Abitku isn’t exactly a household name. You can find it on various retailers throughout the web, but you can’t find their website. They’re on Amazon and (online only) Best Buy, and a few others. Their Facebook page just points to their Amazon store, and it’s much harder to find their Facebook page than any of the store links. One thing’s for certain, you shouldn’t just blindly trust this company.
So, I bought one spontaneously before the iPhone 12 even came out. I really wanted to see what the iPhone 12 would feel like in the hand. Due to deals with Apple, larger and more well-known brands don’t sell their new cases early. At most, they may offer them to reviewers. Still, I have Abitku’s silicone iPhone 12 mini case, and, while it’s not my favorite case or one I use often, I used it enough to form an opinion, and, as it turns out, a quick review.
So are you looking for a surprisingly well-fitted silicone iPhone 12 case on the cheap? I might just have an idea for you.
In This Article:
Specs
- Height: 136mm : Adds 4.39mm
- Width: 68.66mm : Adds 4.36mm, about 2mm/side, not very thin, but not bad
- Depth: 11.38mm : Adds 2.11mm, because Abitku just had to add a camera bump
- Weight: 25g
Protection 7.5/10
For the price I paid, I was not expecting this case to provide almost no protection. The silicone is thick, but I still didn’t trust it. Then I dropped it on my exercise bike. It hit metal, flung off, and hit the ground hard. I just stared at my phone, face down, and wondered how broken it could be.
Not at all. It wasn’t broken at all.
Not a scratch on it! Which is more than I can say for a review of an upcoming case (this is your reminder that I foolishly test with my own device).
The case is made up of some surprisingly thick silicone, and that’s impact absorbing. It’s a bit more cushioned than TPU, but the material still can help cushion impacts and spread the shock a little. That’s likely why it was the material Apple chose for their own case.
In fact, the case is very similar to Apple’s silicone case. This costs $10.99 compared to the $49.00 of Apple’s case, but still, it’s similar. There’s added protection around the camera area, and there are precise cutouts for each speaker hole. Unlike the camera protection, which comes up above the case to give the case a camera bump, the speaker holes are perfectly aligned. Someone at Apple leaked the schematics to Abitku, because it’s perfectly sized.
Another layer of protection is on the inside. Like Apple’s case, the inside is lined with microfiber. This fabric layer won’t save it from drops, but it will prevent dust from scratching your glass iPhone back if some dirt or dust gets in there. Hard cases, on the other hand, can scratch up your device.
Overall, it’s surprisingly more protective than you’d think.
Looks 5/10
This is a plain case, which may be what you’re looking for. The outside has no logos or distraction, just a seam around the top and bottom. Truth be told, it’s not a bad looking case, at least not at first glance. So why the mediocre rating? Because there are some weird issues with its appearance.
First, yes, this adds a camera bump. It’s not as big as the one Apple made, but there is a small bump. It does rock slightly on a flat surface. What a strange thing to add, especially since the silicone is thick enough to actually protect the cameras without an additional bump.
Secondly, the case doesn’t quite fit well around the buttons. It’s as though the designers didn’t make space for buttons on their case. The case gets a bit of a gap between your device and the edges of the case. This doesn’t accidentally press the buttons, fortunately, but it does stick out.
Finally, there’s the lint. The surface of this silicone is grippy, and incredibly so. It’s not just your hands that will remain on it though, it’s also lint. Stick it in the back pocket of some dark jeans and it’ll come out with dark specs of lint covering it. They’re hard to get off too. It looks bad and it’s likely something that will annoy you.
Other than that, it’s plain, but the “Neon Coral” color I picked up is certainly vibrant. It actually matches the color of Apple’s “red” iPhone surprisingly well. The case actually looks nice, when it’s not covered in lint.
Ease of Use 5/10
Apple’s silicone cases don’t gather lint. They’re smooth and slide in and out of a pocket much better than most silicone cases. This is not one of those silicone cases. Besides gathering lint, it can be difficult to get out of a pocket. The case is also thicker than you’d expect. This isn’t a thin case, and is actually thicker than the Nimble CD case, but thinner than those kind of “hardcore” cases.
Due to the difficulty of getting this case in and out of a pocket as well as its thickness, it’s not my favorite case to hold or use. However, the buttons do work very well. They retain clickiness and are easy to press.
The grip is nice. It’ll keep you from dropping your phone and protect it from sliding off of a table or the couch or bed that you’ve been using as an office and dining room because <gestures at everything>.
Size/Weight 7/10
This isn’t the thinnest case around, but it’s not too bad. The thicker silicone does add some heft, so if you’re looking for a lightweight case, this won’t be for you. However, it’s not quite at the thickness of cases like those from Urban Armor or Otterbox. It’s not a LifeProof everything-proof case. But it does add more bulk than I’d personally like. With silicone, that’s how you get protection. So, yes, it’s thicker than I’d like. That’s also why it likely didn’t break when I dropped it.
Sustainability 1.5/10
Technically, you can recycle silicone. You can grind it up, combine it with freshly poured silicone, and reshape it into something else. It’s not biodegradable and you can’t just toss it into a recycling container. You may find someone, like TerraCycle, who may be able to break it down for re-use. But at the end of the day, this case isn’t made of natural materials, it won’t break down, it’s not made of recycled materials, and it’s very difficult to recycle. I had to give it a 1.
Durability 6/10
This does feel like durable silicone. However, silicone can show scratches and wear from sharp falls. It can suffer punctures. However, that’s not why I lowered this case’s score. I’ve used this case the least out of my three iPhone 12 mini cases, and this case has shown the most wear. On the outside, it’s still looking good enough. However, on the inside, the soft liner is pulling away from the buttons. There it’s revealing that there’s a hard piece of plastic in between the volume buttons, which is poking through the silicone. I don’t think it’s damaging my iPhone, but there is the potential that it could over time.
Tiny pieces of plastic near the buttons, seemingly broken.
This was a cheap case. And, while silicone is a decent material that could protect it for some time, the other parts aren’t quite put together as well. Most of the case will stand up to time, but not all of it.
MagSafe Compatibility
I have three cases right now. None have MagSafe built-in. However, my Nimble case works with my MagSafe stand. My Abitku case does not. The back silicone is too thick for the magnets to work. Any angle close to being more upright will cause it to slide off my stand, and that’s with little rubber grips added to the stand to help these cases stick better.
MagSafe charging does work though. You can still use the MagSafe charger and just barely feel the magnets grip the position of your iPhone slightly. It’s far from perfect, but it’s something that helps you line up your device. You won’t be able to use this with any MagSafe accessories though. This wouldn’t even connect to a MagSafe accessory, it’s just too thick.
Value 7/10
The mute switch isn’t centered, but it’s still easy enough to use.
At $10.99, it is a cheap case. That’s $11 to save your case from a fall. Overall, that alone is a good value. However, I’ve used cases around this price, especially those from Spigen when on sale, that are just as protective if not more protective, and more durable. So, no, it’s not the best value case. However, for a silicone case that looks pretty good and can protect your phone from a few drops, it’s certainly well-priced.
Overall 6/10
It’s thick enough for protection, but that lint’s hard to miss.
I got this case because it was an iPhone 12 mini case, and I wanted to see if I’d like something the size of the iPhone 12 mini. Spoiler alert: I do. A lot. It’s one of the first cheap cases I’ve purchased in a while. Normally, I spend more for something that I know will last me the duration of my iPhone and provide adequate protection. However, this time, I went cheaper. Protection wasn’t my foremost thought. You can definitely tell this is a cheaper case upon close inspection. However, if you’re just seeing it in passing, it looks as high-quality as one of Apple’s cases.
The fitment, poor durability of the liner, lint magnet texture, and the fact that it has a camera bump were serious marks against it. I do hate that it doesn’t work well with MagSafe stands, but I understand that won’t be as important to everyone, so I don’t weight it as highly when considering the score. Still, that’s almost a dealbreaker for me. Finally, it’s hard for me to ignore the fact that it’s not recyclable.
For how much it costs, $10.99 as of this writing, the Abitku case will certainly keep your iPhone alive after a fall. And, really, that’s what you’re getting this for, right? A broken iPhone costs a lot more than a cheap, a little too-grippy iPhone 12 mini case. If you’re looking for an inexpensive alternative to Apple’s silicone case and don’t mind something that’s a little more grippy and may fall apart if you fiddle with it too much, the Abitku case may work for you. It’s certainly cheap enough to be worth the gamble. You just may want to take a wet cloth to it daily to clean off the lint. I’d rate the Abitku silicone case much lower if it was more than $15, but, fortunately, it’s not.