On Jul 3rd I pre-ordered two dBrand skins for my OP5 and they arrived on Jul 6th. The two skins were the Mahogany wood (back and camera lens cover) and the Hyperblack Titanium (back with red camera lens cover and red 1+ logo). Even though I wanted to add the front Mahogany skins the fact that I've also ordered the Ozly tpsp screen protector made me realized I'd have issues whenever I needed to replace the screen cover.
Attached are pictures of both skins with accessories un-applied and the Mahogany skins applied including the camera lens cover. Notice that the two Mahogany skins have different wood patterns. Running your finger over each skin I realized that the Mahogany adds almost no additional grip to the slippery naked OP5 while the Hyperblack Titanium skin has more texture which I believed would add more grip. This is not to say that once applied the Mahogany skin did not reduce the overall slipper feel of a naked OP5, as it did. In the future I'll likely try the Hyperblack Titanium but right now I really like the Mahogany's overall look the best.
I still bought a cheap clear plastic case which is currently on a slow boat from China. I'll use it when I'm going someplace where accidents are more likely such as camping or a party. These skins are so thin that I don't anticipate putting the case on to be an issue.
This is the first time I've every bought or applied a skin as I've previously only gone with bumper cases. Over all I think the application went well but I certainly don't have the corner flaps applied as well as seen on dBrand's OP5 application video. Most definitely you need a hairdryer during application as I had a bubble under the skin and heating that section and the bubble's path to the outside saved having to peal the skin off to start again. It works much like you push bubbles out from a clear plastic screen protector. Getting the initial bottom alignment applied properly is the key to the rest of the application. Mess that up and you alignment issues multiply. Heating and stretching the skin is dangerous and only helps with the tiniest of misalignment.
The dBrands fit overall and specifically around the buttons is as perfect as a mass produced item can be. In conclusion, if you choose to use a skin you'd be hard pressed to find a brand with a more accurate fit.
P.S. For grip the Carbon Fiber would likely be your best bet but I thought it was butt ugly so went another way.
Edit: Added top, bottom, right and left side pictures.
Attached are pictures of both skins with accessories un-applied and the Mahogany skins applied including the camera lens cover. Notice that the two Mahogany skins have different wood patterns. Running your finger over each skin I realized that the Mahogany adds almost no additional grip to the slippery naked OP5 while the Hyperblack Titanium skin has more texture which I believed would add more grip. This is not to say that once applied the Mahogany skin did not reduce the overall slipper feel of a naked OP5, as it did. In the future I'll likely try the Hyperblack Titanium but right now I really like the Mahogany's overall look the best.
I still bought a cheap clear plastic case which is currently on a slow boat from China. I'll use it when I'm going someplace where accidents are more likely such as camping or a party. These skins are so thin that I don't anticipate putting the case on to be an issue.
This is the first time I've every bought or applied a skin as I've previously only gone with bumper cases. Over all I think the application went well but I certainly don't have the corner flaps applied as well as seen on dBrand's OP5 application video. Most definitely you need a hairdryer during application as I had a bubble under the skin and heating that section and the bubble's path to the outside saved having to peal the skin off to start again. It works much like you push bubbles out from a clear plastic screen protector. Getting the initial bottom alignment applied properly is the key to the rest of the application. Mess that up and you alignment issues multiply. Heating and stretching the skin is dangerous and only helps with the tiniest of misalignment.
The dBrands fit overall and specifically around the buttons is as perfect as a mass produced item can be. In conclusion, if you choose to use a skin you'd be hard pressed to find a brand with a more accurate fit.
P.S. For grip the Carbon Fiber would likely be your best bet but I thought it was butt ugly so went another way.
Edit: Added top, bottom, right and left side pictures.
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