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Solution

Cases with magnetic clasps

Kienzel
4: Newbie
Hi, can anyone solve on of the great mysteries please? Cases with magnetic clasps, will it damage/affect your phone? So far had completely conflicting information. One one hand, it's only a weak magnet, and surely they wouldn't make them if they were going to cause problems, especially vodafone themselves (who's case it is i've got) But, it affects comapsses and such, so is it going to affect other sensors, like the proximity, or the optical in the camera? I guess i could just leave the case off, but £15 wasted, and i will end up busting the phone. It's on a Smart Ultra 6 by the way. Thanks in advance K.
5 REPLIES 5

BandOfBrothers
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

Hi

 

People have had different opinions.

 

I personally stay clear of those types of cases. Just my preference. 

 

Ive read reports they can affect touch screens , the features you mention and some say battery life !

 

My partner uses one on her Nokia Lumia Phone and hasn't seemed to affect her phone. 

Current Phone  >

Samsung Galaxy s²³ Ultra 512gb Phantom Black.

 

 

hrym
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

I've been using these for a long time and haven't suffered any ill effects so far.  I'll admit to having wondered whether there's anything, but I can't find any evidence and I've played around with the tab both folded back and away form the phone.   You might think that, on a case that folds down and has the clasp at the top, the aerials might be affected, but I can't even see that.

 

I've also tried to see if it influences the compass, but can't see anything.

never
3: Seeker
3: Seeker

Yep, I've looking for this problems exactly. I can confirm it causes problems. People who doesn't have problems maybe have a diferent kind of cover + magnet. Weak magnets or something. My cover magnets are like one on one side which attracts the other end of the cover where the phone is in the middle.

I'm having exactly that kind of issues:

 

- Sensor to detect my face to turn of the screen doesn't work with the cover on. I tested in the same call 4 times. I take the phone of the cover -> sensor works flawlessly; I put the phone in the cover and the sensor never works. Result: I touch my screen with my face during my calls and I open so many things at the same time sometimes that it causes a call.ui app error (the call screen where it shows the contact and it let's you turn off the call and the other call options disappears).

 

- Compass doesn't work with cover on. I have an app to see the sky and the stars on which when you move the phone and point it to the sky it points exactly to the same place in the sky and shows that part of the sky in the screen with the stars and planets and that kind of stuff. With the cover on it doesn't work, that system because it uses the compass on the phone. Without the cover it works flawlessly.

 

 

- The battery discharging faster I can't confirm because I have always used this cover. I will use a cover without a magnet now and I tell you guys something later.

 

I even activated my phone's warranty for this. They haven't detected any problem in the phone. When they've sent it to me it seemed fine but the face sensor didn't work sometimes but I was not getting the call.ui app error maybe because I was making an effort not to touch the screen with my face and open lots of things at the same time. Today I got that error 2 times and I came here to search this. They haven't detected any problem in the phone because I sent it to them without the cover (ofc). 

Another thing is that I permanently in contact with 3 more people that bought this same phone in the same day as me. 2 of them don't use this cover neither any cover with magnets and phones are fine. The other uses this same cover as me and has the exact same problems as me plus a problem that the phone calls to people in his contacts when he is in the middle of a call with another contact or right before he hangs up the call he is in. Maybe that is because he doesn't make any effort to don't touch the screen with his face (because his screen is perma on in the calls - the sensor doesn't work) and ends up opening the contacts (with his face) and calling somebody (it's always someone that is in the first screen - recent contacts). 

 

Phone: Vodafone Smart Ultra 6 (from Vodafone Portugal)

Cover: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B015CTP94U?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

 

(Note that this cover has one magnet in the front end which "attracts" the magnet on the back part of the cover which makes all worse in my opinion)

 

EDIT: Note that there are covers where the magnets are both on the front cover part and directly atract each other and touch each other directly which may not cause issues. Also it may cause problems in some phones and not the others. My cover is mega magnet everywhere. It goes from one side to the other, the "contact" between the magnets. It is "magnetizing" (lol, hope you understand what I'm trying to say) the inside components of the phone in the right side of the phone when you are looking at the screen (cause is where the magnets are). Maybe also depends on which kind of components each phone has in the place where the magnets in the cover are placed.

(I'm portuguese. I created account in here just to write this. Sorry for the english and I hope you understand everything I wrote as it was all extensive detailed explanation so I needed to have advanced english for this. I have self-taught english only from playing online videogames and watching american and british movies in the last 25 years, :Laughing_Face:   )

hrym
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

I had an isue with the proximity sensor on a Samsung S2.  In that case, the screen would go black when I made a call, but not necsssarily come back on - invariably when I'd made a call by accident and wanted to cancel it quickly!  I can't see why it would be the case, but I did have a screen protector.  If yours works with the case off and not with it on, that looks conclusive, but it's odd.

 

I have two phones at the moment, one with the fastening at the top and one at the side.  I don't use a hugely accurate compass app, just the one in Google maps, which mostly seems to point in the right direction.

 

My cases have always been basic (and very cheap) ones I've bought in eBay.  I wouldn't say they have particularly strong magnets.   I can only suggest you try a different one if you can - though they're not as widely available for the Vodafone range as they are for the bigger makes.

Yes, immediately after posting here I went to buy one of that transparent rubber back covers + screen protector. The bookstyle cases for this phone make it even bigger to carry on the pocket... 

 

Anyway, this cover has really strong magnets and there were three on each side (front and back) along the right side of the cover (inside). One of my friends stripped it open and that's why I know. And he put together two of the magnets (one from the front and one from the back) and thei're still together, lol. We were not able to split them ever again. Neither with a knife trying to put in the middle to split them. They had to be strong to be able to make "contact" being the phone between them.

 

I noticed now that the link of the Amazon product with this case that I have doesn't have that specific case anymore. They just have the version with the clasps now. Mine doesn't have clasps, but instead the magnets are inside the front part of the case and inside the back part of the case. Maybe (some) cases with magnets on the clasps don't cause any problems.

Anyway if you go on that Amazon link I have there a review of the product with photos of the case I bought from that Amazon page exactly (it's a 2 star review; non german review lol). They just don't have that version anymore for the Vodafone Smart Ultra 6...