It’s long been a truism that if you feel like getting a new computer, but don’t really need to, you can alternatively swap out your keyboard and mouse and feel like you have a new device. In the cell phone space, the analog is clearly swapping out your case.

My current phone is an iPhone 14 Pro, going on two years of use. when I got this phone, I bought the usual Apple leather phone case I tend to choose, as they’ve always been reasonably protective, look good, and wear well. This particular phone has been wearing a black case since I got it. I’ve noticed a tendency for one bottom corner to slip out of these cases, and in one situation, I cracked the screen (I think it was an iPhone 12 but I can’t remember).

I wrote a while back about my preference for bumper cases. Apple hasn’t made one of these in ages, so third party bumper cases, if that’s your bag, are the only way to go. I did have a nice Rhino bumper case for my last phone, and which my younger son Aaron prefers for his phones; they are very well made and protective, but they add a lot of space around the device, and in order to protect the increasingly large camera bumps of modern devices, end up feeling like a giant ring of plastic around the borders of your device. So while I liked the Rhino, I wasn’t inclined to return to using one with my new phone immediately.

Anyway, back to my phone: the black Apple leather case I originally purchased for my phone has really gotten beat up (a testimony both the the wiseness of sheathing your phone, and the durability of the Apple leather cases). Add to the evident abuse and tendency of the case to let the front left corner slip out and I thought I’d do some research.

Apple doesn’t make the leather case anymore, and they don’t even offer it for older models; they’re just not available from Apple. I tried the clear plastic Magsafe variant, ordering directly from the Apple Store app on my phone while floating in the pool, and while I liked it, it had the unexpected effect of making it hard to tell whose phone is whose: Both Rhonda and Joe (my older son) both have the same case, and his iPhone 14 Pro is black, like mine. (Rhonda’s phone is the white/titanium version of the 15 Pro, which is easy to distinguish from the two black devices; Aaron has a purple 14 Pro, and it’s wrapped in the aforementioned bumper, so it’s easy to distinguish immediately). And another issue with the plastic case: it’s slippery. I tend to perch my phone on the sink counter when I’m brushing my teeth, and sometimes park it on other less flat surfaces, and it was prone to slipping. Like a lot. So after a week of not realizing the phone on the table was mine, and just liking to be a notch different from everyone else, I looked into an alternative.

So my phone is now comfortably sheathed in the appropriately named Caudabe Sheath. It is effectively the same design as the Apple case, covering the back of the iPhone and providing protective lips to keep the screen and camera lenses from being scratched. I like everything about the case: the color, called Ocean Blue, looks navy in some spaces, while it evinces an almost purplish color in direct sunlight. It has a great texture that not only looks good, but feels good and provides protection against slippage. The buttons have an officious click (unlike Apple’s plastic case, where I found the buttons mushy and sometimes not responsive).