Hardware Metric

1. Dbrand Leather Skin Review – Marketing gimmick, or actual Leather?
2. What are the Dbrand’s Leather Skins all about?
3. What is a Patina? 
4. What’s in the box?
5. How to install the Dbrand Leather Skins?
6. Pricing and Availability
7. Hardware Metric’s Take

Dbrand Leather Skin Review – Marketing gimmick, or actual Leather?

Those of you who are well-acquainted with me will know that I’ve never been a fan of any kinds of screen protectors, covers, cases, and skins. That is, until now. Dbrand launched a special edition of Leather Skins back towards the end of 2021, and while it was a limited-edition drop back in the day, Dbrand has ensured they’re here to stay now. 

You might be wondering why I’m so vocal regarding my dislike of general skins, protectors, covers, and cases, when it comes to any portable device, be it a mobile phone, a laptop, or even a handheld gaming console alike the Steam Deck and the ASUS ROG Ally. That’s because manufacturers bear a tendency to mass-produce these protective skins and cases using versatile materials that can be efficiently and cheaply moulded into a proprietary design of their own choice. 

However, that manipulation comes at the cost of product quality, and Dbrand is no different than other manufacturers, as in, their everyday 3M vinyl skins suffer from the same greasy visual defects that will develop when those skins come into contact with numerous substances on the daily, such as the oil from our hands, water spills, as well as general wear and tear. 

Long story short, while Dbrand’s 3M vinyl skins may certainly outperform the competition, they are still vinyl skins at the end of the day. That said, fret not. This is where Dbrand’s Leather Skins step in.

What are the Dbrand’s Leather Skins all about?

To begin with, Dbrand’s Leather Skins are curated from full grain, vegetable tanned leather. For the average layman, what does that mean? Full grain leather refers to the purest form of leather where only the hair is extracted from the hide (cowhide, in this case) to preserve the most natural layer of leather. Moving on, this articulate leather then undergoes a vegetable tanning process. Again, you ask what’s a tanning procedure, let alone one based on vegetables? Don’t worry, we’ll dumb it down for you as opposed to throwing all sorts of leather-based jargon at your face.

In this instance, a vegetable tanning procedure corresponds to the process where this leather (which is still in its raw, animalistic form at this point) is turned into what we’ve come to recognize as the world-renowned Dbrand Leather Skins. Vegetable tanned Leather tends to exude with a distinctive leather-y aroma and is painstakingly produced by expert craftsmen who rely on centuries-old techniques.

Nevertheless, this form of tanning is the most environmentally-friendly as opposed to all other types of leather tanning, courtesy of the strict employ of only natural and organic tanning substances. Let’s not forget the most vital aspect of vegetable-tanned leather, i.e., it is the most robust form of leather with the highest structural integrity as compared to any other types of leather. 

To be precise, the full grain, vegetable tanned leather being used in the Dbrand Leather Skins is the highest quality grade of leather that money can buy, simply said. As we verge on the risk of sounding like leather fanatics, we’d also like to inform our readers that the specialized vegetable tanned leather also allows the Dbrand Leather Skins to absorb the various oils and greases mentioned in the initial section of this article, which enables the skins to develop what is known in the world of leather artisans as a ‘patina.’ 

What is a Patina? 

What’s a ‘patina’? As outlined before, thanks to the organic nature of the full grain, vegetable tanned leather, the Dbrand Leather Skins possess no synthetic coatings, and as such, the entire Leather Skin is exposed to the outside world in its raw nature, and will therefore absorb moisture, oils, and other everyday substances that come at the cost of general wear and tear, such as scratches and other imperfections. The best part? All of those substances will combine to form a layer, which is termed a ‘patina,’ and as suggested before, a patina relates to the degree of aesthetic quality when it comes to leather, and oozes with a luxurious vibe, figuratively speaking. 

Patinas tend to develop as time progresses, and as you can see, our test unit has borne the Dbrand Leather Skin for more than ten weeks at this point, and as a result, has succeeded in attaining a unique patina, albeit, one of a rather rough nature since my phones are subject to more trying conditions as compared to the average Joe. 

That said, leather maintenance is no joke, and for this very reason, Dbrand sells ‘Leather Balm,’ an ointment designed to speed up the patina process while also attempting to correct minor scratches and blemishes. Needless to say, every single unit of the Dbrand Leather Skin is different from the other, no two are the same since Dbrand is utilizing natural, uncorrected leather, and will resultantly bear unique patinas.

What’s in the box?

First off, let’s talk about the packaging. Unorthodox, that’s for sure, and in the beginning, I couldn’t make head or tail of the murals that were splashed across the entire front of the flyer. It was only a few days later that I was able to put two and two together when Dbrand launched another one of their Limited Edition drops, titled “Robot City.” The murals on the packaging was Dbrand’s way of handing out an Easter Egg to their devoted audience, but alas, I was too much of a simpleton to understand. 

Progressing forwards, the flyer slits open to reveal a moderately opaque plastic pouch, which visually subdues the color of the constituents inside, and for good reason, since the bare plastic sheet (outlining a referral to the installation guide) embossed with Dbrand’s Leather/Cow Logo sports a deadly demeanor, courtesy of the jet black color. 

Resting on top of the plastic sheet nestled within the pouch is a 3M vinyl cutout, built with extreme attention to detail (with respect to the particular device you ordered the skin for), adhered to which, you’ll find the Dbrand Leather Skin, i.e., the subject of interest. 

If you happen to take another look inside the packaging, you’ll also find a complimentary Dbrand Microfibre Cloth, which, trivially speaking, also carries the ferocious-looking logo of a cow’s face and horns. The attention to detail is such that Dbrand will ensure that the color of this microfibre cloth matches that of the Dbrand Leather Skin you ordered. Alas, that’s all for the unboxing segment. 

How to install the Dbrand Leather Skins?

Dbrand’s not afraid when it comes to voicing their opinion with respect to how users are supposed to install their Dbrand products, going as far as to hurl insults at them for messing up. Nevertheless, Dbrand has never been known for their respectful marketing, so this won’t come as a surprise to the majority of our audience. 

Coming back to the topic, Dbrand has separate pages dedicated to the installation procedures for different Dbrand products of one particular device for their consumers’ convenience. In this article, we’ll be taking the example of an iPhone X, so Dbrand has a page which enlists video-based guides on how to install the Prism (Screen Protector), Grip (Case), and Skin (applies to both the routine 3M vinyl skins as well as the leather ones). 

Even so, we’ll attempt to shorten the installation procedure as best as we can. 

Initially, users are expected to have a blow-dryer at their disposal since you’ll need to slightly melt the adhesive tapered to the back of the Dbrand Leather Skin once you’ve applied it on the back of your phone. In order to do that, you need to peel half of the skin off of the 3M vinyl cutout and align it perfectly with the back of your phone by utilizing the cutout’s machined design for complete accuracy. Furthermore, apply firm pressure on the exposed part of the skin, such that it adheres to that side of your phone’s rear-glass, and once you’ve achieved firm adhesion with the correct alignment, pull the 3M vinyl cutout entirely and adhere the other half of the skin to your phone.

The hard part’s over, but don’t sit back just yet. Make yourself useful and grab that blow-dryer, and begin to hover it near all the edges of your Dbrand Leather Skin to ensure that the adhesive slightly heats up and develops firm cohesion with the back of your phone’s surface. 

Other reviewers forewent that step and consequently suffered through experiences which revolved around their Leather Skins peeling off their phones’ back-glass due to a loose fit. However, in a move signifying extreme tenacity and foolishness at the same time, I also, alike those other testers, chose to forego this crucial step, but I was fortunate enough to maintain and sustain tight cohesive adhesion to this day. Even so, I did vigorously apply pressure on all the edges of my Dbrand Leather Skin using my fingers for a good 15-30 minutes, even though Dbrand recommends to burnish the edges using the aforementioned blow-dryer. 

That’s it for the installation process, if you exclude the elementary step where you have to separately apply the relatively miniaturized camera skin for your phone in the beginning. 

Pricing and Availability

This is where things get somewhat tricky. Dbrand’s always been notoriously infamous for their lack of palatable price points and unfortunately, their Leather Skins will not be the ones to dissolve this trend. Depending upon the type of device you’re using, Dbrand’s Leather Skins will vary in price, starting from about $24.95, going all the way up to $69.95 for laptop skins. 

Dbrand’s Leather is also available in a variety of other smartphone accessories, such as their widely recognized cases, which will start around $59.90, followed by a Leather Cube for $29.95, a Leather Pyramid for $45.00, as well as a Leather Keytag for $9.95, and let’s not forget the pack of 3x Microfibre Cloths (in Black, Brown, and Tan colors) for an outrageous $7.95. 

As you can tell, Dbrand seems to hemorrhage from self-induced concussions when it comes to setting reasonable price points in order to build a diverse consumer base. Then again, Dbrand isn’t renowned for having a run-of-the-mill following since only the geekiest of geeks and perfectionists put up with Dbrand’s antics in return for their superb quality control. 

With respect to this specific Dbrand Leather Skin review, we attained our unit for $24.95 since the device in question was an Apple iPhone X, which is coincidentally the oldest iPhone that Dbrand still manufactures Leather Skins for. 

However, at the time of purchase, Dbrand was charging $5 for shipping unless we ponied up to buy a few accessories to bring our grand total above $30, in which case, Dbrand would offer us free shipping. A sane person would’ve paid the $5 and called it a day, but not us. We took the opportunity to fall into the capitalist trap cleverly set out for us, and added the 3-pack of Microfibre Cloths for $7.95 to our cart, totaling an outrageous $32.90. 

Keep the change, Dbrand. 

As far as availability is concerned, prospective buyers may rest assured because while these Leather Skins may have been a Limited Edition introduction at first, Dbrand has promised us that they’re here to stay for good, and cherry on top, the Leather catalogue will be periodically updated to cover the release of new devices as well, for example, the iPhone 15 lineup and the forthcoming M3 MacBooks. Last but not least, Dbrand also offers free worldwide shipping above $30 as explained above, although custom taxes and governmental duties may apply upon importing to countries other than the U.S.A.

Hardware Metric’s Take

Leather aficionados, the time to rejoice has dawned upon us at last. Looking for the Best Phone Skins? Look no further, Dbrand Leather Skins are light years ahead of the competition, and for better or for worse, cannibalize Dbrand’s own 3M vinyl lineup in terms of attention to detail and degree of quality. The full grain nature of the leather preserves the uncorrected layer of the cowhide to retain all the imperfections that make leather what it is. Coupled together with an industry-favorite vegetable tanning process, the Dbrand Leather Skins showoff a patina that only improves with the passage of time to distinguishably exhibit a unique appearance of your phone.

That being said, potential buyers are urged to remember that leather maintenance isn’t something to be dealt with lightly, and these Leather Skins aren’t water-resistant as well, so they need to be taken care of. Water and alcohol-based substances will dry the leather out and in worst-case scenarios, leave irremovable stains. While we’re on the subject, our audience should remember that deep scratches won’t go away, although minor dings and dents might disappear if you occasionally treat your Leather Skin with some Leather Balm or other related ointments a few times a year. 

Let’s also not sacrifice the opportunity to grill Dbrand in regards to their absurd pricing scales, since these Leather Skins will set you back about $34.95 for the latest smartphones, such as the iPhone 14 Pro Max, the Google Pixel 7 Pro, and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Notwithstanding, let bygones be bygones because we just can’t stop drooling over these alluring Leather Skins. With that, we conclude the Dbrand Leather Skin review on the note that they are the Best Phone (and tablet/laptop) Skins in the world. As the legendary manufacturer said, “Cows died for this,” so they better be the Best Dbrand Skins ever. 

In a nutshell, don’t even think about comparing these Leather Skins to those derived from cheaper, less-attractive leather-based materials such as Faux Leather/Leatherette/Rexene. This is the real deal. 

May Dbrand be damned for successfully managing to extract a ludicrous amount of money from our wallets yet again.