At G Style, we are always on the lookout for new stylish products for our mobile devices. Being tech obsessed here, we are always striving to find the best looking cases for out devices while still offering a great protection. This is why often times you’ll see me with a different iPhone case every other week. I go through phases where one minute I want my iPhone to be sleek and minimalistic and the next, I need it to be protected like Ft. Knox. I actually don’t mind switching it up as I get bored of using the same case for too long.
Today I got a chance to try out the new Recline case from NXE. This is a company I had never heard of before but according to their literature, they’ve been around for a good 30 years with experience in design, development, and manufacturing making private label accessories for other companies.
The Recline case is a protective hard shell that snaps on to the back or your iPhone 4. It is a hard plastic with a matte soft touch coating on the outside. The inside is lined with feels like felt, which is something I have never seen done before with an iPhone case. The idea here is that it acts like a cushion for the iPhone in case of any drops. The main draw of the Recline however is that it has a built in kickstand feature on the back of the case. This allows you to stand your iPhone up horizontally for watching movies for instance or in portrait mode for video calling.
First off, the Recline is one snug case. It’s a hard snap on case that seems to be exactly fitted for the iPhone 4. You really need to apply some effort to get it in the case and snap it on but once it’s on, it’s almost impossible to take off. Rest assured that this isn’t a case that is just going to pop off if dropped or jarred. It took me a good 5 minutes of trial an error before I figured out how to properly take it off. Even then, it wasn’t an easy task.
The Recline does offer some pretty good rear protection and all the 4 corners of the iPhone 4 are protected. The openings for all the buttons and ports are large and make pressing buttons and connecting cables easy and effortless. The front protection is a different story however. The Recline clips to the metal band of the iPhone 4 so if you look at it from the side, it isn’t quite flush with the screen. If you lay your iPhone down on it’s screen, the case does not raise the screen up off the surface like most other cases do. That means that unless you’ve got a screen protector on your iPhone, you’ll be laying your phone directly on the glass screen. I personally never lay my iPhone face down so it’s not a huge problem for me but I know a few people out there that do.
How does the kickstand work? That’s the main question you’ll ask yourself before purchasing this case. The kickstand on the Recline is basically a solid strip of plastic that you pull out from the back of the case. It is attached by a hinge that clicks at different positions. I would say the 2 positions are at 60 degrees and 90 degrees. Both of these positions can be used for horizontal viewing while only the 60 degree position can be used for vertical viewing. The kickstand itself is fairly thick and rigid and the hinge is attached with a metal stick so it should be fairly durable. When used horizontally, the kickstand is pretty solid with the iPhone. When used vertically, not so much. The kickstand has to be in just the right position or more than likely, your iPhone will tip over. It’s a balancing act, but not one I would like to do every time.
The Recline is a decent case if you are looking for something thin and has a kickstand built in. It has a few little quirks, but in the end, it does what it says it does. However, if you are looking for a case that will offer full body protection, I’d probably look elsewhere.
Positives
- Very hard plastic, soft touch coating
- Kickstand for upright viewing
- Snug fit so the case will not fall off accidentally
- Good rear protection
- Felt lining for cushioning
- Easy access to all ports and buttons
Negatives
- Front protection is non-existent
- Kickstand doesn’t work well vertically
The Recline is available now from NXE’s website for $29.99. It only comes in black, but can be had with either a black, red, or pink kickstand. As far as I know, it’s one of the few kickstand cases on the market for the iPhone 4 right now.
