Jalen Sigh Tech

REVIEW – Every time I take a case off my phone I’m reminded of what a beautiful piece of engineering the Apple iPhone is. I’d really like to be able to go without a case but there’s just so much glass. Well, Nomad seems to agree and has a unique solution in their Magnetic Leather Back. I’ve been able to take it for a spin the last few weeks and have some thoughts.

What is it?

The Nomad Magnetic Leather Back is a protective cover for the back of the iPhone.

What’s included?

Tech specs

Design and features

When viewed from this angle you’d almost mistake this for a leather case. As with all of Nomad’s leather products, they use genuine Horween leather which develops a patina over time and arguably looks better as time goes on.

However, from this angle you can see that the the sides and buttons of the phone are allowed to show off, catching the reflections of the surfaces your phone is laid on. Ample protection for the camera lenses is provided by the raised perimeter.

The back has embedded magnets that immediately orient and locate the back onto your phone. Three micro-suction areas provide friction against the glass back to help prevent the back sliding off to the side. You can also clearly see the MagSafe ring which lets MagSafe charging work through the back.

Assembly, Installation, Setup

Installation is pretty straight forward. Clean the back of your phone, pull the protective film off the three micro-suction areas and then place the back onto the back of your phone. The magnets will get it close, but not exact, so you may need to nudge it slightly to get it perfectly lined up.

Then you can press firmly over the three micro-suction areas to fully secure the back in place.

Performance

So what’s it like to use this back instead of a case? Well it’s liberating, but still a little scary. The leather feels warm, but the sides of the phone feel cool to the touch. The buttons work perfectly since there’s nothing covering them.

The camera lenses are well protected when resting face up on a table by the raised perimeter.

After a couple of weeks of use, the back has fared very well and only shows a few small scuffs on the bottom edge.

It took a few days to relax and not be overly cautious, but it was quite freeing to feel the actual phone sides in my hand. I did have one good fumble pulling the phone out of my pocket where it dropped from probably 4 feet. It landed on one of the lower corners at a backwards angle. I remember clearly because the Magnetic Leather Back popped off. My phone was completely unharmed and the back had one of the small scuffs you see in the above photo.

I do change phone cases frequently, and I have to say that the micro-suction areas plus the magnets make it easy to do that. I’ve been placing it onto the back of another smooth plastic case when not on my phone to help keep those sticky areas clean. It would be cool to see something built in for addressing non-use storage, but it’s not all that big of a deal.

The last thing is that the Magnetic Leather Back is currently only available for the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, and in two colors: Black and Rustic Brown.

What I like about Nomad’s Magnetic Leather Back

• Super thin back protection at ~2.5mm
• Feel your actual phone again
• Magnets and micro-suction work well to keep back in place
• Horween leather

What needs to be improved?

• A built-in way to cover the micro-suction areas when not using the case.

Final thoughts

The Magnetic Leather Back is a great option if you want to protect the back glass of your phone but still feel the sides and buttons of the phone the way Apple intended. If you drop your phone a lot this probably isn’t the product for you, but at $40 it isn’t crazy expensive to try.

Price: $40
Where to buy: Nomad
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Nomad who did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.