LifeProof Nuud iPad Air Review

The LifeProof Nuud for the iPad Air is one of the very few cases that offers complete water and shock protection for your iPad Air and it does all of this without the use of a screen protector. Like all Nuud cases, you can keep the eau-natural feeling of the touchscreen while keeping the iPad Air safe.

In our LifeProof Nuud iPad Air review, we gave this case a score of 4.2 Eh’s out of 5. The best part of this case is the exceptional access to your iPad Air with the case installed. The worst part of this case is that it has no screen protection and will have a higher chance, in our opinion, of failing.
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[toggle title=”Design – A very functional, well designed case”] In terms of design, the Lifeproof Nuud is only 10mm thick weights only 208 g which doesn’t seem like much but it will double the thickness of your iPad as well as adding approx. 40% more weight. The entire case will add an extra 3/8 inch around the entire iPad.

Installing the case is fairly straightforward. Put the iPad Air into the back panel and snap the case together. Taking the case apart now is a breeze, especially with the unintsall tool that LifeProof includes. Pop it in one of the corners and turn. This tool, as simple as it is, makes a world of difference.

I’m always very surprised at how solid LifeProof cases are. Even the cheapest feeling LifeProof cases are quite tough and we know this because we’ve torn them down and stabbed them with kitchen knives. The Nuud is no different. The iPad case fits well together, there isn’t a single part of the case that I’m uncomfortable with in terms of build quality and subsequently, the level of protection it will provide.[/toggle]
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The lifeProof Nuud for the iPad Air is waterproof up to 6.6 ft for 1 hour and shockproof up to 4 ft and based on our tests, we have no reason to believe other wise. The case is made waterproof by the o-rings that run along the inside of the back panel as well as an o-ring that is glued to the front panel of the case. The headphone jack is made waterproof by a plug and the lightning port connector is covered by an orange gasket.

In terms of screen protection, well, there isn’t any. The main selling point of this case is that there is no screen protector so by default, it’s going to suffer from really bad screen protection. Now the only saving grace about the screen protection is that there is approx. 1/4 inch of clearance between the edge of the case and the iPad Air’s touchscreen.

LifeProof doesn’t include a screen protector for you to install, unlike the LifeProof Nuud for the iPhone 5S and you’d think they would given that this is a $130 dollar case. When you’re paying for a premium product, you’d think they’d throw in a few extras.

When it comes to installing a screen protector, there’s two lines of thought here. The first is that you can take it and install on the front without cutting it to fit as the case will snap together.

The second option, and that’s only if you wanted to ensure that the case stays waterproof and shockproof with a screen protector, I recommend cutting it to fit and that requires a bit of effort. If you are doing this, make sure that you cut the screen protector to fit around the home button. You don’t want to have anything between the case and the touchscreen or else it’s not going to be waterproof.
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[toggle title=”Functionality – Nothing like that au natural feeling of glass”] The functionality that the LifeProof Nuud for the iPad Air is exceptional but that’s to be expected since there’s no screen protector. There is nothing impeding accessing the buttons on your iPad, the hole for the Lightning port connector is large enough to accommodate 3rd party connectors and it’s the same for the hole at the top for the headphones. The sound coming from the iPad Air isn’t muted and the pictures taken by the iPad Air are generally pretty clear and the pictures through the optical glass doesn’t distort any of the photos

Screen Usability and Viewability are top notch. Again there, isn’t any screen protector so you’re touching the actual iPad screen. The front of the case is far enough from the touchable area that you’re not going to have any problem accessing the edges of the touch screen.[/toggle]
Click here for a comparison between the LifeProof Fre and the LifeProof Nuud case for the iPad Air? We’ve got you covered!