‘PopCase Clear’ Review

When it comes to expressing ourselves with our phones, the cases we choose are our biggest way to say “This is who I am!” PopSockets, the maker of what is arguably the most popular phone grip in the world, has a long history with phone cases. While they haven’t always made them themselves, they’ve had a long-running partnership with OtterBox who made some fantastic cases over the years, featuring integrated PopGrips. Finally, the Colorado-based company decided that it was time for them to try their hand at making their own case and the results are quite impressive.

Design and Usability

My review unit was Spearmint Green for the iPhone 12/12 Pro. Immediately upon putting this case on my phone a few things stood out to me. The first was just how good this case felt in the hand. Unlike a lot of the OtterBox cases that you can buy with PopSocket integration, this case is incredibly thin, but is still rated for 10 foot drop protection, thanks to “shock-absorbing egg-crate impact geometry bumpers”.

The next thing that stood out to me was the color. The spearmint green of this case is translucent, but very vibrant. As soon as I put it on my device I was immediately taken back to the Jungle Green Nintendo 64 controller of my childhood. I know that’s a weird to memory to unlock from a phone case but it made me love the color of this case so much. While your core colors are going to be clears, the PopCase line is quite expansive now. There’s even a whole line of Winter and Christmas themed cases you can get.

My regular case that I use with my iPhone 12 Pro is Apple’s official leather case. The PopCase is larger than Apple’s in terms of height, width, and thickness, but only by millimeters. This means that the case feels sturdy enough to to protect your phone, but not to the point of feeling noticeably larger in day-to-day use. The case is also much more rigid than the leather case, though still has enough give to get the case on and off without too much of a struggle.

As for the actual plastic that the case is made of, it does have a certain level of slipperiness to it, though I can’t count that as a con during regular use due to the integrated PopGrip Slide. That’s the magic that makes this case tick.

While there isn’t actual MagSafe compatibility, the fact that you can slide the included PopGrip Slide down or off means that you can use wireless chargers (more on that below). It also means that you can slide the PopGrip all the way to the bottom to prop your phone up in a vertical orientation. This works rather well and I actually recorded a few Tik Toks with the device held up that way.

On the Lack of True MagSafe Compatibility

The only con that I found with this case was the lack of integrated MagSafe magnets. This was kind of a big deal for me, as it meant putting my PopWallet+ for MagSafe aside and returning to carrying an actual card case in my everyday life. This was a bit of a change for me as having my wallet always attached to my phone was super convenient, but the experience was still well-worth it. A bit harder to swallow was the fact that this meant I also couldn’t use this case in conjunction with my Anker Magnetic PowerCore 5k, which I’ve been known to pull out at work when I’m on the move but need a bit of juice.

The previously mentioned PopGrip Slide means that you can use this case with wireless charging (and theoretically Apple’s own MagSafe puck). Due to the slipperiness of the case material, though, I wouldn’t expect any magnetic puck charger to get a solid attachment to the phone. I’m embarrassed to admit that it took me longer than I’d have liked for me to realize the PopGrip Slide can slide off and my early attempts at wireless charging with my stand at work were rather humorous in hindsight.

Dan’s Note: Unfortunately this review was pieced together over a long period of time, due to some major personal life changes. It appears that in the time between receiving my review unit and finally getting this out into the world, PopSockets has released PopCase for MagSafe. Priced at $60 dollars, this case has integrated magnets for full MagSafe compatibility, including the entire PopGrip for MagSafe line.

In Conclusion

Overall, the PopCase Clear is something I’d recommend if you’re looking for a vibrant phone case that feels good in your hand. If you’re like me and rely heavily on MagSafe in your day-to-day life, I’d suggest paying the extra $10 for the MagSafe version. The non-MagSafe version is priced at $50.