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I have to admit that I have never owned a holster style case before. I may have been a little naive, but it is basically because whenever I looked at the pictures of them on the internet, I just could not bring myself to trust putting a phone that I paid hundreds of dollars for in it as I walked around on the sidewalk just waiting to take its best shot at my expensive phone as soon as it inevitably falls out of the clip.
So when I was asked to review the Seidio Rubberized Spring Clip Holster for the PPC 6800 ($29.95), I was very cautious in the beginning... for example, only using it over my carpeted areas at home. But even if it is only for this one specific clip holster, it did win my hard earned respect that I never imagined I would (or could) have for it.
Read on for the full review!
First Impressions and Physical Build
When I first opened the box, and held the Seidio clip holster in my hand, it did nothing to relieve my apprehension of trusting my phone in it... there just seems to be too much room and open space to easily fall out with. But I was able to immediately recognize the very solid build and all the little details that went into its design.
The clip has a very nice rubber coating around it that is durable, practical, and looks nice. As the picture at top shows, you are supposed to clip the phone into the case, screen down. So I was pleased to see a soft velvet type material on the inside of the case to protect my screen and face of the phone from any scratches. The body is sturdy and is all but impossible to break or bend, which is important when looking at the supporting arms at the bottom of the case that support and hold the phone when clipped in place.
The phone clip is where I knew most of my concern would lay and the one area that would have to be tested a great deal before I would begin to trust using this case outside of the house. The arm of the clip has the nice rubber coating and is very sturdy. There is no way I can see the arm breaking, unless that was your sole goal, while using a vice grip. The spring was the next item to look at, because if that goes it does not matter how strong the arm is. It was immediately apparent that is was strong yet still easy to use to release the phone when you needed to. Now just to see how snug it holds the phone... but that will have to wait a moment as we continue to explore the rest of the body of the clip.
The last item I looked at was the belt clip. I am a belt holster user vs a sticking the phone in my pocket user. I have had holsters in the past where I had to be careful because it can fall off my belt. I also am one who likes my holster on my belt to be horizontal vs vertical. Both of these possible concerns immediately became a non issue after examining the belt clip. You can rotate the clip to lock into 7 different positions so there are no worries of it actually swiveling around while wearing it. The spring is strong and will certainly stay in place on a belt. Holding true to form for this holster, they also paid attention to the detail by adding a lip at the end of the clip that is perfectly molded to fit around the bottom of a belt to help secure the belt clip that much more.
Physical Build: 
Fit Inside the Holster
Okay, now that I am impressed with the physical build of the Seidio clip holster for my PPC-6800, it means nothing if it does not hold the phone securely. This is so dependent on the design of the clip as well the source of my of fears for this style of clip due to any possible oversights in the design. I was first of amazed at how easy it was to put the phone in the holster one handed. Once in the holster there is zero wiggle room... the holster is undeniably perfectly modeled for this phone. The clip does hold the phone in place securely. It appeared very unlikely that the phone could accidentally fall out, but only time will tell on this point.
Seidio had certainly put a great deal of thought into the design of the shape of this holster. The clip at the top and the arms at the bottom along with the sides at the bottom, all hug and secure the phone while at the same time giving you access to everything on the phone. You can charge and Sync the phone in the case with any USB cable. You can have access to the infrared, SD card, reset, as well as all the buttons and jog wheel on the side. Except for the access to the USB port at the bottom, this does not mean much until I discovered that the phone can fit just as securely with the phone facing up as well as down. A bonus: putting the Mogul in teh case top-up means that the holster covers up the stylus, guaranteeing it won't fall out.
I looked and thought long and hard about any suggestions to the design, and I came up with nothing. Just please note that this holster was specially designed to fit an un-skinned PPC-6800. If you are looking to use Seidio's Slim Hard Case at the same time, it will not work with this holster. You will have to look at Seidio's Hard Case / Holster combo option instead.
So, it fit snug. The phone stayed in place. I had access to everything I needed while it was in the case. It is easy to put in and take out. Now... to try it out in the real world.
Design:
Fit In Case:
Real World Usage
Now I have to admit that I waited nearly 3 months before writing this review, because I was still afraid that I would find some real world issues using a clip style holster, and wanted to make sure I had a solid foundation of real world use to share. It is easy to slip in and out of the holster. The amazing thing is that I have become so impressed with its design, how well it holds the phone, and how easy it is to use on a daily basis, that it has now become my default holster that I use every day.
In three months of nearly exclusive use, my phone has never fallen out of the holster... and I did a lot of traveling during this time as well.
The only two things I did find is that you do have to be aware of what side you put the holster on with how you have the phone positioned on the swivel. Just make sure that the clip is facing the front of you, so if you bump into something that the clip will push against the phone keeping it in place vs pushing back on the clip with the possibility of releasing it. This is one of the main reasons why I think Seidio allows you to adjust to the swivel so that the holster can hold the phone either front first or bottom first when on the belt horizontally, so both right handed and left handed users can use this holster comfortable and securely.
The second is that if you are wearing a shirt, sweatshirt, or coat that hangs down below the belt, you just have to make sure that you don't accidentally clip it in with the phone. Again, this is not a major issue, but more rather a useful tip.
The spring for both the clip and the belt clip are still strong and have not appeared to have lost any of their spring in spite of constant use. The rubber coating shows very little sign of wear.The bottom line is that Seidio's Rubberized Spring Clip Holster for the PPC 6800 has not only impressed me, but has earned my trust to use on a daily basis with my very expensive phone that is the center of my professional life while I am on the road.
Daily Real World Use:
Ratings (5 out of 5)
Overall: |
If you want something a little cheaper, and can deal without the swivel, get a blackberry 7100 holster. It will be a little snug at first but will fit it quite well after a week or so.