| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Beautiful, premium-looking design | Camera control button doesn’t work |
| Reverse concave edges improve grip | Extremely low edges offer poor screen protection |
| Easy to pick up from flat surfaces | Slick back makes it slippery to hold |
| Strong corner-drop performance | Weak MagSafe strength (−18% below average) |
| Large port cutout | Back thickness varies with awkward recesses |
Our first reaction for the Nomad Sport Case was excitement. The case looks great, feels premium out of the box, and has one of the brightest designs we’ve seen this year. But as much as we wanted to like it, there’s a fatal flaw here that completely derails the experience.
How We Test
30+ drops per case | 6+ metrics recorded per impact | 100% independently tested
Our goal is to find out what cases are actually best for your iPhone. We don’t base our reviews on any of the marketing a company wants you to believe. We’re reviewers, not influencers.
Our case testing procedure for the iPhone 17’s:
- Buy the case ourselves
- Measure all the physical dimensions of the case:
- Weight
- Size
- Back rigidity
- Corner/Back Thickness
- Corner compression
- Rank the handling and access of the iPhone in the case
- Perform magnetic strength tests using a force meter
- Perform audio tests (if needed using a DB meter)
- Perform 30 corner, face and camera lump drop tests. This data is collected from the iPhone’s accelerometer and gyroscope. We’ve built custom drop rigs to ensure every drop almost identical. To gauge the iPhone’s protective abilities, we measure:
- Average peak deceleration
- Average decay rate
- Average impulse
- Average max rotation
- Average angular displacement
- Average settling time
- After we collect all the data, we then run it through or scoring formula to figure out how well the case ranks.
We’ve got a few more ideas to implement for the next round of iPhone’s including more data collection during drops as well as high speed camera photos of the initial impacts.
Design
| Metric | Value | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 50 g | 45 g |
| Added Case Thickness | 37% | 51% |
| Added Overlook Bulk | 47% | 66% |
This thing is vibrant. The colored back looks fantastic, though it’s extremely slick. The edges have a reverse bump that makes the phone easier to pick up, and that’s honestly one of the best parts of the design. But those edges are also extremely low, which means the retaining rim feels sharp against your fingers. Inside, there’s a bit of microfiber and there’s a recess at the bottom while the top shows the color panel poking through. The case top is very stiff, and once installed, the whole package adds 50g to your phone, slightly above the 47g average. Bulk-wise, it increases your phone’s overall footprint by 47%, which is pretty reasonable.
For something with the word “Sport” on it, the case isn’t that tough. The corners are 2.5mm thick, the same as the back, and the whole shell flexes a lot. It takes only 16N to bend the case 8mm, which is 43% below average. That flexibility shows up later in the drop tests.
Accessibility & Handling
| Metric | Value | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Grip | Reverse concave edge improves grip; otherwise slick | – |
| Buttons | Integrated; mixed finishes; camera control button does NOT work | – |
| MagSafe Strength | Pull 8.5 N / Push 7.6 N | 10.1 N |
In the hand, the reverse-concave edges help a lot. Without them, this case would handle like a wet bar of soap. The integrated buttons have mixed textures and the subtle texture change actually feels great. But here’s where everything falls apart: the camera control button doesn’t work. It doesn’t move. If you rely on that button, this is an instant dealbreaker. Screen access is excellent thanks to the low edges, and the port cutout fits even our fattest cable, though the cutout edges are a little sharp. For MagSafe, it took 8.5N to pull accessories off and 7.6N to push, which is 18% below average and noticeably weaker than what we prefer.
Protection
| Metric | Value | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Back Thickness | 2.5 mm | 2.4 mm |
| Corner Thickness | 2.5 mm | 2.9 mm |
| Air Pockets | Present | 10.1 N |
| Rigidity | 15.8 N | 29 N |
| Initial Impact | 7.422 G | 10.3 G |
| Rotation Rate | 180.00°/s | 300°/s |
| Time to Settle | 0.450 s | 0.53 s |
| Settling Rate | 0.288 s⁻¹ | 0.24 s⁻¹ |
| Total Force | 1.350 Ns | 1.5 Ns |
Corner drops were surprisingly solid. The iPhone recorded 7.4G’s, which is 27% below average. Rotation after the drop was also 31% below average, which is excellent, but the TPU bumper “rang” more than usual and took 26% longer to settle. Still, total force was about 7% lower than average, which is good. Face-first drops are an automatic fail. With edges this low, there’s barely any clearance for a phone with a screen protector. For the camera lump, it’s surrounded by polycarbonate with no TPU, so impacts hit harder. Initial impact was 17% higher than average, settling time was 22% longer, and total force was 12% higher. So while 3ft corner drops are fine, the follow-up landings—face-first or on the camera are where the Nomad Sport falls short.
Value
If the camera control button worked, we’d at least say this case has potential. The design is eye-catching, the handling is decent thanks to the reverse edge design, and the corner protection is actually strong. But the slick back, weak MagSafe performance, and inconsistent build choices don’t help the value story, and the button issue is too big to ignore.
Verdict
Would we buy this if we weren’t reviewers? No. A case needs to do the basics like having buttons that actually work. Even if the camera button were fixed, we’re still on the fence. It looks great and is easy to pick up, but it’s too slick, too flexible, and too compromised in real-world protection for us to recommend it.