I hope you like thick phones.
Wallet cases have been around for years as a way to abandon your standalone wallet and merge it into your phone. It's a novel idea and one that appeals to a lot of people, but most wallet cases are often too awkward to use in day-to-day use thanks to their fold-out designs that get in the way more often than not.
Thankfully, Spigen's got an accessory that it thinks can be a better alternative to these traditional options.
The Spigen Slim Armor Wallet Case for the Pixel 2 tries combining the best bits of a rugged and wallet case into one product, and while it's a great idea, it may not be for everyone. Let's take a closer look.
Spigen Pixel 2 Slim Armor Wallet Case
Price: $17.99
Bottom line: If you don't like traditional wallet cases, Spigen's option might be worth a look (so long as you don't mind a lot of extra bulk).
The Good
- Offers great protection
- Discrete holding area for your cards
- Buttons still feel good to press
The Bad
- Adds a lot of bulk
- Can only hold two cards
- Sliding door feels flimsy
- Scratches far too easily
Good use of space
Spigen Pixel 2 Slim Armor Wallet Case What I like
Even if the execution of the finer details may not be the best (more on that later), I love what Spigen's going for with this case.
At first glance, it looks like any regular rugged case. The first section of the dual-layer design is made up of a shock-absorbent TPU material that your Pixel 2 is encased in. This layer hugs the Pixel 2 like a glove and allows for Spigen's excellent Air Cushion Technology to protect against nasty drops.
This form factor is my favorite solution for wallet cases.
Along with that, there's another hard plastic layer over this that offers even more protection and houses the wallet portion of the case.
From a durability standpoint, Spigen did a great job with this one. All of the phone is enclosed in maximum protection, there's a lip that comes over the display to guard against scratches, and the rugged cutouts for the power and volume buttons feel fantastic.
When it comes time to pull out your card, simply slide the back portion of the case down and you've got easy access to all your plastic. There's a rubber bottom to keep your cards safe while being stowed away and pulling them out of the case is much easier than I was anticipating.
Hope you don't carry a lot of plastic
Spigen Pixel 2 Slim Armor Wallet Case What I don't like
The idea of combining a wallet section into the form factor of a regular case is a great concept, but here, not everything works out as well as I would have liked.
For starters, the actual wallet portion could use some work. You can only really fit two cards in the case at a time, and for most people, I'm assuming you've got more than two cards you like to carry with you at all times. I was able to cram three cards in the case at once, but at this point, the sliding door tends to get hung up and become more difficult to use.
Speaking of that door, I don't have a lot of hope for how well it'll hold up over a few months of solid use. It opens and closes without any issues, but it feels extremely flimsy and like it could pop off at any given moment. On a related note, I noticed numerous scratches all over the hard plastic after lying it on a table to grab photos for this review. For a case that's nearly $20, I'd expect greater cosmetic durability.
Lastly, this is probably one of the thickest cases I've ever used. I understand there's no real way to get around that considering the two-in-one design, but it makes the Pixel 2 comically thick. It's still manageable to use in one or two hands, but it certainly won't win any awards for its looks and comes with an awkwardly large opening for the fingerprint sensor.
Spigen Pixel 2 Slim Armor Wallet Case
The idea of replacing my wallet with a phone case is one I've considered a number of times, but having a case that I need to flip open to use my phone doesn't appeal to me in the slightest.
Spigen squashes that issue with its Slim Armor Wallet Case, and in my opinion, this form factor is better than what we've been used to with flip-open designs for so many years.
A lot was done right with this case between the excellent protection and discrete holding area for your cards, but it's unfortunately let down by a bulky design and wallet section that needs some more time on the drawing board.
With that said, if you've been looking for a Pixel 2 wallet case and haven't been impressed with what you've found so far, Spigen's case is still worth your consideration.
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