Ballistic SG Case for LG Nexus 5 - Retail Packaging - Black

I gave this case 4 stars. I would have given it 5 stars if not for it's one flaw, it imprints the back of my phone. I purchased this case about two weeks ago with the brand new nexus 5 my girlfriend bought for me. Just to be perfectly clear, this case is almost flawless. Ill start with pros and lead into cons.PROS:PROTECTION: This case comes with two layers of protection, a soft rubbery layer that absorbs shock very well, and a hard plastic outer shell that FURTHER protects the phone from hard impact. This case is a TANK, you won't be disappointed if you're buying this case for protection.FUNCTIONALITY: The cut outs for the phone are all aligned perfectly, I have had absolutely no problems accessing ports such as headphone jack, microusb input etc. Buttons are covered by the rubber section of the case but they are absolutely easy to click. I would argue it's easier to use my power and volume rockers with the case on.LOOKS: The case looks great in my opinion, and for the amount of protection you're getting, it's a great buy.CONS:IMPRINTS: The cases rubber piece fits very snug with your phone inside it. This is a good thing, but the texture of rubber on the inside can be described as... small hole-like patterns. After leaving this case on for a whole week, the case started to imprint onto my phones backing, leaving little circle patterns. These holes are difficult to remove from the phone. Using a damp napkin then a dry napkin will work with enough pressure. Depending on how long you leave this case on the imprints may become permanent.DUST/LINT: If dust and lint bother you, you might not like this case. Although the plastic piece does not attract dust/lint, the rubber part does... a lot.OVERALL: If you don't particularly care about the appearance of your phone and your sole purpose of buying a case is to protect your phone this is the case you want to buy. I on the other hand am very off put by the imprinting and a dust that the rubber piece catches. I have bought two other cases you may want to check out.RINGKE FUSION® Google Nexus 5 Case BumperCaseology LG Google Nexus 5 - Premium Distressed Leather Shock Absorbent TPU Bumper CaseThanks for reading!

You can find cheaper hybrid cases in this style, and they may even look decent and protect well, but they won't look quite as polished as this one. This type of hybrid case has silicone rubber inner layer that wraps around the sides and back of your device, and a separate hard plastic outer layer that snaps onto the silicone, effectively hugging the rubber layer and the phone to give a snug fit. This type of hybrid case also has extra rubber padding in the corners for better protection against drops.The Ballistic has smoother seams compared to a cheaper unbranded case in this style, and the Ballistic has slightly nicer hard plastic. The cheaper case's hard shell is also warped slightly, not sure if it was intentional, and it doesn't affect the protection, but it looks cheaper. The cheaper case, however, sticks the rubber corners out more than the hard plastic shell, so that if the device is laid on its back on a table, the cheaper case rests on the rubber corners, while the Ballistic rests on the hard plastic. That last point is probably my only issue w/ the Ballistic--the higher price otherwise feels justified if looks are very important.Normally I'm a TPU case guy, but if I could afford a few mm more thickness, I'd definitely go w/ a hybrid case in this style. I've also used Otterbox Defender style silicone rubber-only rugged cases and hard plastic shell "cases".

The second case I've tried for my Nexus 5 and I may stick with it. It's pretty weighty and the corner bumpers are substantial; I'm definitely confident in its protective properties.The first case I tried, Spigen Slim Armor, was nicer in most ways -- but it was extremely slippery. My phone fell out of my hand onto asphalt, out of my jacket pocket onto asphalt, and off of tables onto carpet twice in a mere two weeks. No damage, but I feel like a slippery case is a bad idea.On the Ballistic, the top and bottom sections are super grabby; it's not falling out of my pocket or off a table, that's for sure. The back plate has some texture but I wish it were a bit more soft and grippy. My old phone had a Body Glove case that was bulky and ugly but the texture was fantastic and it wasn't going to slip off of anything.I prefer the hard button covers on the Spigen to the soft ones on this, which stick out more than I'd like, but that's minor.Overall I'm not certain whether this will be my final case or I'll try something else. I expect on the off chance that I did drop it, I'd have to run over it with a truck to do any real damage.

After returning the Trident Aegis for Nexus 5 because the silicone was too stretchy and didn't fit flush with the outer shell, I was happy to find the Ballistic fits snugly and feels very solid and sturdy in the hand. It's a little more bulky than the Trident, but gives very good confidence in the protection of the case. I question a little the necessity of the raised rubberized backing on the phone. It gives a nice grip to the phone but adds another couple millimeters to the thickness that I think could have been accomplished by simply rubberizing or texturing the outer shell without the extra raised piece. I know its silly, but I would have liked to see some better colour options for the ballistic. I'm a bit tired of matte black phone cases, but the most important thing is protecting the phone and this seems to do a solid job. Another slight ding for not including a basic film screen protector in the package, which the Trident did include.All in all though it is a super solid case and I'm happy with it.

Ballistic makes far better cases that anyone else when it comes to protection, quality and durability. Otterbox is good in name only, but if you want a case that will really last and help your device last through pretty much anything (Zombie Apocalypse included) get a Ballistic. Seriously.

Probably saved my phone many times but it gets dirty real easily ! Not good for working in the dirt.

Perfect fit on my Nexus 5. Used this case over a year, and it's always kept my phone safe. I dig the bulky design; it feels solid and tough.

I had this case for my Nexus 5. I accidentally doped my phone face down it in the parking lot while picking up pizza, and then proceeded to back up over the phone with my 4Runner. Phone was fine, case got a few nicks in it but there was zero damage to the phone. The case also has a bit of a lip the sticks out above the screen to protect the screen

Great Product would buy again!