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A handful of iPhone 8 Plus case mini-reviews

Across these years of plus-sized iPhones, I've never owned one. But with the release of the iPhone 8, I decided I really wanted the dual cameras, so I chose to get the Plus. I did a lot of pre-testing in the Apple Store—using an iPhone 7 Plus— before I ordered. The size seemed doable, but the phones were definitely slippery—except for jet black, which was nicely grippy.

So I knew I wanted a case (no jet black iPhone 8), but I also knew I didn't want to make the iPhone much larger than it already was. In advance of my phone's arrival, I did some shopping on Amazon, looking for relatively thin and inexpensive cases to test. I wound up ordering five…

It's important to note that none of these are specifically designed for the iPhone 8 Plus, though most mention that phone in their description. The size differences between the 7 Plus and the 8 Plus are minimal—the 8 Plus is .1mm both wider and thicker—aren't great, and with a couple noted exceptions, I had no size-related issues with these cases.

Total cost for all five was $65—not dirt cheap, but certainly well under the $40 to $80 you can spend for a single "nice" iPhone Plus-sized case. Given that I've had the phone for only a few days, what follows are not full-on case reviews, but some initial thoughts on each of the five…

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My iPhone 6 case of choice…or choice of case?

With my recent iPhone 6 purchase, at first I was contemplating no case at all. I was thinking I'd just put on a set of Bodyguardz clear skins and call it good.

But (to me, at least) the iPhone 6 is quite slippery—much more so than my iPhone 5. And given my history of dropping my iPhone 5 in some really bad spots, I decided a case was a good idea.

At the Apple Store, they had Apple's own leather and silicon cases, and some cases from an unknown (to me) company, Tech21. The Apple cases are nice, but they completely cover the gorgeous phone. So I tried one of the Tech21 cases, and came away impressed enough to buy one.

The cases in the Apple Store—the Evo Mesh for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus—aren't even on the Tech21 site yet. However, it's the same design as the Evo Mesh for iPhone 5s, just upsized. You can find the case listed on the Apple Store, though not the color I purchased (smoke with the protective edge bits in orange).

I like that the case is really thin and light, that I can still see the back of the iPhone, and that the important bits are all protected. I'm not sure about the effectiveness of Impactology, and I hope I never have to find out.

Even in the case, my iPhone 6 is slimmer than my iPhone 5 in its also-very-thin case, as seen in the image above—the iPhone 5 is the blue case in the background.

The Evo Mesh case is grippy soft plastic, making the phone easy to hold. It's not, however, so grippy that it won't slide in and out of pockets, which is good. The cover slips on easily, fully covers the volume and power buttons, and leaves the important ports uncovered. The top protrudes just slightly above the height of the phone, so I can set the phone face down without worry. The case is also just thick enough that the protruding camera lens no longer protrudes, which I love.

Overall, I'm impressed with this case. We'll see how it holds up over the next few months, but initial impressions are good.