Introduction
Following on from the Samsung LED View Cover review, I thought it would be wise to go back to basics and bring you a review for a case that doesn't offer any swanky tricks, but instead focuses on what is important, protection.
Where the LED View Cover didn't quite meet expectations, the Thin Fit does. Although this is all preferential, it's important, I feel, to experience both formats and make a decision from there.
This will be a review of my own personal case for the S7 Edge. An expensive upgrade as it is, I can't risk damaging the phone!
I purchased this for £1.99 ($2.80) from Amazon when it was initially announced. Spigen cases appear to often be on special offers for newly announced handsets it seems. The price has since gone up to £6.99 ($10), which is still very cheap for the quality on offer.
At the time of writing it seems like there are availability issues with some colours both on Amazon and through Spigen direct. Amazon have the mint and smooth black in stock, whereas Spigen have only the mint in stock. March 29 is the proposed Amazon stock date for the others.
Look and feel
The Thin Fit is one of the few cases for the S7 Edge that I have seen which attempts to blend with the styling of the Edge design of the phone. It's not invisible, no, but it is nearly seamless and feels like an extension of the handset rather than something snapped on.
Spigen have put some thought into how to tackle the issue of protecting the top and bottom edges. Typically TPU snap on cases like this attach via the corners of the phone, certainly in the case of the S7, Spigen's own Thin Fit does exactly that.
This leaves the top and bottom front edges exposed as shown above. The S7 Edge version changes this and protects the top and bottom while adding a few extra mm on the sides for improved grip due to the design of the edge display curve.
In turn, this leaves the front sides of the AMOLED screen exposed to potential damage in the event of a drop. There isn't any way around this sadly, because protecting this area would mean covering the edge curve making it unusable. Swings and roundabouts springs to mind.
The upshot of the top and bottom protection is that there's a small lip protecting the screen from scratches when placed face down, and because the sides are exposed, the Edge Display feature works as intended as shown in the photo above for incoming call notifications.
The surface of the Thin Fit is finished in a rubbery texture. The best way to describe it is like a dry bar of soap, which some will not like. At times it feels icky, but it does a decent job of improving grip.
As bad luck tends to follow me with these things, I managed to drop my S7 Edge one day. Attempting to put it into my jacket pocket resulted in missing the pocket and sliding onto carpark gravel. The corner of the Thin Fit took the first hit and a chunk of the case chipped away. The phone was unharmed however.
Whatever surface material Spigen have used has done its job here. While the case is damaged now, the phone remains unharmed and I can continue to use the case, or just buy another just because it's so cheap.
Conclusion
The Thin Fit seems to be an ideal balance of protection and design which doesn't take too much away from showing off the beautiful edge display of the Galaxy S7 Edge. It's priced at a level where if you break it, it's easily replaced without a moment's thought.
A range of colours are available in mint, smooth black, black and gun metal.
As much as I don't want to use a case on the S7 Edge, I will certainly be putting on the Thin Fit when out and about. Accidents happen when you least expect them to.
For the price this really is an excellent case. My experience above shows that protection for the S7 Edge is there, but it would have been nice to see some kind of edge screen protection option too for those that may not want to use that area of the screen all the time.
Needless to say, I'm happy to give the Thin Fit a solid 9, superb bang for buck.
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