Preface
I wanted to start this review off with a preface because this is not my first Mous Limitless. I pre-ordered one for my iPhone 7 Plus in February. I really like it, except the sides clicked when you pressed them in. I tweeted to a YouTuber about it as he had done reviews on multiple prototypes of the Mous Limitless. Mous then contacted me and asked me to send it back to them. I hesitated for a couple days before sending it back. That was a bad decision. After about a month I emailed them and asked if they had an update of some kind, they asked about my original order and never said anything about the RMA. A couple weeks later I asked again and got the same treatment. A couple weeks after that I received no response. I went to Twitter again and got in touch with a different person from Mous and went through the same situation again. The third time I went to Twitter a couple months ago, I talked to another person again. This person apologized for my previous experience, refunded my money, and said they would send me a Mous Limitless for my iPhone X with the first batch of Limitless cases. You can understand why I didn't necessarily believe that from my previous experiences. It was beyond frustrating, however, Mous just recently shipped out their first batch of Limitless cases for the iPhone X. Mine arrived in the mail as promised. It took talking to a few people to get my questions answered, but they did come through. My word of advice is to never ship anything for RMA without tracking or losing track of your original receipt. I had to ship overseas and I was told I could not do tracking for international shipping. Again, Mous did sort it out eventually.
Overview
What first drew me to Mous was seeing a prototype review on YouTube, then I looked into them. They claim the Limitless case will protect your phone from up to a 45-foot drop. That's impressive. Then when you get the case there is placard inside that says not to drop your phone from such heights or your phone could break. Um, what? You can't claim up to 45-foot drop protection than say a drop from that height could break your phone. It just doesn't work that way. So be warned, the Mous Limitless has 45-foot drop protection unless your phone breaks then it doesn't. I'm not really a fan of that tactic, as legally protected as it is. Enough about the might could be 45-foot drop protection, let's get to the case.
I chose the black leather case and I have to say that the design of the v2 case is much better over than v1, but I very much prefer the feel of the v1. The v1 Limitless I had for my 7 Plus for a few days was a pillowy and soft leather that you could really feel and the bumper of the case was softer as well. It was such a comfortable case. The v2 for iPhone X has a much better production quality to it. The leather is still soft, but it is flush or even just slightly lower than the bumper on the back. This means you feel the bumper much more on the v2. What's more is the bumper is much harder on the v2. It's not unbearably hard, even a little malleable, but it doesn't flex much so it feels harder than it is. Really, the Limitless v2 could be more comfortable than it is now, hopefully, they address that for v3. The leather, or whatever other design you choose, is laid into the back of the case. It is a flawless seam all around, and there's even a notch at the bottom. You know we love those notches. This notch though is just big enough for the word Mous to be stamped into the bumper. One of the more unique design choices for the v2 Limitless case is the front lip for your screen. I kind of like it. The bottom and top of the case have a large lip that extends 1mm or maybe slightly more over the screen. The sides slope down toward the middle and meet just above screen height at the center before sloping back upwards on the other side. This gives the opportunity for you to drop your phone there and break the screen, but it also makes the phone very easy to use in the case.
I like talking about cutouts because cutouts are very important to get right on a phone case. Mous does it right. The back of the case actually extends past the camera, and the camera is centered in the cutout, this gives you all the protection you could want for your camera in a case. The mute switch cutout is generous, nearly, if not, twice as wide as Apple's cutouts are. No one should have any issues accessing the mute switch. So you have a monstrously large third-party lightning cable? No problem, Mous's lightning port cutouts are generous as well. They extend past the screws on the bottom of the phone. It'll handle any cable you throw at it. I saved my favorite cutouts for last, these are the speaker and microphone cutouts on the bottom of the phone. For v1, the Limitless was meant to be backwards compatible. That means they needed a headphone jack cutout. Again, Mous did it right. They kept this design for v2 and I'm okay with it. The cutouts are teardrop shaped. There is a semicircle on the side of the phone and that loops back toward the lightning port with both sides coming together into a much smaller semicircle. It looks great and you would never have known why it had the shape unless you knew about the v1. The cutouts are beautifully done. The buttons aren't as tactile as I like, but they are tactile enough and easy to press. You'll have no issues with the buttons.
Rather than having a solid metal plate in the back of the case like the v1, the v2 Limitless has four smaller metal plates so as not to interfere with wireless charging. The metal plates don't work well with the magnets on my iOttie charger though, and Mous says they are working on accessories to make use of them. Like Rhinoshield, Mous's protection comes from the defensive lining on the inside of the bumper of the case and Mous's lining is a light blue color that you will notice when you first open the box that has your case in it. You will see this kind of design in forms of slim protective cases. It is the same design as D30, which is popular in many cases for its protection. Where Rhinoshield and Mous differ is a proprietary design that uses the shape of the design, the material, and air to give you your protection. Mous calls their design AiroShock. I'm not a huge fan of the light blue color, but then again, I'll never see it when my phone is in the case. Due to the notice Mous gives you in the box I'm a little hesitant to really put it to a drop test. I don't doubt it will protect from more than average drops, Mous has plenty of videos on it. Even the YouTuber who I watched do drop tests, which were prototypes of the v1 case, only failed on face first drops. I believe the lip on the v2 is larger than the v1, however, I don't have a v1 to actually compare it to. One thing Mous continued to do is give you a free screen protector with the case.
The Good
The Bad
The Screen Protector
Yes, I mentioned the screen protector. Now, this is not your average run of the mill, super cheap plastic screen protector. It is plastic though, make no mistake. I compare Mous to Rhinoshield for a reason. Again, like Rhinoshield, Mous's screen protector is a plastic blend that is extra protective. Mous has a new video on their site that shows the strength of the screen protector, almost. You can see them hit the phone with a hammer hard enough to send the phone flying off the table. They never show you the screen though. This does make a little more hesitant to try it than I am with Rhinoshield. I do think the screen protector will be a lot more protective than a glass one. It may not look quite as nice, or feel as nice, and it may get fingerprints and smudges quicker. This is the drawback with using a plastic screen protector, which is necessary for one like this that offers better protection. My biggest gripe with it is that it's about a 1mm too short in the width. It doesn't quite fully cover the screen of the iPhone X. It's not bad, and if you're patient enough you can center it. I would also like to see this rectified in the future.
Conclusion
One of the major differences between Mous and Rhinoshield is that Rhinoshield shares drop test videos, they send out a ton of review units to a huge number of people, just so they showcase how great their cases and screen protectors are. I would really like to see Mous get to this point. I would trust it a lot more if I saw a lot more drop test videos from others showing how good it is, and more hammer tests with the screen protector. I may not have covered it well enough above, but despite the changes for v2 I still really like the Mous Limitless. I feel confident in saying it will protect against more than your average drop, but I'm a little leery about backing their 45-foot drop claim. You either back your claim or don't claim it. The prices vary a little by the material used on the back, from 35 euros to 45 euros. The Limitless is a unique case that I consider a direct competitor to the likes of Rhinoshield in terms of slim protection. I definitely recommend that you at least check them out. You can buy them directly from Mous here.
UPDATE: I mentioned in the review I wanted to see some drop test videos for the Mous Limitless v2 and I have seen a couple now. While the v1 had a more than average tendency to break screen if dropped face first even from four feet, the v2 is much improved. Mous even sponsored the videos I watched. Average drops of around four to six feet, including face first, and the phone was fine. The phone was fine after fifteen drops as well, and from around eighty feet in ballistic gel. Ballistic gel because the reviewer wanted to, from the same height in ballistic gel a case-less iPhone X was shattered. In another video iPhone X's, one in a Mous, and one case-less, were dropped from a helicopter. I can't remember the height, however, the iPhone in the Limitless was fine, no damage. Then they proceeded to throw the phones directly onto concrete and the phone in the Limitless was fine while the case-less one shattered. I would still need to see more drop test videos, and videos testing the strength of the screen protector, however, it seems Mous greatly improved their protection from the first iteration.
I wanted to start this review off with a preface because this is not my first Mous Limitless. I pre-ordered one for my iPhone 7 Plus in February. I really like it, except the sides clicked when you pressed them in. I tweeted to a YouTuber about it as he had done reviews on multiple prototypes of the Mous Limitless. Mous then contacted me and asked me to send it back to them. I hesitated for a couple days before sending it back. That was a bad decision. After about a month I emailed them and asked if they had an update of some kind, they asked about my original order and never said anything about the RMA. A couple weeks later I asked again and got the same treatment. A couple weeks after that I received no response. I went to Twitter again and got in touch with a different person from Mous and went through the same situation again. The third time I went to Twitter a couple months ago, I talked to another person again. This person apologized for my previous experience, refunded my money, and said they would send me a Mous Limitless for my iPhone X with the first batch of Limitless cases. You can understand why I didn't necessarily believe that from my previous experiences. It was beyond frustrating, however, Mous just recently shipped out their first batch of Limitless cases for the iPhone X. Mine arrived in the mail as promised. It took talking to a few people to get my questions answered, but they did come through. My word of advice is to never ship anything for RMA without tracking or losing track of your original receipt. I had to ship overseas and I was told I could not do tracking for international shipping. Again, Mous did sort it out eventually.
Overview
What first drew me to Mous was seeing a prototype review on YouTube, then I looked into them. They claim the Limitless case will protect your phone from up to a 45-foot drop. That's impressive. Then when you get the case there is placard inside that says not to drop your phone from such heights or your phone could break. Um, what? You can't claim up to 45-foot drop protection than say a drop from that height could break your phone. It just doesn't work that way. So be warned, the Mous Limitless has 45-foot drop protection unless your phone breaks then it doesn't. I'm not really a fan of that tactic, as legally protected as it is. Enough about the might could be 45-foot drop protection, let's get to the case.
I chose the black leather case and I have to say that the design of the v2 case is much better over than v1, but I very much prefer the feel of the v1. The v1 Limitless I had for my 7 Plus for a few days was a pillowy and soft leather that you could really feel and the bumper of the case was softer as well. It was such a comfortable case. The v2 for iPhone X has a much better production quality to it. The leather is still soft, but it is flush or even just slightly lower than the bumper on the back. This means you feel the bumper much more on the v2. What's more is the bumper is much harder on the v2. It's not unbearably hard, even a little malleable, but it doesn't flex much so it feels harder than it is. Really, the Limitless v2 could be more comfortable than it is now, hopefully, they address that for v3. The leather, or whatever other design you choose, is laid into the back of the case. It is a flawless seam all around, and there's even a notch at the bottom. You know we love those notches. This notch though is just big enough for the word Mous to be stamped into the bumper. One of the more unique design choices for the v2 Limitless case is the front lip for your screen. I kind of like it. The bottom and top of the case have a large lip that extends 1mm or maybe slightly more over the screen. The sides slope down toward the middle and meet just above screen height at the center before sloping back upwards on the other side. This gives the opportunity for you to drop your phone there and break the screen, but it also makes the phone very easy to use in the case.
I like talking about cutouts because cutouts are very important to get right on a phone case. Mous does it right. The back of the case actually extends past the camera, and the camera is centered in the cutout, this gives you all the protection you could want for your camera in a case. The mute switch cutout is generous, nearly, if not, twice as wide as Apple's cutouts are. No one should have any issues accessing the mute switch. So you have a monstrously large third-party lightning cable? No problem, Mous's lightning port cutouts are generous as well. They extend past the screws on the bottom of the phone. It'll handle any cable you throw at it. I saved my favorite cutouts for last, these are the speaker and microphone cutouts on the bottom of the phone. For v1, the Limitless was meant to be backwards compatible. That means they needed a headphone jack cutout. Again, Mous did it right. They kept this design for v2 and I'm okay with it. The cutouts are teardrop shaped. There is a semicircle on the side of the phone and that loops back toward the lightning port with both sides coming together into a much smaller semicircle. It looks great and you would never have known why it had the shape unless you knew about the v1. The cutouts are beautifully done. The buttons aren't as tactile as I like, but they are tactile enough and easy to press. You'll have no issues with the buttons.
Rather than having a solid metal plate in the back of the case like the v1, the v2 Limitless has four smaller metal plates so as not to interfere with wireless charging. The metal plates don't work well with the magnets on my iOttie charger though, and Mous says they are working on accessories to make use of them. Like Rhinoshield, Mous's protection comes from the defensive lining on the inside of the bumper of the case and Mous's lining is a light blue color that you will notice when you first open the box that has your case in it. You will see this kind of design in forms of slim protective cases. It is the same design as D30, which is popular in many cases for its protection. Where Rhinoshield and Mous differ is a proprietary design that uses the shape of the design, the material, and air to give you your protection. Mous calls their design AiroShock. I'm not a huge fan of the light blue color, but then again, I'll never see it when my phone is in the case. Due to the notice Mous gives you in the box I'm a little hesitant to really put it to a drop test. I don't doubt it will protect from more than average drops, Mous has plenty of videos on it. Even the YouTuber who I watched do drop tests, which were prototypes of the v1 case, only failed on face first drops. I believe the lip on the v2 is larger than the v1, however, I don't have a v1 to actually compare it to. One thing Mous continued to do is give you a free screen protector with the case.
The Good
- Cutouts are flawless
- Unique and functional front lip
- Quality production
The Bad
- Not as comfortable as the v1 Limitless
- The bumper is rather hard
- You feel more of the sides than the back of the case
The Screen Protector
Yes, I mentioned the screen protector. Now, this is not your average run of the mill, super cheap plastic screen protector. It is plastic though, make no mistake. I compare Mous to Rhinoshield for a reason. Again, like Rhinoshield, Mous's screen protector is a plastic blend that is extra protective. Mous has a new video on their site that shows the strength of the screen protector, almost. You can see them hit the phone with a hammer hard enough to send the phone flying off the table. They never show you the screen though. This does make a little more hesitant to try it than I am with Rhinoshield. I do think the screen protector will be a lot more protective than a glass one. It may not look quite as nice, or feel as nice, and it may get fingerprints and smudges quicker. This is the drawback with using a plastic screen protector, which is necessary for one like this that offers better protection. My biggest gripe with it is that it's about a 1mm too short in the width. It doesn't quite fully cover the screen of the iPhone X. It's not bad, and if you're patient enough you can center it. I would also like to see this rectified in the future.
Conclusion
One of the major differences between Mous and Rhinoshield is that Rhinoshield shares drop test videos, they send out a ton of review units to a huge number of people, just so they showcase how great their cases and screen protectors are. I would really like to see Mous get to this point. I would trust it a lot more if I saw a lot more drop test videos from others showing how good it is, and more hammer tests with the screen protector. I may not have covered it well enough above, but despite the changes for v2 I still really like the Mous Limitless. I feel confident in saying it will protect against more than your average drop, but I'm a little leery about backing their 45-foot drop claim. You either back your claim or don't claim it. The prices vary a little by the material used on the back, from 35 euros to 45 euros. The Limitless is a unique case that I consider a direct competitor to the likes of Rhinoshield in terms of slim protection. I definitely recommend that you at least check them out. You can buy them directly from Mous here.
UPDATE: I mentioned in the review I wanted to see some drop test videos for the Mous Limitless v2 and I have seen a couple now. While the v1 had a more than average tendency to break screen if dropped face first even from four feet, the v2 is much improved. Mous even sponsored the videos I watched. Average drops of around four to six feet, including face first, and the phone was fine. The phone was fine after fifteen drops as well, and from around eighty feet in ballistic gel. Ballistic gel because the reviewer wanted to, from the same height in ballistic gel a case-less iPhone X was shattered. In another video iPhone X's, one in a Mous, and one case-less, were dropped from a helicopter. I can't remember the height, however, the iPhone in the Limitless was fine, no damage. Then they proceeded to throw the phones directly onto concrete and the phone in the Limitless was fine while the case-less one shattered. I would still need to see more drop test videos, and videos testing the strength of the screen protector, however, it seems Mous greatly improved their protection from the first iteration.
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