Galaxy Note 10 accessory review

Winning combo

I dropped my S8 a few weeks ago and replaced it with a Note 10. That means the hunt was on for a case. I also wanted to have a cardholder and took the opportunity to try a PopSocket. The winner in this whole thing was Amazon followed by Best Buy.

I tried 3 clear cases. I wanted clear to be able to see the Aura Glow. With all the cases I could wirelessly charge or reverse charge. I don't really worry about that because I have the Samsung battery pack with wireless charging - unfortunately, it's not USB C PD but oh well.

The first was the Tech 21 pure clear fitted soft shell case. It had good drop protection but was very stiff feeling and quite bulky in hand. I returned it.

The second case was the Spigen Ultra Hybrid. I liked that it has air cushion technology. The lip at the top and bottom of the screen just seems like it would give an extra chance to not break the screen if the phone was dropped. It was pretty stiff but not too bulky but I found when I used it with a PopSocket I had difficulty using it one-handed; I just couldn't get a firm enough grip.

Finally, I got the Spigen Liquid Crystal case. I LOVE how this feels in hand. It doesn't add any bulk and has a nice give as you hold it. Unfortunately, it didn't feel like it would really protect the phone if it fell from any great height. The up swipes from the bottom of the screen (I'm using gestures instead of buttons) were less consistent as well.

Winner - Spigen Ultra Hybrid.

Since I really dislike carrying a bag and I have tap to pay on my phones, I thought a card sleeve would be nice to have I tried a soft cardholder and a hard cardholder with a ring attachment,

The Sinjimoru soft cardholder is nice because it has the flap that secures cards in the holder. It can hold many cards or even light jewelry. The flexibility of the sleeve doesn't make it ideal for attaching a Popsocket but it does stick.

The Rinke hard cardholder seems like it would be more fragile and fit fewer cards. It works great for my purposes and I like how secure the cards feel in the pocket. Even with stress on the ring the cards won't just fall out of the sleeve which is good. I don't like the translucent case because you can see what I'm carrying for cards and I don't have a cute insert to use...although I could make one.


Winner Rinke Slot Cardholder.

PopSocket vs Ring style holders. I know a lot of people like the versatility of the PopSocket (changing the Pop part) but it didn't work well for me as a stand. I also didn't find it supported the phone well for one-handed use. I like the ring on the Rinke a lot better. That said - I like the Spigen Ring better and will get a Rinke Jewel sleeve without the ring in the future so I can put Spigen Ring back into use.

Winner Ring style holder.

I used to do a lot more accessorizing with my phone getting decals, wallet cases and such. I've realized I really don't need that much to make my phone functional and secure for me. If you are new here, my plan was to keep my S8 until the S11 came out. Now it seems that the S11 will have 5G and non-5G versions so 5G isn't as widely adopted as it seemed it would be by 2020. I really like writing instead of swyping and battery life is awesome. I'll be happy to keep the Note 10 for several years.