We all know that the HTC One is a beautiful device. To preserve that beauty, you most likely want a good case. The problem with most cases is that although they offer protection, they often cover up the beauty of the HTC One. If you’re like me, you probably want both adequate protection and the ability to show off your phone. After looking around for some time, I discovered a case called the Poetic Atmosphere. Could this be the case that you are looking for?
Price: MSRP $24.95, but you can get the Poetic Atmosphere for the HTC One on Amazon for less than that.
Design
When the Poetic Atmosphere first came out for the HTC One, it had a design flaw. Instead of having a cutout for the power button, the original case had a cover. The problem with this is that you couldn’t use the IR blaster to control your TV or other similar devices. If you don’t use the IR blaster it is a non-issue. However, to those of you that do, this would have been a big issue. Thankfully, Poetic Atmosphere recognized their mistake and updated their cases accordingly. If you previously purchased a “bad” case, the company sent the new updated case free of charge. The case I will be reviewing is the the updated version.
The Poetic Atmosphere is available in several colors including orange, purple, pink, gray, white, and blue. When deciding on a color, I couldn’t make up my mind between gray and orange. My conservative side wanted gray but my wilder side wanted orange. Since I couldn’t choose, I decided to purchase both.
The case is made out of a combination of PC and TPU. The transparent part of the case is made out of PC while the colored borders around the edges are made out of TPU dual injection. Although the case is transparent, it is not actually clear. Rather, it has a frosted look. When you put your phone in the case, the frost look actually accentuates the beauty of the HTC One. I also prefer this frost look versus clear cases because it does not attract finger smudges.
The back of the case has a small Poetic logo on the bottom right and it has cutouts for the power button, headphone jack, micro-USB port, microphone, flash, and camera. The volume rocker does not have a cutout. Instead, it has a cover that works particularly well. Usually cover buttons on the volume rocker feel very stiff. However, the one on this case works extremely well. In fact, I would probably say it’s the best I’ve seen so far.
Protection
The Poetic Atmosphere is the tightest fitting case I have ever see for the HTC One. Putting your phone on the case is not very difficult. Getting your phone out of the case is an entirely different matter. You have to use some technique and a bit of force to take your phone out. If you constantly take your phone out of your case, this might be too cumbersome for you.Add Media
Since the case is made out of durable PC materials, it offers adequate protection for your phone. As with most cases, the back of your phone will receive the most protection. The back of the case also has nodes on the back corners to prevent the case from excessive scratching. The nodes are created from TPU, which is the same material as the colored borders around the edges.
The front of the case has raised edges which will prevent your phone screen from being scratched if you lay it face down. The rubberized edges around the case feels good in your had and provides excellent grip. This case does not come with a screen protector so you might want to purchase one for maximum protection.
Use
Since this case is made out of PC and TPU, it is extremely light. It does not add unnecessary bulk or thickness to your phone. Holding your phone feels good in your hand. However, I should point out since the materials are mostly made out of PC, the case does not feel like a premium case when you hold it.
The cutouts work very well with the possible exception of the power button. I sometimes had difficulty pressing the power button when using this case. The cover for the volume rocker works extremely well and is not stiff like some other cases. This is important to me since I use my volume rocker a lot.
I’ve been mostly using the orange case for more than a week now and I am disappointed to see that the front edges are starting to turn black. I don’t use my phone other than normal use so this pretty surprising. Due to this fact, I would definitely not recommend the white case. I haven’t tested all of the colors but I would speculate that this might not be as noticeable on the blue or gray cases.
Final Verdict
Despite it’s flaws, I would still recommend the Poetic Atmosphere to others since you can get this case fairly cheap on Amazon. Keep in mind though that the case will not give your HTC One maximum protection. However, if you are looking for a case that will accentuate the beauty and slimness of your phone, then this case might be the one for you.
I purchased the white version on Amazon (quite a bit cheaper as stated) and was ok with the case until the leading edge of it started turning and odd yellowish brown color. Now knowing this I would also advise NOT to get the white one. While it matches the phone pretty well, the company needs to hear these comments so they can fix the issue. I did hear they were giving replacements for the non-cutout power button cases, they should probably do the same for these odd color issues with the soft rubber.
Thanks for sharing. It’s always good to have more than one opinion on these matters since we all use cases in different ways and we never have the opportunity to test out all the color options. Hopefully, the issue will be resolved.
I’ve been using the black version for about a month now. Pro’s are not having to worry about scratching the screen or camera lense when setting the phone down and the added grip to a fairly slippery device. Only issue I’ve had is the TPU that borders the display side of the phone has started to seperate from the PC on both of the top corners and the bottom left corner. Given that I paid less than $15 for the case I can’t complain too much and a little super glue has it fixed for the time being, but using a little better adhesive during production couldn’t hurt.
I purchased the gray/clear version and it is great.
Had it for a month and it is still preforming as new. Make sure you purchase one with the power button open because if you get the older one, the IR blaster will not function properly.
http://www.prestigegoods.com/shop/poetictm-atmosphere-cover-case-for-htc-one-m7-cleargray-new-updated-version/