dbrand scraps its iPhone Duo skins, but buyers aren't left empty-handed

iPhone Duo dbrand skins are already off the table, as barely a week after launch, the prominent case and skin company canceled them, swapping them for a free Grip Case instead. Thankfully, the company's skins for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max stay on sale.

The iPhone Duo glass won't hold adhesive

Last week, dbrand emailed everyone who ordered an iPhone Duo skin to inform them of the cancellation and offer an explanation. The reasons are several and detailed below:

• The Duo's camera housing is all compound curves.
• The back glass does not hold adhesive properly.
• The sides of the phone are too thin to wrap.

The company further explained that every skin prototype was either impossible to install or looked bad once they made it easier to install. Thus, instead of refunding existing orders and walking away, dbrand decided to upgrade every skin order to its iPhone Duo Grip Case.

In a statement to PhoneArena on November 2, founder and CEO Adam Ijaz said this is only the second skin that dbrand has canceled in 15 years in business. The first one was the AirPods skin, and this time the company decided to pull the plug before a single skin went out to customers.



This means everyone who placed an order will get one free Duo Grip Case per skin ordered (about a $30 upgrade, per the company), which will include the same skin design ordered, placed on the case instead of directly on the phone. It should be noted that the cases are backordered at the moment, so they won't be shipping until early December. However, anyone who prefers to get a refund instead can reply to the email sent by the company and request that.

A Grip Case upgrade that most fans are okay with

dbrand describes its Grip Case as having a patent-pending unibody hinge with no springs, screws or steel plates, and says it is thinner than any other hinge-protecting Duo case. That said, not everyone wants the bulk of a case, especially one with hinge protection. That, coupled with the fact that the case is backordered until December, can give some of the affected buyers some pause.

One example is Jose Velez's post on X expressing his sadness at the news, as he really wanted a leather skin on his Duo. However, some replies reveal that other users agree with the news being disappointing but also respect the company's transparency on this issue. The original poster then went from sad to agreeing it was the right call rather than putting out a product that would peel off in a matter of weeks.



Meanwhile, a quick trip down the Reddit rabbit hole suggests that reactions to the news are mixed. Some of the pushback claimed that rival skin company Slickwraps' iPhone Duo skins have yet to arrive but that its iPhone Air skins already hold on the Duo's sides, and called dbrand's explanation an excuse. Most of the r/dbrand thread thanks the company for its honesty, though.

Your options: keep the iPhone Duo Grip Case or take the refund

The choice here is simple. If I'd ordered a skin because I wanted to keep my Duo as bulk-free as possible, I'd probably request a refund. However, if I didn't mind a bit more bulk for the benefit of having my device more thoroughly protected, I'd be accepting the Grip Case swap and waiting until December.

Either way, I personally think that dbrand did the right thing by acknowledging the issue before the product was shipped. I'm also curious to see some photos of those failed prototypes that dbrand mentioned, purely for science, of course.

More on the iPhone Duo:

• iPhone Duo screens are already cracking for some owners
• Everything you need to know about the iPhone Duo
• Apple iPhone Duo

• Follow me on X and Threads

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