Case lips get in the way of edge swipes, and dbrand has decided that's the bigger problem. The dbrand Grip is a 2 mm MagSafe case with its long sides cut lower in a curve dbrand calls the Crescent Arc, plus a chamfered lip at the top and bottom so edge gestures start clean.
Its whole shell is covered in textured dots too small to pick out individually, with liquid-black grip strips down the sides, and the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max versions keep the flat back plate that takes one of dbrand's skins. iPhoners who already own a Grip can buy the skin alone to change the look later.
Skin designs, a sample
- Matte Black, Obsidian, Holo White
- Glow Circuit, Ultramatte Teardown, X-Ray (Dark)
- Real Black Leather, Real Tan Leather
dbrand calls the Camera Control cover the most technologically advanced button it has made. It's a capacitive button with a built-in PCB for localized touch, so taps and swipes still register through the case. On the iPhone 17 Pro Max version, iPhone in Canada found it worked well but called it unnecessary unless you actually use Camera Control, and saved its praise for the "satisfying mechanical feel" of the side buttons.
The texture has a longer record. The 9to5Google review of the Pixel 8 version found it kept its bite after prolonged use instead of going slick from skin oils, and iPhone in Canada called the iPhone 17 Grip "almost impossible to drop."
Protection is where the copy thins out. dbrand promises military-grade impact resistance and a camera ring tall enough to set the phone down on a table, but names no test standard or drop height. The lowered sides also leave the long edges of the display with less lip, which is the cost of those clean swipes.
dbrand sells tempered glass screen protectors as an add-on on the same page, which covers the display edges the case leaves low.
