Who is Toast?

Stationed in Portland, Oregon, Toast is a company that creates, designs and ships real wood covers for a multitude of devices. They are a small team of 8 who work diligently to put out Toast covers for your favorite tech devices! Toast started back in 2012 after a Kickstarter campaign that was backed by 300 people.

Meet Team Toast!

• Matias Brecher – Founder, Product Designer & “Papa Toast”
• Naiden Read –  Laser Grand Master & Head of Production
• Jennifer Wright – Awesomeness & Brilliant Ideas Departments; “Mama Toast”
• Danielle House – Social Media Butterfly, PR Power & Primo Pixel Pushing
• Andre Wilder – Master Controller of Production & Taco Expert
• Barrie Jo Hamilton – You Want It, You Got It Department
• Laurent Vriesman – Toast Divine Oracle & Customer Whisperer
• Robert Coronado – Production Team Whiz, Artsy-Fartsy Business & Life of the Party

[row][double_paragraph][blockquote author=””]You Want It, You Got It Department[/blockquote][/double_paragraph][double_paragraph]The team roster was pulled directly off of the Toastmade website. They are a company that really knows how to have some fun! My personal favorite is Barrie Jo Hamilton’s job description.[/double_paragraph] [/row]

Moving straight on to the review!

Toast cover

Toast makes covers for a large assortment of devices. They have covers for phones, tablets, laptops and even the Pebble smartwatch! They also carry leather skins for select devices.

The team over at Toast was kind enough to send me a beautiful ash cover for my Nexus 6 for the purpose of this review. Another quick shout out to them for being awesome!

Applying the skin

I am deathly afraid of applying things to my phone. I have a mild case of OCD, and I go crazy if a screen protector is the slightest bit off. It is actually one of the reasons that I prefer cases over skins; I can’t deal with a skin that is off just a little. It doesn’t help that companies like Toast make their cutouts precisely the right size. The camera cutout is the exact size as the camera, that sort of thing.

This preciseness scared me at first. I was horrified that I would miss and forever be stuck with a crooked skin. Luckily, that was not the case. Toast covers were actually surprisingly simple apply to my Nexus 6. The best part is that you don’t have to do it perfect the first time!

I missed the first time while trying to apply the backing. After gingerly pealing it back up, I was able to successfully apply it properly on the second go. However, Toast does note that the covers are not reusable. After you apply the cover and push down firmly on it, the skin is on to stay.

You can peal it off after a while, but you will not be able to reapply it and achieve a similar solid stick.

Looks

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First impressions

The skin is downright gorgeous. The color of the ash actually really works with the midnight blue Nexus 6 to great a visually pleasing device.

Toast surprised me by throwing in a front skin cover to go along with the back. Due to the curvature of the screen, the skin isn’t a single, solid piece for the front. It is one piece, but it is sort of cut along the edges to allow it to fold over and match the curve of the screen.

Not only does this help the cover get a better hold on the device, but it also creates a simplistic accent to the skin adding value in both function and fashion.

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Wear and tear

Toast is definitely a higher end skin. The ash cover looks amazing! There aren’t really any blemishes on the skin, but even if there were, they would just add to the overall appeal. This is one of those products that will end up looking better with more wear and tear.

At least, that is in my opinion. The more the backing got damaged from sliding around on table tops and even concrete, the better it ended up looking! Each mark on the skin added to the overall natural look of the skin.

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Engraving

The engraving is probably the best part. Toast sets itself apart from other skin manufacturers by not only using real wood but by allowing users to add custom engravings into the back of the skin.

For a small fee of around $5, you can customize your skin to make your device even more unique.

The engraving is actually surprisingly legible. I wasn’t sure how clear the text would be when burnt into a wooden back, but it comes out nice and clear.

Toast also offers custom covers. With these, you can order a skin just like before, but now you have the option to upload a design to get engraved into the back of the skin in the same way that the custom text would be engraved into the back.

This is significantly more expensive, but it is worth the extra cash to a lot of people to be able to truly create a device that is their own.

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Feel

As I have stated multiple times now, Toast uses real wood. This is the main selling point of Toast skins actually. Toast covers provide a feel that is unique to wood grain.

Despite the smooth overall feel of the cover, the wood grain also provides a solid grip. I wish I had one of these on my M8 before it slid out of my hand and down the stairs.

My phone feels nice and secure in my hand with the wood cover. I am not even afraid of dropping the phone without a case on it because I feel confident in the grip that the cover provides.

Price

Toast charges a premium price for a premium product. With varying prices, around the 25 to 30 dollar range, Toast comes out as one of the most expensive skin manufacturers that I have encountered.

However, their price tag isn’t without a reason. The materials and design well make up for the extra costs. The extra effort that so obviously went into the creation of this skins also adds lots of value to this product.

I am not sure about paying $59 for a custom cover, previously mentioned, but I can definitely see the $29 price tag being well worth it.

Wrap Up

The Toast wood covers offer a lot for what they are. A skin that is applied to your phone. It provides a stylistic way to add grip to your device. Toast also allows you to take personalization to the next level with their custom covers.

The only thing they have me wishing for is a skin for the side of my device. They do provide side wraps, but they don’t make them for the Nexus 6 currently.

I highly recommend getting a Toast cover for your phone if you are one of those people who enjoy going caseless! For any phone, not even just the giant monstrosity that is the Nexus 6. Toast covers will provide grip and extra style to any phone that they currently have in stock!

The best part is that if they don’t currently skin your phone, you can contact them and see about sending in your phone as a model to get a skin based off of! Actually, that is how I first heard about Toast, they were looking for a first generation Moto X to use as a model for their covers!

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