The Ultimate Showcase of dBrand Skins

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In the search for ways to protect, accessorize, and personalize; a user has many options. One could choose a case, a “skin”, “armor”, or “wraps.” In fact, the global mobile accessory market is poised to reach a high of $62 Billion in 2017. dBrand is one of the more creative and friendly vinyl skin manufacturers around. In hopes of sharing what they can offer, our friends at dBrand sent us over some skins to have a look at. They offer their skins in six categories: Carbon Fiber, Matte, Metal, Leather, True Color, and Wood. Of course, the metal, wood, and leather aren’t actually made of their respective namesakes – they’re all made of vinyl. Even still, I was surprised by how distinctly different all the different types felt.

Since these skins were provided pre-applied, I can’t speak to the application process. dBrand does offer plenty of YouTube Tutorials for skin application. However, it’s quite surprising how well these skins adhere to the (notoriously rough) “sandstone” back of the OnePlus One. From forum posts and dBrand themselves, it seems like removing the skin from the OnePlus One should be easy enough as well – damage free & no residue.

Carbon Fiber:

Of all the different textures, this one may be the most unique. It certainly feels most like its namesake material. As you can see by the red skin below, it’s the one I chose to grace my OnePlus One with. It’s a bit more slippery than the stock sandstone back, but I think the looks (and scratch protection) make up for that. The carbon fiber option comes in four colors: blue, red, white, and black.

Matte:

dBrand’s “matte” finish comes in white or black. These are meant to be non-glossy simple black and white skins. This particular flavor of skin has excellent grip and tackiness and probably feels the most like the vinyl one might expect.

Metal:

The metal skins don’t actually feel very much like metal. However, they actually do a pretty good job of aping a metal back’s looks. The texture imprinted on the metal is a series of slightly uneven vertical lines. dBrand appears to be going for a “brushed” look and feel on this one. The metal skins comes in three identically textured varieties: black titanium, titanium, and gold.

Leather:

Leather is offered in black and white flavors. I prefer the subtle black option to the louder white. These backs could be taken for leather from a distance, and I think they’re as close to the real thing as vinyl could ever be. Of course, a leather backed Moto X or LG G4 with real leather will provide a more irregular and natural pattern, along with a warmth and softness that vinyl can’t replicate.

True Color:

If you want to add a vibrant splash of color to your device, this skin will do it. The colors look great and feel very similar to the matte option. Both the “True Color” and Matte options feel close to soft touch finish (like the Nexus 7 2013 & Nexus 5). True color is offered in: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.

Wood:

As you can see from below, these skins do a competent job of looking like wood, from afar. Of all the skins dBrand offers this variety winds up feeling the least like its label. Vinyl will likely never be able to mimic the porous and natural feel of wood: simply due to the material properties. In spite of the difference in feel, wood is definitely one of the most interesting skin choices. You can pick up a wood skin in either mahogany or zebra wood.

As a person who uses devices without cases almost 100% of the time, these skins have impressed me thoroughly with their choices here. It’s great to be able to change the look of a device almost completely for just a few bucks. Not only can a new gadget look cooler, but it will stay positively pristine underneath that faux-metal skin.

Check out some more photos of dBrand’s offerings in our gallery below.

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