$250 iPhone Case!? - Useless Tech Over $100
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2017-05-06
·
1,225 words · ~6 min read
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There are phone cases out there that offer rudimentary protection for your
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device from short drops and scratches in your pocket. Those cost a few bucks.
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There are phone cases out there that do that and look kind of cool. I'm partial
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to the ones that look like Gameboys or Nest controllers on the back. Those cost
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a few bucks more. Moving up in price, we've got ones with enhanced
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functionality, more durability, built-in card wallets, bottle openers, or
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multi-tools. You know, everyday stuff. But hold on a second, Lionus. I mean,
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sure, some of those cost over $100, but
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arguably that's useful stuff. Why is it in this segment? It's not. Today's
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featured product is the result of my effort to find the lowest utility to
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cost ratio iPhone case I possibly could on Amazon.ca. And so I present to you
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the shop ready luminosis handcrafted
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luxury bling Swarovski crystal sparkling full glitter rhinestones back snap-on
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protective hard case cover for iPhone 6s
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by PlayBling. A $250 iPhone case covered in crystals.
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Cooler Master's Mastercase Maker 5 features their free form modular system,
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allowing you to customize, adjust, and upgrade. Make it yours at the link in
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the video description. So, the price is unmistakably over $100. But how do you
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prove that something is useless or that
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it's a very poor value? In the case of the $1,000 HDMI cable from the last
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episode, which you can check out here, by the way, I reviewed the
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manufacturer's claims about the value of the product, like noticeably better
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sound and video quality, then tested it at very high data rates against a
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generic cable, and observed that there was not indeed any discernable or
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measurable difference. Easy. So, let's take the same approach here by finding
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the actual manufacturer's product page where the price is a still outlandish
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but at least significantly lower
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$235. So, they're apparently Swarovski
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crystals, which in case you were wondering means glass in the shape of
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crystals made by a company in Austria.
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Apparently, Eastern Europeans are good at glass crystal work. Who knew? Nothing
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to do with usefulness, though. Other benefits of this fine product include
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each crystal being 100% handset by a
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skilled craftsman. And if there are any women working on them, I'm throwing a
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fit. Just saying. That it contains over 1,000 crystals. And that the adhesive
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glue is Ross compliant. Well, I'm not much of a glue
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expert. Hey, get out. Get out of here. But I did manage to count the crystals,
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and there are indeed over a thousand of them. So, full marks there. Although
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none of that has anything to do with usefulness. Okay, it's presented in a
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premium gift set. This is a little debatable since the packaging is almost
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as horrible as the gigantic paper warning about never taking the case off
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once it's installed in case all the rhinestones start falling off. And
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finally, it is perfect for parties and balls. Again, I'm hardly a leading
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authority on party going, having never been invited to one. And my attempts to
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use it on my balls eclipsed all other failures I have ever broadcast on this
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show.
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So then, given that the manufacturer actually makes no claims whatsoever
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about the item's utility, I don't really have to prove that it's useless, I only
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have to prove that I can get something equally useless for less. Time for a
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field trip to the dollar store. Rock on. Wow, everything's a buck 25. Fishing
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supplies. Shockingly few jewels in the
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hair accessories department. This has promise. Still no jewels. A million hair
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bands and no jewels. Starting to lose hope. Damn, I overpaid for my case. Ooh,
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maybe these are Ooh, those are like gel. Arts and crafts aisle. Oh, we're
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close. I definitely got to have some of these. Rock on. I have painstakingly
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extracted all the hematite beads. Ooh,
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acrylic crystals. You have got to be kidding me. This looks easier. So, there
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we have it. Everything I need to recreate the functionality of this case
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for under $50 US.
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So, I need you to evaluate two things for me on a scale out of 10. Number one.
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Oh my god. Wow. Five out of 10. Five out of 10.
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Okay. I'll be right back. Six. I give it a one. I think this is like maybe worse.
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Seven out of 10. Seven out of 10. I'll give that like a like an eight. Yeah.
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Five and a half. Zero. So then here's the bottom line.
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For a fifth of the price and about 40 minutes, you can achieve the same goal
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of looking like a tool who is in your 20s or 30s and still wants to play
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princess dress up on the weekend. And you can do this without also looking
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like you have more money in your wallet than sense in your head. Because
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remember, there is expensive crap that
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you can buy if you just have money burning a hole in your pocket that
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actually retains its value. So maybe
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look into that so you can look like a baller without also looking like an
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tunnelbear.com/LTT linked in the video description. So, thanks for watching,
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guys. If this video sucked, you know what to do. But if you loved my DIY
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Blingtastic iPhone case, hit that like button, get subscribed, or even consider
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supporting us directly, buying a cool shirt like this one at the link in the video description, or by joining our
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community forum where you can ask questions, answer questions, and basically just talk tech all day if you
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are so inclined. Now that you're done doing all that stuff, you're probably
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wondering what to watch next. So, click that little button in the top right corner to check out our latest video
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over on Channel Super Fun.