In our continued hands-on coverage of this year’s broad range of covers for Apple’s latest handsets, next up, we have the Incipio cru iPhone 15 cases. After the initial launch and landing in our roundup of the best iPhone 15 cases, the new 2023 Incipio collection has arrived with a completely new lineup known as “cru.” Featuring fresh new designs with various patterns and material inlays to choose from, we have now had enough time to put them to practice in real-life situations and weigh in accordingly. Head below for the latest entry in the Tested with gadgetnewsonline series.
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Hands-on with the new Incipio cru iPhone 15 cases
The Incipio cru iPhone 15 cases come in four flavors with varying inlays, referred to as black camo, navy camo, navy canvas, and brown faux leather. They carry a $49.99 MSRP and are available for as much on the brand’s official Amazon storefront.
Take a closer look at the specs:
- Show your style with leather, textile, or camo inlay
- Created with a co-mold, inlay textile and TPU construction
- Made with ultra responsive press-fit buttons
- Protect your screen and camera with intentionally raised edges
- Feel secure with industry leading drop protection
- Slim, form-fitting silhouette made with antimicrobial materials
- Wireless, 5G and MagSafe charging compatible
- Made with plastic-free recycled packaging
- Limited lifetime manufacturer’s warranty
gadgetnewsonline’ Take
Incipio’s new cru lineup comes in the form of a form-fitting antimicrobial TPU frame with one of the four aforementioned inlays set across the back of the case. The frame itself features a matte approach with a slightly malleable build and bendable feel – it’s not completely bendable, with the backside providing a more rigid and structured base, but it’s also not completely stiff.
The real bit of interest in these designs over your average, and usually much less pricey, TPU covers is the textile inlays here – the faux leather brown with a perforated dot grid pattern being a personal favorite here, but the navy treatments are also quite nice to my eyes. There’s also a nice and quite subtle debossed Incipio logo on the lower third that adds a nice touch of detail without completely distracting from the overall design.
Alongside adding the expected protective lip around your display and the camera array, the inside of the case features a nice soft liner. Once again, this is a design detail I have come to appreciate quite a lot over the last few years, especially in cases fetching anything in that $35 or $40 range. It’s not the most plushy of interiors, but there is a nice, soft microfiber-like treatment here to rest your iPhone 15 up against.
One thing I was slightly let down with on the cru case is the button covers. There’s nothing wrong with them, and they get the job done and tie in nicely with the overall design. However, well, they are just button covers – nothing special, no metal, and no real clicky feel to them. They’re just the same TPU found on the outer frame. They’re just fine. I have come to enjoy using them, but I sometimes expect a little more than straight plastic covers in this price range.
You might have noticed the Incipio cru falls into the category of Action Button-less covers. The brand has opted to omit a cap for the new Action Button and, instead, left a cutout to access the new multi-function control. It, too, works just fine, and the frame is thin enough that you don’t have to dig your finger in too deep to access it. However, I have been enjoying a cover on some of the other cases I have tested out this year. Again, it works and gets the job done; this is just something to be aware of.
There are a few things I’m not in love with on the Incipio cru iPhone 15 cases, but I was also pleasantly surprised with how much I ended up enjoying the design after unboxing them. I’m not typically a fan of those cases with the inlay style treatment on the back, but these are easily among the best examples of that I have tried. I have come to really appreciate the perforated faux brown leather and textured canvas models. If you like what you see from the imagery here and don’t mind some of the aforementioned caveats, you likely won’t be disappointed with a purchase.
Buy the Incipio cru iPhone 15 cases
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