Matter of opinion. I think the design is fine and not ugly at all. But then, i dont care for all glass and heavy phones either.
Gorilla Glass, the solution to a problem that should have never existed. Finally we are starting to get back on track with plastics (polycarbonate), unibodies and even flexible screens.
My iPhone would last me from Monday until Friday night/Saturday morning before it got destroyed camping, hiking, hunting, biking, skiing, etc etc without some hideous case on it. I used to carry a dumb phone instead of my iPhone while living outside the office in something happened, now I just don't worry about it.
I have been enjoying the life proof case however. I'd highly recommend it to anyone that is active but has to keep a phone on them 24/7. Its completely waterproof so it works great kayaking / camping if you don't like / can't leave stuff at camp.
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In spite of our strongest instincts color is a purely subjective experiences governed by the context in which we see it. Am the ONLY person watching science channel right now? Lol