New lifeproof nuud iPhone 5

[6thDAY]

Honestly, that was my first thought when I saw the back. Obviously I don't have any scratches yet, but it certainly seems like it might be prone to them. The plastic is similar to the clear back on the ipad nuud case, but the iphone nuud back seems slightly less soft and a sligtly more brittle. Not that I feel that it's brittle or likely to break... I'm just having a hard time coming up with a good word to describe it.

the design of the back of the case is really nice, but as mentioned, it does scratch easily and I already have one. I have no idea how.

i experienced the same crooked home button as you did, which annoys the hell out of my because i'm OCD

For a near $100 case, I want it perfect, so I'm gonna wait until my local BB has them in stock and inspect everyone to see if I can find a fairly straight home button.

Hopefully it falls within the 15 day return policy.

Then I'm gonna buy one of those cheap back screen protectors and cut it to shape and apply it to the back.

ON A SIDE NOTE: the sound quality of the Nuud, at least to me, appears to be somewhat diminished compared to the Fre.

I noticed the sound is not as loud on speaker on the Nuud as it was on the Free, and also on the earpiece. Its decent but not the same as the fre.

Anyone have 2 iphone 5's with the fre and nuud that they can test the sound quality side by side so I can verify I'm not insane?

 

[fishmd]

the design of the back of the case is really nice, but as mentioned, it does scratch easily and I already have one. I have no idea how.

i experienced the same crooked home button as you did, which annoys the hell out of my because i'm OCD

For a near $100 case, I want it perfect, so I'm gonna wait until my local BB has them in stock and inspect everyone to see if I can find a fairly straight home button.

Hopefully it falls within the 15 day return policy.

Then I'm gonna buy one of those cheap back screen protectors and cut it to shape and apply it to the back.

ON A SIDE NOTE: the sound quality of the Nuud, at least to me, appears to be somewhat diminished compared to the Fre.

I noticed the sound is not as loud on speaker on the Nuud as it was on the Free, and also on the earpiece. Its decent but not the same as the fre.

Anyone have 2 iphone 5's with the fre and nuud that they can test the sound quality side by side so I can verify I'm not insane?

Dude good luck with the sound comparisons. I went through 5 different fre cases looking for one that had an acceptable screen that wasn't too wavy (never found one by the way), and all of them seemed to have slight differences in the amount of sound output.

 

[BrettDS]

Then I'm gonna buy one of those cheap back screen protectors and cut it to shape and apply it to the back.

I think there are at least one or two companies out there that make skins for the lifeproof case. I would imagine that a skin for the Fre would also fit the nuud... and probably be easier than trying to trim one yourself.

ON A SIDE NOTE: the sound quality of the Nuud, at least to me, appears to be somewhat diminished compared to the Fre.

I noticed the sound is not as loud on speaker on the Nuud as it was on the Free, and also on the earpiece. Its decent but not the same as the fre.

Oddly enough, I was just thinking the opposite. My phone doesn't really make sounds much... if I listen to music I do it through bluetooth and when I talk on the phone I use a bluetooth headset, but I was just playing around with the nuud and I thought that both the speaker and the earpiece sounded better than the Fre. Like I said, though, I really don't listen to the phone much, so I'm probably not a good judge.

Brett

 

[awtryau89]

Dude good luck with the sound comparisons. I went through 5 different fre cases looking for one that had an acceptable screen that wasn't too wavy (never found one by the way), and all of them seemed to have slight differences in the amount of sound output.

This is one reason I am tempted to keep my Fre. I hit the jackpot with a very good screen protector. Its not wavy at all and has the least slicks I have seen on them. The sound is also good. I definitely noticed my Nuud was much quieter with my alerts and I had trouble with being heard on a phone call today. They said I kept breaking up so it may have been cell service but I don't think so. Even so, its tough to beat naked screen.

 

[bmac4]

Well I went into both my local BBs and it was a no go on both, but I am not too heart broken. After hearing some of your guys reviews I fell like it will be like my defender I had. The reason I say that is with in being built up around the sides of the screen all that crap will get stuck in the corners and hard to get out. On the defender you could take the case without much trouble, but this one you are not suppose to take the case off too much. I would prefer to not deal with that. I don't use a belt clip very much, so this would be an issue for me.

 

[imrwipemedown]

Well, thanks to BrettDS, I had my nuud case in my hands at 7.15e tonight!

Thank you again!

Got it installed after checking it all out, and the build quality seems to me MUCH better than lifeproof past cases, including the fre. The rear cover is nowhere near as bent or flimsy, and the front seal seems nice.

I love that the back is clear (well, smoke). I know it will probably scratch easily, but nowhere near as bad as the griffin survivor catalyst case does. Like others said, it is thicker than the fre. Also, the border around the screen does get bumped often, but I still touch what I need to on the screen. We will see how dirty the corners of it get where the gasket is. I also applied the scratch protector, and it went on perfectly. When off, it does have a slight rainbow effect making think that these are from otter box, my wife's commuter screen protector has the same effect. It is extremely hard to notice on this one though. It is not an issue.

The home button icon is BARELY crooked on mine, but what bothers me more about it is the looseness. It moves around and rattles, but oh well. The other thing is the charge port door, extremely hard to open.

The sound, like Brett said, is MUCH better on the Nuud. So loud on the earpiece, close to having nothing on the phone at all. The sound through the speakerphone/music speaker is good too. Not as good as without obviously, but still better than the fre. I will keep it for now and see how it turns out! I think this is a keeper!

 

[hockey17]

really loving the case so far. I was lucky enough that my best buy had about 6 white and about 12 black (I wanted white), so I got to pick out which had the best button. Mine is perfectly centered.

My one issue and I've never had a waterproof except the otterbox armor for about 2 hours, is after about 20 min out of the water, I made a phone call and the person said I sounded far away. I'm not sure if it is because the water is still sort of in cracks. If anyone can offer any suggestions that would be great.
When I opened the charging port they said they could hear me fine..

the build quality is really great and I really like the clear back!

 

[BrettDS]

My one issue and I've never had a waterproof except the otterbox armor for about 2 hours, is after about 20 min out of the water, I made a phone call and the person said I sounded far away. I'm not sure if it is because the water is still sort of in cracks. If anyone can offer any suggestions that would be great.

People have had some audio issues with the old lifeproof case and I'm hoping they have been resolved with this one. One thing that can cause this if the case has just been in water is that you can get a drop of water blocking the microphone. If you look at the bottom of the case the microphone is the small hole between the charge port and the headphone jack. When you take the phone out of the water put the phone an inch or two away from your mouth and blow hard into that hole. That should clear out any water in there and allow people to hear you.

 

[3rdiguy]

From these reviews, it looks like in going to buy that Frē rear piece to put with the nuud. Then I can have the easier to open lightning port and a smooth flat back. I really liked that part of the Frē. Glass screen protectors anyone?

 

[6thDAY]

People have had some audio issues with the old lifeproof case and I'm hoping they have been resolved with this one. One thing that can cause this if the case has just been in water is that you can get a drop of water blocking the microphone. If you look at the bottom of the case the microphone is the small hole between the charge port and the headphone jack. When you take the phone out of the water put the phone an inch or two away from your mouth and blow hard into that hole. That should clear out any water in there and allow people to hear you.

maybe yours and others' fre had audio issues, but my case had some good sound coming from the speaker and earpiece. Granted it becomes a bit grainy when the volume is turned all the way up but its still pretty good.

Compared it to the nuud, for my case, the sound definitely diminished a little.

And it sounds more grainy then the fre when the volume turned all the way up..

I'll just keep my white for now, and hopefully within the next couple of days, the black one will be released because that color seems to look really good on the nuud, not surprised its out of stock

 

[theautopilot]

Severe lack of photos in this thread.

 

[TC25]

Severe lack of photos in this thread.

Plenty on the Lifeproof site.

 

[BrettDS]

Severe lack of photos in this thread.

What do you want photos of? I thought everything was pretty well covered, but I can take more and post them if you want.

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From these reviews, it looks like in going to buy that Frē rear piece to put with the nuud. Then I can have the easier to open lightning port and a smooth flat back. I really liked that part of the Frē. Glass screen protectors anyone?

I'm not sure putting the Fre back on the nuud would make the charge port easier to open. Mine is a bit more difficult to open too, but as I recall my Fre case was the same way when I first got it. I think it gets easier after the case ages a bit. It's not like I struggle to open it or anything, and frankly, I wouldn't want a port that was too easy to open and could get accidentally opened in the water.

As far as a glass screen protector goes, I don't have one, so I haven't tried, but I certainly would be a bit wary to try... as others have stated, the tolerances are pretty tight on this case to keep it's waterproofness and I'd be concerned that it would cause problems with the seal.

Maybe the solution is to get one and cut it down to fit the exposed part of the screen after the case is put on like the lifeproof one. They're pretty thin glass, so I imagine they would be reasonably easy to cut.

 

[SMELTN]

So BestBuy's should be showing them in stock today. Anyone trying to get one today and find that stores DO have them?

I keep refreshing the BestBuy website but it shows them as not available at ALL locations still

 

[6thDAY]

What do you want photos of? I thought everything was pretty well covered, but I can take more and post them if you want.

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I'm not sure putting the Fre back on the nuud would make the charge port easier to open. Mine is a bit more difficult to open too, but as I recall my Fre case was the same way when I first got it. I think it gets easier after the case ages a bit. It's not like I struggle to open it or anything, and frankly, I wouldn't want a port that was too easy to open and could get accidentally opened in the water.

As far as a glass screen protector goes, I don't have one, so I haven't tried, but I certainly would be a bit wary to try... as others have stated, the tolerances are pretty tight on this case to keep it's waterproofness and I'd be concerned that it would cause problems with the seal.

Maybe the solution is to get one and cut it down to fit the exposed part of the screen after the case is put on like the lifeproof one. They're pretty thin glass, so I imagine they would be reasonably easy to cut.

don't think glass screen protector is strong enough to be cut. I think once a blade hits it, it's going to crack.

I would love to use a custom cut glass if I know it can be cut.

 

[clxa38]

Just got the nüüd. Pretty epic case. Way better than the frë in my opinion

 

[BrettDS]

don't think glass screen protector is strong enough to be cut. I think once a blade hits it, it's going to crack.

I would love to use a custom cut glass if I know it can be cut.

Yeah, I think you're right. I looked at the glass screen protectors a bit this morning and it looks like all of them (or at least all the good ones) are tempered glass... and tempered glass can't be cut.

 

[Wildwillis]

Thanks for everyone's input on the case so far - I'm looking forward to getting one and I'd all but given up on the waterproof cases after trying out the Fre (when it first came out), Armor, and Atlas.

Does anyone know for sure if Best Buy has another exclusivity period with the Nuud like they did initially with the Fre? I believe I can now get a Fre at a Verizon Wireless store with a 25% due to my employer (I'm sure many of you get the same). At $90 it'd be nice to utilize that discount but I don't think I'll have the patience to wait very long if Best Buy is the only retailer carrying them for a while...

 

[BrettDS]

OK, so I got annoyed enough with the belt clip that I ran out to best buy and bought a new one. I'll probably just give the new one that lifeproof sends to replace my old one to my wife.

Here are a couple of pics. The first one is showing what happened when I put the nuud case in my old belt clip... the clip just doesn't come down enough to hold the phone in. You can push it down and it gets a bit better, but it won't stay all the way down and it's easy to pull the phone out.

The second pic shows the two clips next to each other. The difference is at the bottom. The new one is on the right and the old on the left.

 

[BrettDS]

Well, hopefully you all aren't totally sick of seeing my name keep coming up, but the longer I have this case the more I like it

I did the 'standard' lifeproof water test last night... hold it down in a bowl of water for 30 minutes and it had no problems, but I was wondering how the seal around the screen would hold up swimming in a pool or taking the phone down a water slide.

So, I took my phone out and put the blue plastic test piece back in and filled up my bathtub with water. I spent the next 10 minutes or so playing around. I pushed the case back and forth through the water from one side of the tub to the other as quickly as I could... mostly with the screen opening facing forward, but at some other angles as well, including the bottom with the speaker and mic membranes forward as well. I also slapped it down into the water like you might if you were jumping into a pool or landing from being on a water slide. Again, I mostly tested with the screen opening facing toward the water, but I tested from other angles as well.

I really didn't hold back at all, slamming it into the water or pushing it through the water as hard as I could (and I wound up getting quite a bit of water on my clothes and on the bathroom floor as well, but sometimes you need to make sacrifices in the name of science)

After all that, I'm very happy to report that once I dried off the case and opened it I found that the plastic testing insert as well as the inside of the case was bone dry.

I did also discover that the seal around the screen is actually a double seal... It's kind of a U shaped thing with the two ends of the U pressed against the phone. In one spot on the side of the screen toward the middle there was one drop of water that made it past the first seal, but not past the second. Before I opened the case I could see where it looked like there might be a little bit of water behind the seal and I was a bit concerned, but I inspected that spot very carefully and everything on the inside of the case and on the plastic insert was completely dry around it.

After this test I'm definitely not afraid to bring my phone back into the pool with me in the nuud case.

 

[mrbunglez]

Not a fan of the included screen protector, its gotta sticky side which makes it really hard to align even with a lot of soapy water. And if you get fingerprints on the sticky side, game over. Might buy my own screen protector and use the included screen protector as a template to cut it to size or a little bigger so it covers the entire screen. Also put a glow decal for the home button cause it didn't look straight like every other pic out there.

 

[Fdxtech]

Just received my white nuud. Very impressed. Definitely better than the fre in my opinion. Love my retina screen with no plastic cover over it. The clear back shell looks industrial and sturdy. No complaints. Get off the fence if you are thinking about it.

 

[fishmd]

Wow. Picked up my case from local BB in black today. They got a truck load in last night (even the ones for the Samsung Galaxy S3 which aren't even on lifeproof's sight yet I think).

This case is outstanding! Sound is perfect. Like I can barely tell I have a case on the phone. Being able to touch the screen is incredible. No more puffiness with presses at all. I had forgotten how sensitive the iPhone screen really is to touch.

The only issue I can see with this case is the back plate being prone to scratches. It shouldn't be too bad though because there is a raised lip that will keep the back from resting directly on a surface, but it can still get scratched I am sure with putting it in and out of your pocket and such. This is such a minor thing though I really don't care that much.

The screen shield they give you looks to be of good quality. I have not put it on yet though. I wonder if LifeProof will begin to sell extra ones though cause I am sure this film will scratch eventually as well.

In regards to questions about swiping up or down to bring up command center or whatever it is called, it is not a problem, even with the lip of the case being raised around the edges of the screen. Works just fine.

In short, I can honestly say that I have never put a case on my phone and thought "I will not take this off." With this case though, that thought actually crossed my mind. LifeProof I think may have hit it out of the park with this one.

 

[TC25]

Given how good Gorilla Glass is, screen shields have outlived their usefulness. These days, they are more trouble than they are worth.

 

[imrwipemedown]

The screen protector applied 100% perfectly the first time for me, you are not supposed to use soapy water (it is a dry install type, stick on.) Yes, if you touch it then you will get a permanent fingerprint on the sticky side, but just hold it by the sides. It lined up great, and is a nice quality one. Can't even tell its there.

The more I use it, the more I like it also!

Brett, do you think that drop of water could have jumped from somewhere on the outside when you were taking it apart? Maybe not though since you said you dried it off completely before removing the blue piece. I have apple care plus, but I just hope this screen seal works perfectly lol.