- Jun 24, 2001
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A decade ago I had a soft pleather/leather skin on my iPhone 4 and I've never found anything quite like it since. I actually had two over the years: one that had an Apple logo cut-out and one that didn't, but I don't really care about seeing the Apple logo and think it's tacky when a fancy case has a window that only exists for the Apple logo. I only care that it is leather-like with a soft touch. Seems weird that there were at least two options back then and seemingly nothing now so I'm appealing to you guys in case you know where I can get one for my new iPhone 12 Pro Max. I get that they aren't particularly protective and I even broke the back glass on my iPhone 4 with one of those on it but soft leather is still MUCH better than a vinyl skin. The real reason my glass broke was because it fell off my motorcycle and got run over while in the Apple bumper case but at least the screen was fine.
I never got a leather case for my Xperia PLAY 4G or Galaxy Note II but I wasn't really looking.
When I switched to the Galaxy Note 3 in 2013 I liked the soft-touch plastic battery door that was made to look like leather with a texture and fake stitching, though I definitely preferred the pleather/leather I had on the iPhone 4. I didn't mind so much because the battery cover/door was removable/replaceable. I actually had a spare wireless charging battery cover that was a little thicker and didn't fit most cases but it fit a bumper case just fine. It was hard to find a good bumper case for that phone. I usually used a Spiken case I had modified to fit the larger wireless charging cover (removed the TPU under the hard shell, leaving a bumper of TPU).
With my iPhone 6 Plus and 6S Plus I realized that bumper cases were getting harder to find, partially because all the case manufacturers were calling anything with a clear back "bumper case." Again, I wanted mine to genuinely expose the back so that I could then put a leather or pleather skin on it, but I never actually found a leather/pleather skin despite there being more than one available for the iPhone 4/4S. I ended up settling for two Spigen bumper cases including a plastic one that broke on me and a metal one that looked great but impacted my signal (Neo Metal Hybrid EX or whatever). The plastic one broke at the part where they have a hole for accessing the ringer switch. It occurred to me that it would be very easy to reinforce that part in design by moving their "Spigen" tag on the back up to that part and extending the frame there instead of molding their logo out of TPU. Anyway, I also tried various "leather" skins but they were all hard and slippery... not leather/pleather at all (thin vinyl with no soft touch). Terrible feel. I used the 6 Plus and 6S Plus for 6 years (yes, really) and never found a soft-touch leather skin despite looking occasionally. What gives?!
I had the same issue with my Galaxy Note9 for the last year and a half but I had long given up. I figured that if they weren't making them for iPhones they definitely weren't making them for a Note9, so I just went with some Slim Armor Spigen hard case with a soft-touch plastic. I liked it. It kinda feels like a naked phone about as thick as my old naked Note II but with the rubberized soft-touch of the Note 3's fake leather. Funny that I keep ending up with Spigen since one of those leather/pleather iPhone 4 skins was from them too, but that makes it even more puzzling that no one makes them today. As I recall, the other one was just some cheap no-name eBay special... but I still liked it.
That brings me to today where I need to get a case on this new phone quick. I see some bumper cases from the likes of RhinoShield and others but they stupidly only put a lip on the back to protect the cameras and back glass. Like the Note9 with it's curved display and edge gestures, I get that they don't want anything on the sides of the screen, especially since Apple uses edge swipe gestures instead of a persistent back button, but how about a ridge along the top and bottom to keep the screen off the table/surface? That wouldn't look bad or interfere with edge swiping while greatly increasing protection.
I found material very much like what I'm looking for on motorcycle seat covers made from marine vinyl. I have access to some plotter cutting machines that I've never figured out how to use like SummaCut D60, Cricut Expression, Cricut Explore Air, and Silhouette Cameo 3, so maybe I should just find a roll of that automotive/marine stuff and cut something out myself. Surely, someone has already shared SVGs for all the major smartphones. Any idea where I can find them? Guess I also need to find where I can buy a self-adhesive roll or what adhesive can I use on that seat cover material.
Mostly wondering if anyone has any suggestions or knows of a company still making soft leather phone skins that I missed. Also, I find it hard to believe there are so few people looking for something like this that they would ignore the market, so I'd love to know if this is something others are missing as much as I am.
TL;DR:
Looking for a leather/pleather soft skin for the back of an iPhone 12 Pro Max like the ones that used to exist for the iPhone 4.
Also looking for a decent bumper case to pair with it.
Maybe I should make my own?
Have cutters. Need material/design.
Do others want the same thing?
I never got a leather case for my Xperia PLAY 4G or Galaxy Note II but I wasn't really looking.
When I switched to the Galaxy Note 3 in 2013 I liked the soft-touch plastic battery door that was made to look like leather with a texture and fake stitching, though I definitely preferred the pleather/leather I had on the iPhone 4. I didn't mind so much because the battery cover/door was removable/replaceable. I actually had a spare wireless charging battery cover that was a little thicker and didn't fit most cases but it fit a bumper case just fine. It was hard to find a good bumper case for that phone. I usually used a Spiken case I had modified to fit the larger wireless charging cover (removed the TPU under the hard shell, leaving a bumper of TPU).
With my iPhone 6 Plus and 6S Plus I realized that bumper cases were getting harder to find, partially because all the case manufacturers were calling anything with a clear back "bumper case." Again, I wanted mine to genuinely expose the back so that I could then put a leather or pleather skin on it, but I never actually found a leather/pleather skin despite there being more than one available for the iPhone 4/4S. I ended up settling for two Spigen bumper cases including a plastic one that broke on me and a metal one that looked great but impacted my signal (Neo Metal Hybrid EX or whatever). The plastic one broke at the part where they have a hole for accessing the ringer switch. It occurred to me that it would be very easy to reinforce that part in design by moving their "Spigen" tag on the back up to that part and extending the frame there instead of molding their logo out of TPU. Anyway, I also tried various "leather" skins but they were all hard and slippery... not leather/pleather at all (thin vinyl with no soft touch). Terrible feel. I used the 6 Plus and 6S Plus for 6 years (yes, really) and never found a soft-touch leather skin despite looking occasionally. What gives?!
I had the same issue with my Galaxy Note9 for the last year and a half but I had long given up. I figured that if they weren't making them for iPhones they definitely weren't making them for a Note9, so I just went with some Slim Armor Spigen hard case with a soft-touch plastic. I liked it. It kinda feels like a naked phone about as thick as my old naked Note II but with the rubberized soft-touch of the Note 3's fake leather. Funny that I keep ending up with Spigen since one of those leather/pleather iPhone 4 skins was from them too, but that makes it even more puzzling that no one makes them today. As I recall, the other one was just some cheap no-name eBay special... but I still liked it.
That brings me to today where I need to get a case on this new phone quick. I see some bumper cases from the likes of RhinoShield and others but they stupidly only put a lip on the back to protect the cameras and back glass. Like the Note9 with it's curved display and edge gestures, I get that they don't want anything on the sides of the screen, especially since Apple uses edge swipe gestures instead of a persistent back button, but how about a ridge along the top and bottom to keep the screen off the table/surface? That wouldn't look bad or interfere with edge swiping while greatly increasing protection.
I found material very much like what I'm looking for on motorcycle seat covers made from marine vinyl. I have access to some plotter cutting machines that I've never figured out how to use like SummaCut D60, Cricut Expression, Cricut Explore Air, and Silhouette Cameo 3, so maybe I should just find a roll of that automotive/marine stuff and cut something out myself. Surely, someone has already shared SVGs for all the major smartphones. Any idea where I can find them? Guess I also need to find where I can buy a self-adhesive roll or what adhesive can I use on that seat cover material.
Mostly wondering if anyone has any suggestions or knows of a company still making soft leather phone skins that I missed. Also, I find it hard to believe there are so few people looking for something like this that they would ignore the market, so I'd love to know if this is something others are missing as much as I am.
TL;DR:
Looking for a leather/pleather soft skin for the back of an iPhone 12 Pro Max like the ones that used to exist for the iPhone 4.
Also looking for a decent bumper case to pair with it.
Maybe I should make my own?
Have cutters. Need material/design.
Do others want the same thing?
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