Draco HTC One aluminium bumper Review

The Draco aluminium bumper is a case you will either love or hate. It has a divisive car-body kit look to it that, at the very least, will make your phone stand out. The case provides a lay on the table design, allowing you to place your One facedown without worrying about it scratching. However the back of the case provides little or no protection, in fact the back of the phone will touch the table before the lip of the case. The case provides limited drop protection, the rigid aluminium frame taking some impact from falls. However the lack of protection on the back will likely result in some scratching to your phone should you drop it. Poor drop protection aside, and looking at the case you can tell that drop protection was not high on the designers list of priorities, the case provides some pretty solid protection against scratches and nicks. The most vulnerable parts of the One, at least in my experience, are the chamfered edges. The Draco bumper completely protects these edges; so long as you place the phone screen down onto tables etc. you can be safe in the knowledge that your phone won’t get scratched.

The quality of the bumper is, as you might expect from a £55 case, excellent. It feels expensive in the hand and the contours in the centre of the case are reassuringly ergonomic. The aluminium of the case compliments the aluminium of the One, resulting in a tactile experience that doesn’t ruin the expensive feel of its unibody design. There is a slight gap where the contoured back of the one meets the straight edge of the case and this gap did collect dust with use. If you buy this case expect to take it on and off once a week or so to clean it out.

Fitting the case requires you screw the two pieces of the case together with the provided screw driver. The process is relatively painless and should only take a minute or so. The screw driver is of a great quality and Draco provide you with two spare screws (you sue two at once to attach the case to the One.)

The smooth aluminium moves in and out of the pocket with ease and in the hand feels much less slippy than with a naked One. This case comes down to looks. It is not a cheap item and it provides less protection than I would like for a £55 case. That being said it is an eye catcher, I used it for a week and had people constantly asking me what my phone was, and even though I don’t love the design I don’t find it offensive.

This case is perfect fi you want a small amount of premium protection that screams for attention. Think of this case as a body kit for your phone, it’s all about the design.