Best iPhone Cases?

[Playmaker]

I just quit a Blackberry job for a non-Blackberry job, and decided to order an iPhone (rather than keep my piece of shit BB Storm, even though it's free and month-to-month with no contract). It should arrive later this week, and I'd like to keep it protected.

Anyone have success with a specific iPhone case? There are a lot of options out there, and I'd like to find something primarily to protect the screen from scratching, and not encase the entire phone in plastic.

 

[skulkingghost]

I have the agent 18 case which was decent but a bit flimsy.

The Incase Power Slider is incredible however, and doubled my battery life.

 

[pm]

For screen protectors, I like this stuff a lot. http://store.apple.com/us/product/TS504LL/A Protects the screen from scratches - although honestly it's pretty hard to scratch an iPhone screen - and it more importantly it also keeps fingerprints off.

For cases, I had the Agent 18. It's hard smooth plastic and offers some protection against dropping. It scratched my first iPhone though - the back of the plastic on the inside had these ridges and they carved small vertical lines in the back-cover of the iPhone. Still it's a good case, and I recommend it.

I decided it was too slippery though and wanted something made from stickier rubber. So after a fair bit of shopping around, I chose this one: http://store.apple.com/us/product/TQ359LL/A? It's soft rubber, not too sticky, but I can put it on my dashboard and not have it slide around everywhere. Two problems - the headphone jack hole is too small and the rubber is too thick to let me dock it in a docking port (I can connect the white USB thing, but not put it in any stand-up style docking port thing).

 

[bigrash]

I have the SwitchEasy Capsule Rebel. Best case I ever owned. it's super strong and I love the design.

 

[dalearyous]

full body invisishield from zagg.com

 

[pm]

Oh yeah. I have the Zagg case on mine too. It came with it when I bought it. It's nice. Makes the phone a bit more sticky - but only a bit more - and prevents scratches.

So there's four types of protection to my thinking - and then the ones that I recommend.

1. screen scratch/fingerprint protection - Power support matte film
   body scratch protection - Zagg bodyshield
   screen impact protection
   body impact protection - Incase Protective cover.

I don't have anything protecting the screen.

I've tried a variety of cases for the impact protection. I can go down a list of all the ones that I don't like.

Whether or not you think all of this is overkill depends a bit on perspective, I think. I Ebay my phones frequently. I always buy them without a contract, and then sell them when I see something else that I want more. Since I'm selling them all the time, I want them to look really good (more money for me). In fact, a lot of the time I somehow manage to sell the phone for more than I paid for it in the first place. Probably whatever profit I make from selling the phone covers all the cases and screen protectors that I use.

I do the same thing nowadays with digital cameras too - lots of cases/covers and replace/sell them once or twice a year.

 

[Reckoner]

Vaja ivolution top sp. Best case out there, but pricey.

 

[Playmaker]

Ordered a Zagg invisishield. Hopefully I don't scratch the phone in the 1-2 weeks the free shipping takes to get the invisishield here.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Deviant Grasshopper]

After going through 3-4 different cases I ended up happiest with an el cheapo from amazon made by a company called casecrown.

 

[Lumathix]

IMO the iPhone is really over-rated as a PHONE, but I did have one for 2 weeks, and the best case we came up with after a good bit of research is a "Slider" by Incase.
Hard case, 2 pieces, for a nice tight fit. Has a raised edge on t he front, so you can set your phone down face down and not worry. Looks sharp. www.goincase.com

 

[RedWolf]

I have a cozip (www.cozip.com) and really like it. It may not be the most protective case out there but it does protect the corners of the phone. It is made from a nice rubberized material that is easy to grip. It doesn't add a lot of bulk or weight. It will fit into a sports armband with the case on. The case is easy to remove as well. I've dorpped my phone several times without any issues at all. My only complaints are that the paint is starting to wear on the edges and crud gets between the case and phone fairly easily.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Incase slider is GREAT. However the 1st gen iPhone/iPod Touch cases shattered a lot. My iPod Touch case at the bottom has cracks and the little bar over the charging port cracked off. I noticed the same from my gf's roommate's iPhone 1st Gen. My friend's iPhone 1st gen has the bottom broken too.

However my gf's iPod Touch 2G seems a lot better. Maybe they made it more flexible with the matte finish too. Shrug. The iPhone Slider case is definitely great though if you want a slim fitting case. Nevermind the fat ugly plastic stuff that some other people have. Silicone is crap too if you want pocket lint clinging although it is soft and good for impacts.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: bigrash
I have the SwitchEasy Capsule Rebel. Best case I ever owned. it's super strong and I love the design.

I currently have a cheap incase silicone topo knockoff on my 3g which has served me well for a couple of months. I recently got an iHome alarm clock with iPod dock, which is wonderful, but of course the 3g dock insert doesn't fit the phone with the silicone on it. I'd just put the phone with silicone in it without the dock adapter, but I am nervous about breaking the dock connector if I flail at the alarm when it's going off.

I looked at a lot of different slider cases, but really don't like the idea of rigid plastic cases, especially in multiple pieces.

I really liked the look of the Capsule Rebel, but thought I'd have the same problem as I do currently, where I would have to remove the case to dock the phone...then I saw all the accessories that come with the Capsule, including a custom universal dock insert made for the phone WITH the Capsule on it! GENIUS! Thank you for posting...I just pulled the trigger on it. The price for a nice looking case with a ton of extras thrown in was great at $27 shipped. I hope I'm happy with it, but really can't imagine myself not being so.

EDIT: Maybe I'm being picky but I really wish the dock insert that SwitchEasy included was black, to match my alarm clock. Oh well...

 

[loup garou]

Just got my Capsule Rebel. Just in time as my cheap silicone case tore 2 days ago.

This thing is incredibly well made and fits beautifully. The included accessories are great and the screen protectors are very high quality compared to the cheapo one I had before (terrible rainbow effect on that one)...although I ruined one of the three they include trying to put it on. Got too much crud on it so I just gave up and moved to the next one.

So far I love this thing...the only complaint I have is I kinda wish I had ordered the black. I got the "arctic" one. It looks OK. A little too shiny on the hard plastic bits. I wish they made a nice flat black one (not the serpent).

 

[tekgeeek]

I have an inspiretech slim case. Had it on my iPhone for about 4 months now and it's been pretty nice. My phone is still pretty scratch free.

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[Muadib]

I got the Sport Grip from Marware, and haven't had one regret. If you've ever dropped a phone,
then silcone is what you need. I've never had pocket lint stick to it either.

 

[krypto1300]

My top 2 are...

1. http://www.seidioonline.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=2374

2. http://www.goincase.com/products/category/iPhone%203G


The Seidio innocase II is just about the best case I've ever tried for my 1st gen & my new 3G. It has a very slight rubber feel, but nothing like a silicone case, while offering a hard plastic look. They are also the slimmest case I could find. They're definitely head turners in a room of iPhones.

The metalic color incase Sliders are also quite the head turner while not being to flashy. They are not as slim as the Seidio though.

 

[KeithTalent]

Bumping this thread loking for recommendations!

Does anyone have recommendations on what a good case would be for someone worried about dropping their iTouch?

I am horrible for dropping things (I dropped my Zune a bunch of times and I've lost count of how many times I've dropped my Blackberry, even once right in to the toilet and it kept on ticking) and the iTouch feels kind of delicate, so I am quite concerned about dropping the thing.

I was looking around for full body cases, but can't really seem to find anything as they all seem to only cover the back. I have no problem with having to open up something to get at the screen because I tend to just put something on and leave it on for quite a while. I used socks for my Zune, but I think I need something more durable for the iTouch.

Looking at most of the ones above they do not seem to cover this off properly.

Any other recommendations would be very much appreciated

Thanks!

KT

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I love the inCase slider. It's sexy. I've used it on my iPod Touch 1G, my gf's iPod Touch 2G, my iPhone 3GS, and my friends use it for their iPhones too. Amazing.

Agent 18 has been awesome for my friend's Nano and my iPod Classic 4G, but I haven't gone back to them since. I'm surprised someone said it's flimsy.

Edit: What the hell, I posted here 1 yr ago? Well my response stands. inCase slider!

 

[KeithTalent]

I love the inCase slider. It's sexy. I've used it on my iPod Touch 1G, my gf's iPod Touch 2G, my iPhone 3GS, and my friends use it for their iPhones too. Amazing.

Agent 18 has been awesome for my friend's Nano and my iPod Classic 4G, but I haven't gone back to them since. I'm surprised someone said it's flimsy.

Edit: What the hell, I posted here 1 yr ago? Well my response stands. inCase slider!

Whoa, sorry, did not realize it was quite that old, I just did not want to make a whole new thread.

Anyway, those look ok, but are there no cases that cover the entire thing front and back? Everything seems to only cover the back.

Ideally there would be a clear case that covers the entire iTouch, with just maybe one hole where the home button is so I could press it to light up the screen if need be and maybe the front part could slide or unhinge the if I need to do something with the screen. My search for such a thing has been fruitless so far.

KT

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Whoa, sorry, did not realize it was quite that old, I just did not want to make a whole new thread.

Anyway, those look ok, but are there no cases that cover the entire thing front and back? Everything seems to only cover the back.

Ideally there would be a clear case that covers the entire iTouch, with just maybe one hole where the home button is so I could press it to light up the screen if need be and maybe the front part could slide or unhinge the if I need to do something with the screen. My search for such a thing has been fruitless so far.

KT

What do you mean cover it? What about the screen itself? You want that covered too? The incase thing has a front ridge so your screen itself is recessed which helps in a drop. I just go with the incase + screen protector.

I guess most of these cases are shells... protective shells, but from what you've said it seems like you want something that wraps the whole thign up. So how do you use it? Take it out of the case? In such a circumstance, I guess you're looking for something different than what most of the products sitting at the Apple store are. I'm not as familiar with those cases.

 

[KeithTalent]

What do you mean cover it? What about the screen itself? You want that covered too? The incase thing has a front ridge so your screen itself is recessed which helps in a drop. I just go with the incase + screen protector.

I guess most of these cases are shells... protective shells, but from what you've said it seems like you want something that wraps the whole thign up. So how do you use it? Take it out of the case? In such a circumstance, I guess you're looking for something different than what most of the products sitting at the Apple store are. I'm not as familiar with those cases.

That's correct, I would want the whole thing covered and I would need to take it out of the case to actually use the screen.

I guess I am weird for wanting something like that, but I don't really care too much about the ease of use and I definitely do not care about the aesthetics of the case, though I prefer something clear. I'm going for maximum protection and can deal with minor annoyances like having to remove it from the case for use.

I'll go take a closer look at the one you are using though, if I use those two things in tandem it may give me enough protection from myself.

KT

 

[sygyzy]

Consider not getting a case at all get a full-body Invisibleshield. The phone was made to be thin and you defeat the idea by putting it in a shell.

 

[KeithTalent]

Consider not getting a case at all get a full-body Invisibleshield. The phone was made to be thin and you defeat the idea by putting it in a shell.

I don't have the phone, just the pod and I don't really care how thin it is if it's going to be lying cracked on the ground.

KT

 

[maddogchen]

I have a Speck candyshell. seems good.