I’ve considered going naked, but after the initial feeling of liberation you quickly realize you should probably put your iPhone in a case of some sort.  What did you think I was talking about?

When I bought my iPhone second-hand (with two days of use on the clock), it came from the original purchaser with an Incase Molded Rubber Protective Sleeve.  I liked it at first.  It doesn’t add bulk, it gives the iPhone a nice grippy texture, and it’s not bad looking.  The rubberized exterior is probably pretty good at handling some of the shock that your iPhone encounters on a daily basis.  That said, there are two fatal flaws with the Incase Rubber Sleeve.

First off, it allows some dirt/pocket link/other abrasive material to slip down along the edge.  This has resulted in a number of iPhones that now sport scratched chrome bezels… including mine.  Incase blames this on Apple… Apple blames it on Incase.  I think if your “protective sleeve” causes damage — no matter whether the chrome trim is “inferior” or not — it’s not much of a protective sleeve.  Bad, Incase, bad!

However, the first problem can be mitigated by religiously removing and cleaning the case often.  That brings me to the second problem: removal of the case more than five or so times and it starts to stretch.  After that, it goes downhill fast until you have a fitted rubber case that fits looser than Calista Flockhart’s sweat pants.  Mines so saggy it doesn’t even stay on that well anymore.

I’ll be calling Incase and seeing what they have to say about what’s obviously a flawed product.

I’ve since replaced the rubber with a form-hugging clear plastic case from Power Support they dub the Crystal Jacket.  It’s a bit pricey at the standard iPhone case price of $30, but it’s a very well-put-together product.  It comes with the case (front and back pieces), a nice belt clip, and a screen protector (I’d already installed a Power Support screen shield, so this was just a spare for me).  The case has a couple of benefits I didn’t even think of when I picked it out to replace my Incase: it covers the face of the iPhone a bit on the top and bottom (no ear prints!) and it slides in and out of my pocket a lot smoother than the grippy rubber on the Incase.  Of course, the Crystal Jacket set allows unimpeded access to all iPhone controls and you can even hook up the charge/sync cable with the case still on.  It does not allow the phone to sit in the dock, however.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 30th, 2007 at 1:00 am and is filed under Crimes Against Geekery, Cellular, iPhone. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.