It’s hard to find to find a case that features solid impact protection but doesn’t ruin your style. Unlike other impact protective cases for the iPhone 5 (and even for other phones), the Tech21 Special Ops Patrol is a case that we highly recommend for its proven features.
The Tech21 SOP isn’t just a case with rubber and hard plastic. The science and technology behind the material Tech21 uses is outstanding, but it doesn’t take a genius to understand how it works. Simply put, Tech21 uses D30 impact material, which technically absorbs and repels the impact created when you accidentally drop your device.
It’s all about the molecules inside the revolutionary D3O® Impact Material. In everyday use, the molecules flow freely, but upon shock or impact they lock together – absorbing the impact force and spreading the shock evenly across the surface of the material. That means your device stays in one piece, no matter how hard the impact!
[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rRs4dheImE[/youtube]
Unboxing
The Special Ops – Patrol Case is placed inside an attractive retail box. Opening the retail box isn’t too difficult as I only had to softly pry open the transparent hard plastic cover. I pulled the plastic nib out which eventually made me take out the paper inner cover from the neon-orange pedestal. Once the inner cover was out, I simply slided out the inner plastic container where the case is placed. I took out the case and removed the manual in it.
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Installing the case is a different case, pun intended. It wasn’t too easy as I thought, but I highly understood it as I was putting on a case that’s meant to protect my device and not the other way around. Don’t get me wrong though – it wasn’t too easy to install, but it wasn’t too difficult either.
Impressions
The case has 2 layers – 1 soft band inner layer where the D30 Impact Material is wrapped around and another layer (front and back covers) that encloses the inner layer. These layers add a bit of heft, but do not make our iPhone look bulky.
All the hard buttons and speakers are exposed well, making all these functionalities usable even if the phone is fully covered and protected. The rotation/mute switch and the sleep/wake button are quite hard to reach due to the slightly deep recesses on respective areas.
My son accidentally dropped my phone (from 2.5 feet) a day ago, but I didn’t see any dent on the case. More importantly, the phone is still intact and working in pristine condition.
Overall, this is a bang for your buck impact protection case. Sure, you can buy a more expensive case, but the Tech21 Special Ops Patrol case provides similar protection without spending too much. This case is available at all Beyond the Box retail stores for only PhP2,200.
[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBYxOOXaL_Y[/youtube]
Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.
