The eye-catching New York City-based Velvet Caviar sets itself apart from the iPhone case bundle by its looks alone.
That’s a feat in itself, as there are thousands of iPhone cases to choose from, all with hundreds of colors, designs, special features, and promises to keep your iPhone safe under all circumstances. And with the recently released sleek iPhone 13, case companies are picking up their game to keep up.
With its new line of iPhone 13 cases, Velvet Caviar continues to make a distinctive mark. Not only are the new cases as creatively stylish as ever, but they also offer the kind of everyday protection you’re looking for when you carry your new iPhone with you. Let’s take a closer look.
The specifications
Dimensions: 8.66 x 4.72 x .067 inches
Weight: 2.39 ounces, comparable to similar iPhone cases
In business: Since 2014
Designs: Created by New York City Artists
Designed for: iPhone 13 Professional Max only, with a 6.7-inch screen. It is not suitable with other phone models.
The basics
Design
Velvet Caviar iPhone Case 13 Pro Max The line has several dozen different designs to choose from. Even the monochromatic colors are distinctive, including the rarely seen neon shades of orange, blue, green, and purple.
But where Velvet Caviar shines is its graphic design and the great variety to suit the range of tastes.
You’ve probably never seen cases with names like “Evil Eyes,” “Black Wildflower,” and our favorite, “Galaxy Glitter,” a whirlpool that is part of space, the Northern Lights, and the art of environment.
But the real achievement here is that the designs and colors don’t seem “modern” and appealing to one age group.
Uniqueness
There is something for everyone here, and wherever we looked, we saw something we’d never seen before.
Butterflies are coming straight from Nationwide Geographic, whimsical ghosts, and geometric marble. Glitter and animal prints abound, as does humor, with cases emblazoned with the words “Don’t Contact Me” (as well as a meatier mouth variation).
We also like the creative variations on popular designs that we’ve seen elsewhere, like the black marble and rainbow leopard print, which is a good memory of Lisa Frank.
You don’t get a lot of extras that come with the case, but the case itself is the real star of Velvet Caviar. If you’re looking for add-ons, the company offers screen protectors, stickers, and chargers for a little extra cost (and they’re all great, too).
cost
For a well-designed case that shows your personality, Velvet Caviar is surprisingly affordable. Each costs $ 30, regardless of the graphic design, which is comparable (or even slightly less) than other trendy cases on the market today.
You often see iPhone cases incomparable style from big-name fashion brands that cost at least double that amount.
Additionally, the phone comes with a 1-year warranty that is rarely seen with iPhone 13 cases, especially the Professional Max. You get a full refund if you return it within 30 days.
Protection
Aside from style, the most important thing one looks for in a solid iPhone case is whether it is good, solid. Although not exactly the strongest case on the market, Velvet Caviar impresses with a slim case.
The company promises that each can withstand an 8-foot drop (tested), and several satisfied customers back the claim. Through what Velvet Caviar calls “Agency Flex” technology, it truly is shockproof, absorbing everyday shocks and distributing the shock effectively in large drops.
It protected our phone well during regular wear and tear, including common little drops. You won’t be able to submerge the case in a pool or anything like that, but it’s perfect for everyday phone scares.
For those looking for protection that works but isn’t boxy and bulky in their hands or pocket, Velvet Caviar offers and something else.
Quality
The case uses high-quality materials, which are comfortable to hold and provide the typically raised bezel edges to accommodate the camera and other buttons. Hug the screen comfortably and securely, which we especially appreciate.
As with some of the best iPhone cases, Velvet Caviar uses thermoplastic polyurethane, or TPU, which gives it a good mix of soft silicone where it should be and hard plastic materials where it should be.
The TPU makes the Velvet Caviar line even more protective with added padding, a definite advantage when you have a case with a glossy or graphic design. It’s easy to add accessories too, like a Pop Socket stand t or a ring.
Performance, battery life, and connectivity
To some extent, it feels a bit pointless to talk about performance on the latest iPhone model. It’s the iPhone 13 Pro; It has the latest and greatest A15 Bionic processor with 6GB of RAM, so of course, it’s going to be an improvement over what came before. You get several great storage options, including 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB, which the model I tested had. That’s a significant amount of storage, allowing you to download tons of apps and games and take lots of photos and videos. I didn’t even come close to filling it out during my tests.
I know I said the benchmarks didn’t make sense to run on the latest iPhone, but I ran them anyway, and the results (9below) confirmed the powerful capabilities of the phone. I was able to launch many apps and play demanding games like Genshin Impact and Asphalt 9. The iPhone 13 Pro will handle whatever you throw at it and more.
AnTuTu: 823,553
The iPhone 13 Pro is a battery king. Not as long as the Pro Max, but it still lasted more than a day. If you wanted to, it could take almost two days before you need to recharge. Much of this is due to the optimized power usage by combining the larger A15 Bionic processor and LTPO display with its variable refresh rate. The cell is also larger at 3,095 mAh than the 2,815 mAh battery that came with the iPhone 12 Pro. The result is hours more runtime with average use, even as a power user.
The iPhone 13 Pro is a battery king
As with all other iPhone 13 models, the Pro is MagSafe Compatible, supporting 20W fast wired charging, 15W MagSafe charging, and 7.5W Qi wireless charging.
Connectivity is as good as you’d expect, with support for 5G, Ultra-Wideband, sub-6GHz, and mmWave. I tested at T-Mobile in the New York metropolitan area, and while it did not meet the expected 5G speeds, the connectivity was pretty stable overall. The phone also supports dual-band Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.
Cameras and video
The iPhone 13 Pro and its older brother have the best camera array of the line. You get three 12-megapixel sensors: a 12MP wide-angle, a 12MP telephoto, and a 12MP ultrawide that can take 120-degree snapshots. This array of cameras translates into truly incredible photographic results. At launch, the camera app has to set its preferred filter. All photos were taken in standard mode for this review (and personal preference), which is more true to life.
All photos taken outdoors in the sunlight were excellent. Both standard and ultrawide cameras picked up a lot of accurate color and detail. The rich blue of the sky, the fluffy white clouds, the green grass, the reflections and ripples of the pond, and even the fine details of the individual branches of the trees all turned out very well.
It’s also remarkable how well the phone handled shots in direct sunlight. The blazing sun tends to be a big challenge for phones, even flagships. The iPhone 13 Pro handled it like a-dare I say-pro. Even when the sun was a fiery orb in the sky, it didn’t completely erase the photo or cast everything in the shade. There was some darkness in the image and some colors, especially mud in the treetops, but Apple’s software processing is clearly at play here, and it’s impressive to watch.
The detail on the ultrawide and telephoto lenses is also commendable.
The detail on the ultrawide and telephoto lenses is also commendable. While I did notice a bit of edge distortion at times when shooting telephotos, overall, it was found to be exceptionally clear and detailed. He’s also a champion at focusing on what’s most relevant in the photo, a fact we noted in our in-depth comparisons to the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, where the iPhone 13 Pro generally came out on top more often than not when I was trying to focus. At the same time, the Ultra won with a 10x optical zoom.
