The iPhone Duo hasn’t even reached customers yet, and dbrand already thinks it has solved one of foldable cases’ biggest problems. The company’s new iPhone Duo Grip Case uses a hinge with no moving parts, something you won’t find on most cases for Apple’s first foldable or for popular Android foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold 8.
Here’s the problem dbrand is trying to fix. Most iPhone Duo cases use a spring-loaded axle inside the hinge cover. Along with screws and steel plates, that’s what snaps the hinge cover shut when you close the phone. It’s basically a tiny door hinge with dozens of moving parts, sitting just a millimeter from the spine of a $2,000 phone.
Over time, those parts wear out. In the worst case, the spring can pop loose and scratch the hinge, something Pixel Fold owners have already run into.
How dbrand’s hinge works
dbrand says it spent the past year developing a patent-pending hinge for the Grip Case. Instead of springs and screws, the hinge is a single piece of elastic polymer that’s friction-welded to the back of the case. It opens with the phone, flexes back on its own, and magnets hold it shut. No springs, screws, or mechanical parts are anywhere near your phone.
dbrand tested it on a real iPhone Duo earlier this week, and the company says it works exactly as expected.
The biggest benefit is durability. With no moving parts, there’s nothing to loosen or break over time. It also has a couple of other perks. Because it has no screws or steel springs to house, dbrand says the Grip Case is much thinner than any other hinge-protecting case on the market. The back is also a clean, uninterrupted surface, without the clunky hinge barrels you see on many foldable cases.
There’s one compromise. The Grip Case still uses adhesive for the front piece. To be fair, even Apple’s first-party iPhone Duo case does.
The Grip Case is available now from dbrand, alongside its Prism case, and at Best Buy stores nationwide. That’s good timing, since the iPhone Duo starts arriving on Friday for anyone who pre-ordered.
If you’re spending $2,000 on a foldable, protecting the hinge should be a top priority. It’s the most fragile part of any foldable, and you don’t want your case to be the thing that damages it.
The post dbrand’s iPhone Duo Case Has a Hinge With No Moving Parts appeared first on Android Headlines.
