Review: Exo-Flex Snake Skins
“Skins,” protective layers of vinyl for small electronics, are a dime a dozen nowadays. Almost everyone’s jumping on this manufacturing bandwagon, and unfortunately, the production values on most manufacturers’ skins are uniformly awful: applying the skins is an ill-documented, bubble-filled malady; and removing the skins is an even worse experience—good luck not leaving semi-permanent gunk on your gadget on the way out. Moreover, skin manufacturers offer the tackiest designs ever. I mean, really, who wants to cover their devices with terrible fractal designs straight out of Kai’s Power Tools circa 1998?
Exo-Flex’ new line of Snake Skins miraculously solve all of the complaints I previously had with similar products. The company was gracious enough to supply us with a packet of skins for various devices (their product range covers quite a gamut of gadgets), and I applied some of their skins on my toys over the weekend.
The first thing I noticed, looking at their website, is that they’ve got pretty decent artists working on their skin designs. Sure, they’ve got a lot of bog-standard tiled designs, but even their more artful and character-driven designs didn’t look half-bad. I certainly didn’t feel bad about toting around my netbook with the skin I had on it. One little thing though—they don’t pre-cut the skins to show off the gadget’s branding, which can be a good thing or a bad thing for some people. I personally don’t care, but I can see it being an issue for a few people out there.
Applying the skin was a breeze. Though it’s a bit unfair to assume that given my zen-like skill at applying screen protectors and whatnot to my devices, I didn’t have to wrestle with surface bubbles post-application: a quick swipe with the end of a credit card took care of everything. And though I initially aligned one of the bigger skin chunks on my PlayStation 3 incorrectly, to my surprise, the skin peeled off fairly easily and I was able to reapply it without much fuss.
I found the vinyl covering on the Snake Skins to be more than satisfactory. As Exo-Flex’ marketing material suggests, three kinds of film make up the Snake Skins’ vinyl facade. There’s a waterproof top layer, followed by two more layers that prevent residue from building up inside, beneath, and around the skin. I performed a couple of cursory tests on the skins to see if they were indeed up to snuff, and they all performed admirably. Keying the skins produced nary a nick on the transparent top layer, and leaving a fine spray of water on the unit for a couple of hours didn’t cause the skin to peel off or slip away.
I don’t think there’s much more to say about the Exo-Flex line of skins. Like I mentioned previously, they don’t look tacky, leave any residue, and peel away easily; and really, that’s all you need to know. Exo-flex currently supports a growing line of gadgets, and the skins are available at brick-and-mortar stores and online for around $10-20.
The Verdict
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Exo-Flex Snake Skin Gallery:
Update: I kept the skin they supplied on my netbook since this review was written (~2 months ago), and I haven’t noticed any fading, tearing, nor bubbles, and I tend to thrash the thing and leave it out in the sun. Always a good sign!
