Holster with top clip - scratches?

[Russ Huffman]

Yes, I'm an old guy and like my holsters rather than trying to stuff a large phone in my pocket. I also purchased a P4 XL (cyber Monday) because I like the clean Android phone without having to root, and early updates. For the discount price, I thought it was a good deal for what I wanted. It also gets amortized because my wife gets my P3, and my mother gets my P2 (and she NEEDED an update)

Now that the preliminaries are covered I'm looking for experience with holsters using a top clip. My previous P3 used a nice slip in holster that never let the phone loose unexpectedly, and wasn't hard to get out when I wanted it.

The problem is, there are currently very few options I could find for holsters. The only one where I like the protective cover comes with a top retaining clip. Here it is at Amazon. The problem is, I really dislike the case, and being a friction holster it's unlikely to work dependably with any other case. At best it would be a crap shoot.

So, is that top clip a problem or not? Assuming it's spring loaded, it looks to me like a guaranteed band of scratches down the face of the phone. Or am I just being paranoid?

I know it's not cool to use a holster, but hopefully someone has experience with these clips, or better search skills than I have.

TIA.

Russ

 

[Rukbat]

Try https://www.amazon.com/OtterBox-Def...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU6703682 I use it on a Pixel 2. (I wouldn't take the chance of driving over it, but it's about that tough. It doesn't need a case, it is a case - and a holster.)

 

[Russ Huffman]

Thanks for the suggestion.

I've had Otterbox in the past when I traveled a lot and had a rock crawler. Lots of pretty bad drops, so needed heavy duty protection.

But I no longer need a heavy duty protector, and prefer the feel/use of a bare phone. Since that's not at all practical with the fragile glass, I just want something that will protect it from a casual drop to tile/concrete when I forget I have it in my lap and stand up. Something like the Spigen Rough Armor is about as heavy as I would like to go, but in a holster to protect the screen. I carry too much other stuff (keys, knife, pill bottle, sometimes tools) in my pockets, and I don't like the odds for screen longevity if I go with a cover I like and pocket the phone.

 

[Russ Huffman]

Nobody has used a holster with top clip?

Not a P4 issue, so maybe I should post this out in one of the main forums? I put it here on the off chance someone had a holster to recommend, but the real question is generic.

 

[Russ Huffman]

I just asked for this to be moved from the P4 forum (thanks Rukbat!) because I've not seen any suggestions for a P4 holster, and I'm really more interested in the generic question about scratches from the top retaining clip shown in my first link. If scratches (or something else?) isn't a problem, then that one should suit me well, and also has the option of other thin covers should I not like the original.

Does anyone have experience with the top retaining clip holsters?

 

[Rukbat]

With the first one, the top clip is plastic, so it shouldn't scratch the case. (The clip might break off if you're rough with it.)

 

[Russ Huffman]

This is the one I'm worried about.

That top clip appears to be positioned so that, if not restrained while extracting the phone, it would scrape down the screen of the phone being removed from the holster. I'm a bit concerned that with dust and debris accumulation (motorcycle, off road trucks, working in the yard) it will damage the screen.

 

[Russ Huffman]

It wasn't much money, so I just ordered it to satisfy my curiosity. Turns out my concern was based on a faulty assumption. Every holster I've ever had has been a "slid in from the top". So basically the bottom forms some sort of open sided cup, and the phone goes down in that.

This top clip holster has no cup/receiver on the bottom, but rather a sort of fixed hook/lip/shelf thing. You set the phone on that lip, and rotate it intoward your waist pushing the locking clip up (ramp) until it clicks into place on the back of the phone to hold it in place.

So, no concerns about scratching the screen because it never passes by that clip. However, I can see it being quite easy to accidentally release should you bump that clip, much less hard enough to break it (it does seem rather robust). Either way, the phone is then going to go walkabout.

Just another assumption, but it seems less secure and definitely aesthetically clunkier looking (to me anyway). Not sure I will ever trust it enough to leave the phone in it while riding my motorcycle, particularly on back roads.

The upside is not having a dependency on a (almost lock-in) tight fitting case to provide the friction lock keeping the phone in the holster. So, within a reasonable range, it should work with other covers that aren't getting too bulky. I saw a post that indicated this particular holder works well with one of the Spigen thin cases at a minimum. But the reasonably thin soft rubber cover that comes with it seems acceptable for now, so I'll give it a week or more to grow on me. Maybe something I like better will appear given a bit more time. Or maybe I'll give in and become a pocket-phone person...

 

[Rukbat]

I wouldn't even trust an Otterbox on a bike off-road. A zipped jacket pocket. (With the zipper open in the up position and zipped in the down position.)

 

[Russ Huffman]

It would be a stretch to call it off-road. My bike is a DL-1000, which is called a "dual-sport". Basically a sport bike with taller suspension and more clearance. Spends most of its time on pavement. And adequate for dirt/fire roads, but not much worse. Still a good bit of jostling though. So on back roads when it's getting rough, it does go in a zipper pocket. However, on more sedate rides, it tends to be on my side.