This is the English edition of a review from my Japanese YouTube channel, iestaLife. I review gadgets from my home studio in Japan, so product links go to Amazon Japan.
Quick take
My first MacBook Pro hard shell cracked at a corner after about ten months, without ever being dropped. So I replaced it with a cheaper one, a matte green shell from EooCoo, and found it is essentially the same product. My conclusion: treat a MacBook shell as a consumable, buy an inexpensive one and replace it roughly once a year.
What I tested
- The plain dark shell I had used on my 14-inch MacBook Pro (Space Gray) for about a year, including during video editing
- The EooCoo hard shell for the 14-inch MacBook Pro in matte green, which I bought as its replacement
What I found
The old shell: fine protection, poor durability
The MacBook itself came out without a single scratch, and the shell never popped off its four clips. Heat was not a problem for me either, even while editing video, though I did not measure temperatures.
But the matte coating slowly wore off where I hold the laptop, leaving fingerprints and oily marks that no longer wipe away. Then a corner cracked just from sliding the laptop in and out of my bag.
The EooCoo shell: nearly identical, and the color works
The shape and feel are almost the same as my old shell; even the price gap is hard to explain. On a Space Gray MacBook the deep green looks better than it does on its own, with a slight translucency that lets the Apple logo show through.
My unit came with a keyboard cover for the Japanese (JIS) layout, so it is useless on a US keyboard. Fingerprints are minimal at first, but they did start to show after I carried it around for a while.
Who it's for
- People who feel nervous carrying a bare MacBook Pro but find sleeves a hassle
- Anyone who likes stickers but doesn't want them on the aluminum
- Not for you if you want one case to last for years, or if you push your Mac hard in a hot room and want every bit of cooling (go caseless)
Watch the video
The video is in Japanese. YouTube's auto-translated captions may help. Useful timestamps: 0:20 unboxing, 3:13 the shell on the MacBook, 5:15 my conclusion. The cracked old shell is shown in a separate video:
Limitations
This is one user's experience with one unit of each shell, not a drop test. The keyboard cover in my box was JIS layout; check the listing for what is included. Prices are Amazon Japan's at the time of recording: the EooCoo shell was 1,699 yen with a discount, about 600 yen less than my old one.
Products
EooCoo hard shell case for 14-inch MacBook Pro (matte finish): on Amazon Japan
The Amazon Japan link above is an affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Check the listing for the exact model, color, current price and shipping availability in your region.
More reviews in English
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This review is also available in Japanese.