With the newly released iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus out in the wild you’re going to find new cases for them all over the place, and we’re going to be bringing you reviews of those cases as they come in to us. This time around we have the STM Harbour iPhone 6 Plus Case. STM makes a variety of cases for phones and tablets as well as laptop bags and other accessories. They have some very nice products, and we reviewed their Impulse laptop backpack not too long ago. So, on with the STM Harbour iPhone 6 case review.
Design
The Harbour case is made of a sturdy plastic that has very little give, giving the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus some rigidity making it less likely to bend. Our review unit came in Charcoal with blue accents. The case is what STM calls, “dockable”, which means the bottom portion of the case flips back to allow you to dock the phone without taking the case off. It’s an interesting concept and could work with docks that have a good clearance behind the phone or for accessories that need some bottom clearance. The flip-out dock bottom also can act as a stand for the phone, which works pretty well, but I only used it once to test it. The volume and power buttons are covered with the a softer rubbery plastic to allow you to manipulate the buttons properly. I found that the tactile response was a little harder than it should be, and had some issues with adjusting the volume. But, it’s probably something one will get used to once you have used the case for a little while.
Function
The flip out bottom for docking your iPhone is probably the most unique feature on this case. I don’t use docking accessories at all, so it was not used in my testing. That being said, the idea is good but I’m not sure it will work with all docks. The flip out bottom also acts as sort of a stand, another feature I didn’t use very often as I have a stand for my phones on my desk. It takes some work to flip the bottom portion out, which is good and bad. You don’t want it to flip out too easily and damage your phone but also don’t want to have to use too much force. All ports on this case are accessible and easy enough to deal with, and my third party Lightning cables did work.
But let’s get to the protection which is the main reason one buys a case for their phone. The Harbour is well designed and fairly rugged for a slim case. I would even say that as slim as this is, I feel that it provides better protection than other cases in its class. I felt very comfortable with the level of protection the Harbour offered. I even dropped the phone once on a hard tile floor and all was well. I reviewed a slim case a few weeks ago that offered great protection, and the STM is nearly as slim but is just a step above in protection than the other. 5 stars for overall protection for the Harbour. Well done STM on hitting the main reason people buy a case on the head.
Conclusion
The STM Harbour design is unique and funky. The flip out bottom meant to be a stand and to help docking accessories isn’t going to be something everyone will use, but it’s handy for those that might. The buttons’ tactile feel need improving as it takes some effort to push the power and volume buttons. But the slimness of this case and the level of protection it offers is a definite selling point. I’d recommend the Harbour on that strength. All the rest is personal preference and you’ll have to make that choice. I give the Harbour 4 out of 5 stars.
[rwp-review id=”0″]*We were sent a demo unit of the STM Harbour for the purpose of this review.
Last Updated on November 27, 2018.
