, laptop and console skins, and their insanely savage and sarcastic marketing. The dbrand agents called “robots” are hilarious. They’ll sort your query out efficiently and sign off with a a big middle finger and snarky comment about how you look like your grandmother. Just check out dbrand’s Reddit page and you’ll know what we’re talking about.
Almost exclusively famous for their uber-cool, high-quality and overpriced skins, dbrand isn’t particularly a company I would associate with decent protective cases. I was wrong. Read on to find out more.
The problem with 90% AirPods cases
I spent four months looking for a decent case for my AirPods 3. It is a device that I carry with myself whenever I’m out of the house, so having a good case was super important to me. Most of the famous cases had the same kind of problems. First of all, the case of the lid overtime would loosen up and keep coming off its place. Whenever I (accidentally) dropped my AirPods, the top part would come off. This is one common problem with most cases.
The other problem: no cases, even the expensive ones that cost above ₹1500 (USD 20) never really felt premium enough to touch, hold and leave sitting on your table. They felt cheap and gimmicky. Before I bought the dbrand Grip Case, I bought four cases of other brands, the high-selling ones that Amazon recommends. They all felt either too plasticky or too rubbery, and just tacky and not edgy. I wanted edgy and stylist, even if the style is utilitarian.
So what does when one do when one is faced with such problems? They throw more money at it. That is what I did. I sold an arm and leg to buy dbrand’s AirPods 3 and iPhone 12 Mini Grip Case. The AirPods 3 case costs $35 (₹2800) and the iPhone case costs $55 (₹4400). Add to that a skin for both the cases and I ran up my total to just over $100. Add to that import duty which is about 30% of the total invoice and I’ve now spent about $130 (₹10,500) on just a phone and AirPods case. Since they ship from the US (free shipping) it takes about a month to reach my home country.
So was spending this much on cases worth it? I would say, it was worth every penny. Read on to find out why.
AirPods 3 dbrand Grip Case
I got the Grip case with the Tribal skin. The package comes with two pieces of 3M tape and a removal tool to remove the bottom part of the case. You apply the 3M tape on the lid, and voila, the problem where the lid cover keeps coming off is solved. The fitting is so solid and snug I think the case will do without the 3M tape, but some extra bonding is always good.
Applying the skin on the front and the back side was super easy, no tool required. If you aligned it the wrong way, you can remove it and reapply. dbrand has uploaded simple and easy-to-understand videos about applying the skin.
How does the case feel? It feels super premium to hold and just like it’s name “Grip”, it is actually really grippy. The quality of the materials used is top notch, and the fit is just perfect. There are no loose spots and no flexing whatsoever. I’ve accidentally dropped my AirPods many times and the case never came off. Holding is AirPods is a pleasurable experience indeed due to the grippiness of the case. On all the four sides of the ridge, the case is textured with dots that adds to the grippiness. Plus the smooth finish helps.
Even the lanyard cable attached to the case is of really good quality. One that can take abuse without giving out. I latch it onto my bag, sometimes to my belt. The lanyard cable is more secure than those aluminium buckles that come with majority of AirPods cases.
It’s been about four months since I’ve had the Grip case. My AirPods look so cool now, they’re a conversation starter at social situations. Multiple times I’ve had people check out the case and ask me where I got it from. The case is MagSafe compatible.
iPhone dbrand Grip Case
Just like for the AirPods, I bought a Grip case for my iPhone too, along with the “Teardown” skin. Previously, I had always directly skinned my phone without any case. They sure looking amazing but don’t do anything for protection against bumps and drops. I liked the concept of the Grip case that you can buy the case and put any skin you want to on it. They don’t like as cool as a case-less skinned-out phone, but they still look darn great while offering you top-notch protection.
I love the dbrand Grip case on my iPhone. The iPhone case follows the exactly the same design philosophy of the AirPods Grip case, with the dotted edges along with the glossy streaks. The fit is superb. The access to the Silent knob is easy, and the Volume and Power buttons are tactile and clicky. I’ve been using this case since four months and I’ve never faced the problems I face with other cases. The first problem is boredom, honestly this case is so good that I’m still not bored of it. I had about five different iPhone cases that I kept changing every week. No case was perfect.
I’ve also taken dips into lakes and ponds with my phone with the Grip case. The water never sneered into the case.
The problem with silicon cases is putting it and taking it out of your pockets. The rubbery surface sticks to the pant’s pockets so the experience isn’t that seamless. The friction ruins the slotting-it-in and taking-it-out experience. The dbrand case on the other hand is smooth, not slippery but just smooth enough. It simply slides into the pocket without any friction. Removing it from the pockets is seamless too. This was my Number One problem with all silicon cases, how they end up sticking inside your pockets and when you remove your phone from the pocket, your pocket comes out and other items from your pocket get dropped accidentally. Problem was solved with the Grip case.
When it comes to protection, I would say the dbrand Grip case is one of the best cases out there. The iterated and re-iterated the Grip case taking feedback from thousands of customers and came up with this case. It makes the phone really tactile and grippy to hold. Whenever I’ve dropped the phone, and I have dropped it multiple times, the phone was unscathed and even the case was untouched. No scratch even!
Another problem with most cases is how there is dust buildup on the edges of the screen. the dbrand Grip case eliminates this problem because of its unique design. To know more about the technical details of the design and how they achieve this, check out their official product page.
Conclusion
I sure sound like a dbrand fanboy who is writing a sponsored review, but I’m not! This review is neither sponsored, nor am I a fanboy. I just felt that I should share my experience with these cases because personally I love them and even though they’re expensive, I felt they’re worth it. I live an active life where I move around a lot, I need good quality cases because I want my devices to be abuse-friendly and last me long. The dbrand Grip case for the AirPods and iPhone have solved this problem for me. Highly recommended! Here you go dbrand, take our “Editor’s Choice” award!
