Pitaka KI1601POTH Case for iPhone 16 Pro Max with Magsafe

In the interest of disclosure: I have been using Pitaka cases for almost 8 years now. Starting with the Galaxy S8, then the iPhone 11, the iPhone 13 Pro, and now the iPhone 16 Pro. The good: If you want a good Aramid fiber case, this is a good place to start looking. There are competitors en masse now but in my experience, few are doing it like Pitaka. The bad: Pitaka is making their branding bigger on their cases which reduces the special feeling their case used to have. Now it's just another case with marketing on it. To compensate, the prices have come down. I would pay more for an unbranded case of comparable quality if one existed. The bottom line: There are other makers of aramid cases now. Pitaka is not the only name in the game. But when it comes to cutouts, weight, and finished product, they are the ones I feel most confident in. In past reviews, I have praised Pitakas unwavering commitment to function and design. I have, since using these cases for so long, come to believe the easier it is to hold your phone, the less protective a case can be. While it may not be a perfect case, I gladly take the tradeoff to have a lighter, easier to access phone from my pocket. The case when new is slippery but as its surface becomes "seasoned" it becomes a lot more grippy. The cutouts give my fingers a large index to know where they are with respect to the buttons. Something most cases do a poor job of. This case is a bit of a departure from older stylings that favored angled cutouts in favor of straight cutouts. This has the benefit of reducing exposure as there is more coverage and allows the case to be more tight. The downside is that theres less of a finger ramp to let yourself know where your fingers are with respect to the buttons. We all want our phones to have protection and this case offers some protection. A new experience for me is the metal ring around the camera bump. A nice touch but I have already nicked the sharp edge in a drop and do not expect this to remain looking perfect. If you do happen to drop your phone, as long as it's not from excessive heights, the case will do a fine job in combination with a glass screen protector. Replace it as is necessary. Similar to a screen protector (and any case for that matter), this is a sacrificial layer. If you are prone to dropping your phone this is not the case for you. I miss the original bare styling of Pitaka. I wish they could go back but understand why they may not be able to. And I cannot in good conscience remove a star for a product that is otherwise excellent.