Howdy Freeholders!

I’m back after a double-barrel fight with the flu and other seasonal illnesses that invaded the Freehold for the past two months (I just love schools…lovely little germ factories that they are).

I wanted to kick things off with a review. The good folks at Jison Case were looking for unbiased reviews for their iPhone cases and contacted me about doing a little write up for them. Disclaimer:  I was given the case in exchange for an unbiased and truthful review of the product.

Okay, with that out of the way, let’s get to it, shall we?

Jison Case for iPhone 6/6s
The Details:

molded genuine leather construction, rigid body
2 3/4” wide, a hair over 5 1/2” long, 3/8” deep
cut outs for the rear camera, mute rocker switch and the bottom is open for the speaker/charging port
raised bumps that cover the volume buttons and power button
arrives in a handsome box and packaged well, no hint of the case-in-a-bag here!

Fit and Finish

 

 

Here’s what the case looks like when you first open up the shipping package. A nice sturdy, simple box that feels really well constructed—that gave me a great first impression.

 

 

 

This case is a real surprise for me, coming from a long line of TPU “jelly” cases. I love the protection offered by those big thick plastic armor cases, but I can’t stand the bulk. So for me, slimmer is better. And this Jison case is slim! It’s about 3mm thick by my measurements, and that’s pretty darn slim. The leather looks really nice and the added layer of super thin suede-like material on the inside to protect the back of your phone is a nice touch.

 

The manufacturer did a fantastic job of making sure the cut outs for the camera and mute switch rocker are spot on and crisp. There’s no jagged edges and everything lines up perfectly. The fact that there’s no stitching in the entire case is also a plus in my book. This thing isn’t a baseball mit, after all.

 

There’s a pleasing grain to the case that feels great in the hand (more on that later) and a stamped logo that is discrete but still reminds you who made the case, located on the back down near where the speakers slot is.

How does it feel?

Just holding the case in your hand, it feels light—very light. So light, in fact, it might be about the same (if not less) than one of my ultra thin TPU cases. Folks, this thing is like a feather.

The phone snaps in pleasantly snug though, and there’s absolutely no chance of this case just falling off (despite the whole bottom essentially being open in one long cut out). The curved sides of the case grip the phone and are perfectly contoured to provide wrap around coverage. I have a tempered glass screen protector on my 6, so that sticks up over the edge of the case (like it does with all cases except those with thick, armored sides), but without that 2mm glass, the screen itself should not touch any flat surface if the phone was turned over—the lips around the edge of the case are just high enough to keep the glass from touching anything.

Despite being so light, once the phone is snapped in place, the case takes on a heft that is very pleasing. It doesn’t have the thin, light feeling that plastic cases provide, this—and maybe it’s just because it looks like and feels like leather—seems solid. Yet because the case itself is so light, the phone/case combo still feels pretty darn light. It’s a strange combination but…there it is.

The leather itself is rather slick feeling—I think that will change with use as it gets broken in and likely scuffed a bit, knowing my kids—so if you’re thinking it’ll be grippy like some of the cases out there, think again. That might be a problem, but I found I enjoy holding it so much I don’t worry about letting it slip out of my hand—the texture is just plain nice to feel.

 

 

Speaking of texture, it’s definitely a slight leather pattern that’s been imprinted on the case, and like I said, it’s not all that grippy, but it feels great in your hand.

How does it look?

With the phone installed, this thing looks sharp. Like, Apple quality sharp. At least to me—I’m sure there’s purists out there who will jump all over me for that statement, but it just looks good. And like all leather products, as it absorbs the oils from your skin, I’m sure it will darken as it ages (and who doesn’t love that aged leather look?).

 

The cut outs are precise and crisp. There is little to no wasted space—and unlike with most cases, the spot for the mute switch is neither too big nor too small. In short, the case looks like it was designed with the phone and not merely an add-on accessory. Which is awesome, because just about every case I’ve ever used had that stupid slot too small. As a guy with big hands, trying to cram the corner of a fingernail in there to hit the mute button was a pain. Due to the thin nature of the Jison case, though, it’s very easy, even for a galoot like me, to hit that switch whenever I want.

 

 

The cutout for the camera is likewise spot on. There’s no vignetting of images and does a good job of keeping the camera lens off any flat surface if the phone is put down on its back. Very nice looking.

 

 

The speaker cutout runs across the entire width of the case down by the charging port. I must admit when I first saw it, I was skeptical how well the phone would be able to stay installed—I mean it looks like the phone can just slide right out. But Jison has engineered this case to be so snug (yet not difficult to install or remove) that despite me vigorously shaking the phone up and down (over a nice soft bed) it never even budged, let alone slipped out. The cutout itself is plenty wide for the speakers and charging port and I assume in an emergency you could even slip a business card in there to keep for later…

How does it perform?

Now the real test. So we know it looks good and it feels good and it holds the phone really well and doesn’t take up too much space or weigh too much. How does the thing actually work? If the button cutouts and bumps are hard to use, the case is worthless in my opinion. Thankfully, that is not the “case” here.

 

First, the power button. I’ve had several cases on this phone where it’s downright difficult to wake the stupid thing because the power button bump (I have no idea what the technical name is for the little part of most cases that covers the button, so I call it a bump) is either too thick or too stiff to press easily. Not so with this Jison case. Once the phone is installed, I found with the normal pressure I always use to push the button, I can wake the phone or put it to sleep or take screenshots. Easy peasy.

 

What about the volume buttons? Same deal—the little contoured bumps that cover the buttons and are within a millimeter of the actual size of the button from what I can tell, work flawlessly and with just barely any more pressure than is required for the phone to work outside the case. That and the brilliant mute switch slot are well worth the price of admission in my opinion!

 

How does it hold up?

While I’m not set up to do hard core testing and durability experiments, I can give you some observations. First off, this case is not built like a tank, like some other cases out there. But the trade off is it doesn’t look like a tank either—or weigh as much as one in your pocket. That said, this is leather, not plastic, so there’s going to be a little more give than on a hardened case, and likely a little less give then on a soft jelly TPU case. It’s a nice middle ground compromise between protection, weight, and feel.

It doesn’t have the new-fangled air-cushioned bumpers that I see on a lot of cases coming out now—but on the plus side, it doesn’t have those hideous corners that stick out from the case either. Sure, it might not protect your phone as well as those ugly cases if you drop it on the corner from any height over a foot off the floor, but lets be honest, if you’re prone to dropping your phone, go buy one fo the tank cases. In the past two years, I have dropped this phone precisely three times—two of which weren’t my fault because one of my darling Mini-Freeholders knocked it out of my hand. I feel confident if I dropped this phone anywhere other than a marble floor or concrete, it’ll come out just fine (assuming the screen doen’t land on something like a rock!).

Price and where to find it:

So that’s all well and good, but where can you get your hands on one, and how much does it cost? Well, have no fear, muchachos, I’ve got all the details for ya. This fantastic case is $16.99 on Amazon. Yeah, less than $20 for a genuine leather case that in my opinion easily rivals the $45+ case from Apple itself. But for that $16.99 you can find a case that will fit the 6/6s, the 6/6s Plus, the 7/7s and the iPhone 8!

You can find the Jison leather iPhone 6/6s case on Amazon (of course), from Jison’s own website, and from AliExpress (this place is pretty cool, like the Amazon of the Orient…they’re not so influential in the US, but I can see that changing in the future).

Another disclaiminer—unlike a lot of other people out there who offer reviews, I’m not an affiliate for Amazon so I don’t make any money off this if you click through my site to Amazon. I just like the product and thought you might enjoy my thoughts on it.

But after poking around Amazona  bit, I discovered the iPhone 6 isn’t the only size they have available in this line of cases! You can also get it for the iPhone 6/6s Plus on Amazon. They also have versions available that fit the 7 or 8 on Amazon.

And not to leave out the new kids, you can even get the cases for the 7/7s Plus and 8 Plus on Amazon and on Jison’s website. This version is a little more expensive at $18.99 but hey, it’s also bigger.

Last but not least, to check out the version for the iPhone X, look here.

Parting Thoughts

I think this case is really something special—for the price, I don’t see you getting anything better anywhere with the same quality. I dug around Amazon and discovered there are black versions for some of the cases as well (note that all the links above are for the brown versions). For the price, you really can’t go wrong. So, there you have it! I have another review coming out soon regarding Jison’s version of an Apple Pencil holder that I’m pretty excited about too, so keep an eye out, folks!

Till then, as always, keep your heads down and your powder dry!