Noel Collection (incl. Mirror Protector) [ AP05-021 ]
I purchased one of these cases about 6-8 weeks ago. To the cases defense, its a sweet looking case that is pretty unique. After putting it on I noticed around 95% of the time I could not even get 1 bar of service at my residence. It was extremely frustrating to have No Service at home. I figured there was an ongoing issue with a tower near my location or something. I decided to take the case off yesterday to clean the phone at home, and not even 10 seconds after the case came off I went from No Service to 3/5 bars of service. I couldn't believe it I thought it was a fluke, so i went into my living room only to gain another bar and hold at 4/5 bars. Thats showing me the case was blocking between 60-80% of the phones reception. Now everywhere I go im seeing 4+ bars instead of the 1-2 i usually got from t-mobile with the case on.
On top of that the mirror screen protector that came with the case is junk, the quality of the mirror finish is so poor that a misplaced tap results in scratches from even someone's fingernails, and then the front of the phone looks horrible.
For the price of around $40 shipped, its a complete rip-off and knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have spent $15 on it when I could go get a cheap gel-skin (and I hate gel skins) and at least would know im going to get reception.
[/rant]
Hopefully this can help people narrow down their choices on what case they want to end up with.