Over the years we’ve had iPhones shrink in thickness, maybe get longer in another year, connectors have changed, and once in a while, we get a new button.
When Apple added the toggle to mute and unmute your phone, every case manufacturer had to come out with a new version that had a cutout so you could get your fingernail in there to toggle it on and off. Apple added the Action button last year to the Pro versions of the iPhone 15, which meant yet another case redesign.
But all models of iPhone 16 now include a new challenge: the Camera Control. Case manufacturers have different strategies to deal with this fancy new don’t call it a button button. Most third-party manufacturers have a large cutout of the case around the Camera Control, but the Apple and Apple-owned Beats took a different approach.
Instead of a cutaway, Apple/Beats designed their cases with a sapphire crystal coupled to a conductive layer to communicate finger movements to the Camera Control.
I was worried when I heard about Camera Control that a cutaway would be clumsy in some way, like the old cutaways for the mute switch. However, I swore off Apple cases years ago because they simply don’t last. I don’t mind trading out an iPhone case that I paid $15-20 for a couple of times a year, but at $50, I expect a case to last.
In my experience, the silicone cases start to peel on the corners about six months in, and even though Apple says they have a one-year warranty, when I tried to get mine replaced under warranty they refused. I had even brought the case in a few weeks before it peeled because it was getting sticky. They claimed they couldn’t feel it, but I’m telling you, it felt like my granddaughter had been playing with it after eating one of her peanut butter and jelly “dillas” (short for quesadillas.) Two weeks later it peeled right where it was sticky.
When Apple announced their $50 Beats case with the same sapphire crystal coupled to a conductive layer to communicate finger movements to the Camera Control, I thought maybe I’d give it a try. Plus it came in Sandy and my favorite color – sunset purple!
Steve decided to go a different route for different reasons. Apple’s silicone cases have too much friction for him to get the phone easily in and out of his pocket, so he doesn’t like them either. He was pretty happy with his $20 Spigen case on his iPhone 15 Pro so he went with them again.
He bought the $20 Spigen Ultra Hybrid MagFit case on Amazon. He buys everything he owns in black so that he can never find anything, so of course he bought the Spigen in black as well. The back of the case is translucent grey but since he bought a black phone, it still looks black.
Since his case has a cutaway for the Camera Control and mine has a sapphire crystal coupled to a conductive layer to communicate finger movements to Camera Control, and my Beats case was $50 while he spent $20, it might make a good comparison.
Both phones are compatible with MagSafe which is really important these days. I bring it up because the first Spigen case Steve bought did not have MagSafe, but they let him swap it out for the MagSafe version.
I know it bothers some people if a phone wobbles when you type on it sitting on a table.The Spigen case lies perfectly flat on a table which is really nice, but I’m afraid the Beats case does have a wobble to it.
The Spigen case has something odd – next to the cutout for Camera Control are two holes very close together in a little rounded rectangle. No clue what those are for. Maybe a very thin tether?
The Beats case has a completely open bottom for the USB-C connector and the mics, while the Spigen case has three cutaways. I like the open bottom a lot better for two reasons. With my iPhone 15 Pro case, I found that the cutout wasn’t big enough for some USB-C connectors. I’d plug the phone in but not realize that the connector hadn’t actually seated properly and wasn’t charging. With an open bottom that’s never an issue. The Spigen’s cutout for the USB-C connector looks pretty big so I doubt Steve will experience any problems with it.
The other advantage of the open bottom is that it’s a more pleasing experience to swipe up to get to the home page. It’s a small thing but I like it a lot better.
I mentioned that the Apple silicone cases are hard for Steve to pull out of his pocket, but that sure wouldn’t be an issue with the Beats case. It’s super slick. I love the feel of it but I’m not going to lie to you, this thing is slippery.
The bad news is that I dropped my brand new phone onto the concrete sidewalk from 3 feet up. It bounced on the corner and flipped over and off the curb. The good news is that I only got a very tiny scuff mark on the corner of the case and zero damage to the phone. I can testify that it did the main job it was designed for – it protected the phone.
For more than a year I’ve been using the Anker magnetic phone grip ring that Sandy reviewed for us and it’s kept me from dropping the phone, but I really wanted to see if I could go without it … on a much slippier case. I was wrong I guess.
Let’s talk about Camera Control access on the two cases.
The Spigen case leaves the ledge around the screen as it goes by the Camera Control, but is missing most of the ledge on the back. That’s a great design because it’s very easy to get your finger onto the Camera Control, especially since the cutout is a bit longer than the button itself. Since you’re interacting with the real button, it’s as responsive as it’s designed to be.
I word it that way because Camera Control really does take some getting used to. It’s very easy to take a picture when you don’t mean to. Getting the touch gestures into muscle memory is going to take some time too.
The sapphire crystal works well too. It’s just about flush with the side of the phone – actually just slightly indented so it’s reasonably easy to find with your finger. The bare iPhone is easier to find the button but it’s not that much harder and I think it feels nicer than the cutaway on the Spigen. But not enough nicer to say that the Beats accommodation of Camera Control is better than the Spigen.
I would have to say that Camera Control is just as easy (or just as hard) to use on both cases.
I had one thing I didn’t like on the Beats case that I wanted to mention. While the Action button on the left side has a distinct click to it, the side button on the right was pretty mushy. I use the side button often to put my phone to sleep and when on its side to go into the clock mode thingy. The button worked, but it was annoying that I couldn’t tell that I’d clicked it.
Then I had an idea – what if it was just a bad case? I posted on Mastodon asking if anyone else had the Beats case and how their side button felt. Barry Sullivan responded and told me that it clicked just as well as the Action button. Armed with this information, I trotted over to my local Apple Store, let the sales person push the two buttons and immediately say that it didn’t feel right. Tried on the demo case and it felt much better, so I walked out with a new, identical Sunset Purple Beats case. The funny part was that after doing the swap Apple’s system told him I owed $0.24 tax. I knew it was wrong (bought in the same county in the same area) but I paid the tax to get out of the store.
Bottom Line
We’re both happy with our decisions since we had vastly different criteria.
I love that the Beats is purple and is a bottomless case that lets me swipe up without distraction. I have good access to Camera Control and I love the slick feel of the case (though it does show fingerprints). It’s thin and light and even protects the phone in a fall. At $50, I sure hope it wears better than the silcone Apple cases.
Steve is delighted with the $20 price tag on his Spigen case. He likes the gripper feel, and he’s come to terms with the smokey grey look on the back. He find that it holds on really well to magnetic mounts which was another important feature for him. The cutaway for the Camera Control works great and has no sharp edges or anything to annoy his fingers.
Now if we can both figure out all of the gestures in Camera Control and commit them to muscle memory, we’ll be even happier.