Bumpies: Protection for your Galaxy S5 without the bulk of a case

Protecting our hefty investments is almost a top priority these days. Smartphone users are no strangers to cases. They come in a wide range of sizes, colors, designs and some even include various features. We have seen cases with kickstands, battery packs built-in, ones that make your non-water proof device take swims safely and plenty more. There are a few lines of ultra thin cases I have seen in the past that give you a little protection without sacrificing your devices much-loved size to do so. Now I am taking a look at something completely different called Bumpies.

Bumpies takes the minimalist design approach to protection one step closer to a near naked phone by covering just the four corners of your device. The corners of your device are the most vulnerable during drops and are often the places you find to be reinforced on your more traditional full shell cases that are designed for protection and not just looks. Each of the four pieces are well thought out in terms of design and functionality. The outside is a hardened plastic while the inside offers a slight cushion absorb impact.

Installation was also quite well thought out. You won’t need to worry if you are placing them in the correct location as the Bumpies kit doubles as an installation guide to ensure you are placing them correctly on your device.

Once you have them installed it is easy to start to love them. They are minimal and clean-looking all while giving you protection and a slight personalization factor. Along with protecting the corners of your device, they also elevate the rear and front of the device off surfaces to protect against scratches and allows your speaker to stay un-muffled. Just as equally important, with the Bumpies installed you still get the same feel in your hand of your Galaxy S5. That is something pretty cool since we often purchase our phone based on how it looks and feels, but we end up covering it all up for protection.

If you are anything like me, then one deciding factor when you purchased your Samsung Galaxy S5 was the micro SD card slot and removable battery. When I first started using he Bumpies on the demo device (non-functioning display model) my very first thoughts revolved around the rear panel. With the Bumpies in place they loop over the panel. This instantly made them a no go in my book because that would cut off access to the battery and micro SD card slot unless I pulled the Bumpies off and hoped the adhesive would re-take to the device after I was done.

I reached out to Bumpies to discuss my concerns about it and was happy to hear that they don’t restrict the access at all. Rather, the adhesive is placed in such a way on the Bumpies that when applied to your Galaxy S5 it only adheres to the side of the Galaxy S5, not over the corners. This allows you to still pull the back cover off without needing to take off the Bumpies to do so. This process was demonstrated in a video below for us.

The over all look is nice, but does it really protect a device. Bumpies does some extensive drop tests in the labs to test out the product, just like any other manufacturer does. Watching through some of the videos posted to their channel you can see some of the abuse they put devices through. Here is one such video of various droops with actual devices and not just dummy phones.

All-in-all, they are a pretty great protective alternative to your more traditional hard case that usually doubles the device size and ruins the low-profile look and feel. They won’t be something that extremely active rough and tough on their devices type of people will end up finding much value in though. You guys should stick to OtterBox and LifeProof. However, if you are the occasional dropper looking for some added protection with a minimal look, Bumpies could be your ticket.

A Bumpies kit in any color you choose; black, white, orange, blue, pink, gray, green, red and yellow will set you back $24, at the time of posting, and are available at Amazon and various other online retailers. The kits come with the four corner pieces, a cleaning swap to clean the corners of your Galaxy S5 and the installation packaging that makes it a breeze to install them. Currently Bumpies is only available for the Samsung Galaxy S5 and various versions of the iPhone at this time.