Ballistic Case with Black Holster for BlackBerry Torch 9800 - 1 Pack - Retail Packaging - GRT Shell, Endo, Black/Gray with Black Holster

I rarely write positive reviews, most of my reviews are negative, and its because I'm upset about something I bought, where the product either turns out to be cr*p, or the seller doesn't want to honor the warranty, or something along these reasons.In this case, however, I'm compelled to write a very positive review for something very rare these days; a very well designed product with real Engineering and proper manufacturing behind it.I am a 38 y.o. electrical Engineer by trade, and I also deal with electrical and electronic products used in Power Utilities, which also contain a lot of high performance mechanical parts, so I KNOW A WELL ENGINEERED PRODUCT WHEN I SEE ONE!More often than not, companies employ design engineers, who try to design best technical solutions. In many cases, Managers in such companies forego engineer's recommendations/original designs, and end up cutting corners for the sake of profits, or just design and produce mediocre product for luck of imagination, or shortage of real professionals among their staff.In this case, however, I can see the thought process that went into this product, and the ability of Engineering management to stay out of Engineer's way to design and manufacture a very good product.I've read almost all of the reviews for almost all of the cases I've considered for BB9810. My previous Blackberry was 8520, which was also my first Blackberry, and my first smart phone. It served me very well for two years. The case I bought for it was Otterbox Commuter, which comes with silicone skin and an outer hard plastic shell. The Otterbox case in short was awesome.So when I got the new 9810 the first case I've considered was Otterbox Commuter case. After reading reviews for it, however, I realized that in the case of BB9810 Otterbox (and most other case manufacturers) did not come up with a good way to design the good case.The problem is with a sliding screen. Otterbox, as most other companies, went the conventional way, that is the portion of the case which protects the sliding screen attaches to the screen itself by several thin plastic tabs. These tabs are not designed to withstand any significant stress, so when the phone is dropped, they break off, which is the end of that case.AGF, the manufacturer of this case, went the other way. Instead of designing the case consisting of two parts, which attach to the phone, they designed the case consisting of two parts which attach to each other, and sandwich the phone in between them. To accomplish that AGF has designed their own sliding mechanism for two halves of the case. They also understood, that the sliding mechanism of the phone is spring loaded and is designed to be toggled in two positions: open and closed. The sliding mechanism of the case must have very little or no friction, so as not to interfere with the sliding mechanism of the phone. Otherwise, the screen would often be stuck in partially open or closed positions.AGF has also designed both halves of the case from a sandwich of two different materials; the inner glossy black and the outer gray matte plastics. My best guess is that the reasons they did that is one - cosmetic, the case looks a lot better from two contrasting shades of plastic, and two - better protection, as the outer gray plastic appears to be very resistant to all kinds of scratches and scuffs, while the inner black plastic appears to be very flexible.AGF has invested substantially in the design of the sliding mechanism, and they also understood that it is the biggest advantage of the case, as there is "PATENT PENDING" disclaimer right on the sliding mechanism itself.Very well done, AGF.I paid $27 for the case, and I can say its worth the money.

This is actually the first review I have ever written, however, given the amount of time I searched for the right durable case for my Blackberry Torch 9810, I thought others might be spending the same long searches and this might help a bit. I purchased the case in September 2011 and so have now used it for about 6 months. Overall I think it is great! I have dropped the phone several times (of course not intentionally) and it has saved it every time (two of the drops were from about waist/chest high with one on a wood floor and one on a tile floor--I don't remember the exact circumstances of the other 1-2 times). In the two instances where I remember them clearly, the case separated due to the force of the fall (the front "faceplate" came off). As it is very easy (once you figure out how to do it) to take the front faceplate on/off, the separation wasn't an issue for me as I care more about the fact that my Blackberry didn't shatter into a million pieces. On a side note, it is actually important to be able to easily take the faceplate on/off so that when your Blackberry freezes up (mine does every few weeks) you can take the battery out to do a hard restart. I have found that the easiest way to take off the faceplate is to slide open the Torch (so you can see the keyboard) and then simultaneously push "out" on the lower half of the case (right below the lower corner of the faceplate) while gently pulling up on the lower corner of the faceplate (the part that is right above the keyboard). The "holster" reminds me of the plastic holster that came with my old blackberry 7800. Front and back of the case is made out of some kind of a hard, yet somewhat rubbery, material (seems very solid/durable). The holster is made out of normal hard plastic like my old Blackberry 7800 holster. Although I wouldn't have expected anything else, I do like the "ridge" that runs around the screen (so that if I drop my Blackberry screen down it has a much lower chance of breaking the screen). The holster also has a magnet to activate the Blackberry holster sleep function.My cons with the case are that when it is in the holster you can't see who is calling, however, that was the same with my old Blackberry 7800. Not saying I have a solution (or that there even needs to be one), just pointing out something that may be an issue for other people (it isn't for me). Also the bottom "lip" of the faceplate does "extend" the upper "slider" portion of the Torch. I haven't found it to interfere with my typing (would only be the upper row of letters anyway), but I would suggest as a design improvement, to not have it make the upper slider extend, as it does make it slightly more difficult to type on the upper row (it bugged me for about the first week and now I am used to it). I understand that having it extend makes it close with a nice clean seam, but I think function here would be better than form. Is it a suit of armor and indestructible?--No. However, do I think it is a good balance of protection/weight/size/usability--Yes! In the most important, "would you buy it again" category, the answer is ABSOLUTELY YES!