How you choose to protect--or not protect--your iPhone is a matter of personal choice. Sure, plenty of people like to leave their iPhone naked, reasoning that any protective cover diminishes its sleekness. But the majority of iPhone owners realize it's probably a good idea to give your precious device some degree of armor, particularly if you don't like the idea of seeing your iPhone's lovely finish dinged and scratched up over time.
Going rugged isn't always pretty.
If that's the kind of heavy-duty shielding you're looking for, this is the list for you. Now, we can't guarantee all these cases will protect your iPhone--and particularly its screen--in the event it gets dropped or has a large object fall on it, but at least they give it a better chance of surviving unscathed.
While we tried to pick tough, protective cases that look good and don't make your iPhone too bulky, we should point out that a few of the cases have more extreme designs that aren't intended for everyday use. We should also note that some of the more rugged cases can be a bit of a chore to remove and aren't friendly toward iPod docks. And finally, before slipping your iPhone into any of these case, be sure to wipe your iPhone off carefully because having any bigger dirt particles wedged between your case and the back of your iPhone or the chrome trim can lead to scratches.
Click on any image to begin slideshow.
Note: The top 20 is listed in alphabetical order, not by ranking. If you don't agree with our choices or feel we missed some, please submit a comment, and we'll consider making changes in our next update of the list.
(Credit:
Hard Graft)
Fancy a handmade leather case for your digicam? If you have $73 to spare, perhaps you can consider the new High camera case just announced by Austrian company Hard Graft. Made entirely from pure new wool felt and selected Nappa leather, this protective sleeve has a strip on the outside so you can slip your hand through it to hold the case while you shoot.
Personally, I think $73 is a lot of money for a camera sleeve. I'd rather pay $9 for a Lowepro hard case to put my compact in. But if you like such luxury items, check out Hard Graft's Web site for more details.
(Source: Crave Asia)
This "Eleven Commandments" bible mod came as something of a surprise--we always assumed God was an iMac user, given that he's such a creative chap. Click on the photo for more extreme case mods.
(Credit: Freezefreeks.de)Before laptops, World War II, and dinosaurs, desktop PCs ruled the Earth. And they were dull. And they were beige. And nobody liked them.
Unsurprisingly, many users attempted to modify their desktop PCs in increasingly extreme ways. Some added stickers, others added flashing lights, while some--jobless students, mostly--pimped their rigs until they were utterly unrecognizable as PCs.
Today, we pay homage to those men and women of the modding scene by presenting to you the 20 most pimped-out case transmogrifications ever conceived. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will wonder why some of these people even bothered.
Above all, however, you will be thankful you bought a laptop.
Read more of "The 20 most extreme case mods of all time" at Crave UK.
One of many cases for the iPod Touch.
(Credit: Speck)So you've managed to get your hands on one of the world's most sought-after MP3 players, the Apple iPod Touch. This sleek and innovative device will keep you plenty entertained for sure--especially with new music apps from Pandora and AOL adding Internet radio capability--but you'll soon realize that a little extra investment can help you get the most out of your player.
For one thing, those stock Apple earbuds aren't the best-sounding--or most comfortable--headphones to be had. The first step is to upgrade, and our top headphones list is an excellent place to start. Pay special attention to models with built-in mics, such as the Klipsch Image S4i, which not only allow you to take advantage of the player's voice apps but also include an inline remote with playback controls.
Once you get your music piping through some decent headphones, check out some other add-ons that can help you protect and enhance your player. Also, don't overlook the player's value in terms of home audio and be sure to check out our top iPod speakers.
Beamer, an iPhone case with a built-in LED light, will only be available for purchase if at least 500 people preorder it.
(Credit: Quirky.com)It's not like us to get too excited about an iPhone case, but this one shines--literally--because it's the very device I was wishing for last month while traveling in Europe.
This iPhone day shot of the Leaning Tower of Pisa turned out just fine, but my night shots didn't work at all. Beamer would have helped.
(Credit: Michelle Meyers/CNET)Beamer, as the name connotes, is an iPhone case with a built-in LED light you can turn on to use as both a flashlight and a camera flash. Just the thing I needed when I wanted to shoot the Leaning Tower of Pisa at night with my iPhone, having left my real camera back at our hotel.
And it sure would have helped in Paris when we returned at night to our historic apartment building and had to climb six flights up a pitch-black spiral staircase. (I did light the way with my iPhone, but this would have been much better.)
Beamer has a hard-plastic, two-piece design, equipped with a replaceable coin cell battery that provides about 10 hours of illumination. Pressing the silicone button once will turn the light on for 10 seconds. Pressing it twice in a row will leave it on indefinitely, or until you press it a third time. It comes in an array of bright colors.
The case is just the latest design from Quirky, a relatively new collaborative design community that also conceived of the super-cute DigiDude tripod and that cool Watt Time light-bulb shaped alarm clock.
In line with Quirky's crowd-sourced production model, the Beamer won't be available for consumers until 500 orders have been made, at which point those who have committed to buying it will be charged $32. Right now, 44 prospective Beamer owners have preordered.
(Credit:
iSkin)
iSkin's colorful, form-fitting Solo line of iPhone cases has some of the slicker designs out there. Now the company has come out with the "special-edition" Solo FX SE, which sports a "luxurious outer surface treatment" that combines an "understated" matte finish with a "subtle," embossed, designer pattern.
Available in Onyx (black), Cosmo (pink), and Ice (white) for $34.99 (list), the Solo FX SE is the only Solo infused with Microban antimicrobial product protection that iSkin says prevents the growth of odor-and-stain-causing bacteria on the product.
This Solo is also the first to come with two different protective-screen films: one that's clear and one that's mirrored "and comes alive when the iPhone goes to sleep."
Comments? Anybody like iSkin's iPhone cases?
Perhaps you remember Case-mate's 99-cent cardboard iPhone "recession" case, which we wrote about back in September and deemed one of the better product publicity stunts in recent memory. Well, Case-mate is now hosting a decorate-your-recession-case contest with users submitting photos of their creations. The pic with the most votes wins a Suzuki moped from the '80s.
We gotta say, the entries are pretty amusing, and while cardboard is never going to look upscale, the decorated cases are pretty hot in a sort of avant garde way.
Check out the slideshow below and feel free to let us know your favorite. We'll add more photos as entries come in (thanks to Case-mate for allowing us to post them here).
Note: The contest ends at 11:59:59 p.m. ET on November 30, 2009. To enter, visit recessioncase.case-mate.com.
Enlighten: Case-mate's solution for nighttime reading on the Kindle.
We've seen a few Kindle cases that offer built-in lights so you can read in dimly lit environments, but Case-mate's Enlighten is unusual in that it features a lighted acrylic panel that sits on top of your Kindle instead of an LED light with a flexible neck.
Due out in December, Case-mate's billing the $79.99 Enlighten as "the first case on the market equipped with a LED-powered light for nighttime reading as well as an interior side pocket for storage."
Here are its key features:
- Clear acrylic panel with integrated LED light with two levels of brightness
- Old English book style with genuine leather exterior and locking hinges to secure the device
- Interior side pocket for storage
- View prior pages using the previous page button
- Two AAA batteries (included) provide a maximum of 24 hours reading time
- Available in December ($79.99)
We've been playing around with an early unit, and it works pretty well although the light doesn't splay across the screen as uniformly as it does in the included press-release images (on the left side, the light leaks onto the Kindle screen and creates an interesting ripple effect). Hopefully, Case-mate can tweak the lighting a bit before launch because overall the design of the unit--aside from making your Kindle substantially heavier--is attractive and the acrylic panel does offer another layer of screen protection.
What do you guys think? Hot or not?
Additional reading: Top Kindle cases and accessories
When it comes to in-flight movies, it's hard to beat the convenience of an iPhone or iPod Touch.
But comfort? That's another story. Either you're holding the device upright for 2 hours or propping it awkwardly on the tray table (where the slightest turbulence can knock it over).
I speak from experience when I say that both methods can leave you with strained eyes and a sore neck.
Enter SeatBuddy, which straps your iPhone or Touch to the seat in front of you for comfortable, hands-free, close-to-eye-level viewing.
As you can see in the video, the SeatBuddy is basically a rubberized case with straps that allow it to hang over the top of the seat-back tray table (which must stay closed, natch).
What you don't see in the video is that you can affix Velcro tabs (included) to each strap, thus allowing you to secure the SeatBuddy to a treadmill or the back of a car seat (by wrapping the straps around one of the headrest's poles).
I think this little gizmo is reasonably priced at $19.95 (plus $3.95 for shipping), though obviously there are other solutions that cost less.
For example, if all you need is a stand that'll keep your iPhone propped up on a tray table, it's hard to beat the $5 GoGo Stand (which, incidentally, fits in your wallet).
And don't forget my all-time favorite: The do-it-yourself iPhone business-card stand.
Of course, those solutions don't have quite the same go-anywhere appeal as the SeatBuddy, which also leaves you more room to move around in your seat and reduces the eyestrain that comes from looking downward for hours at a time.
What do you think? Is this the answer to a frequent-flier's prayer, or is $20 too much to pay when you can accomplish more or less the same thing with an airsickness bag?
I got the Jesus phone and a Platinum Plus card. Isn't that enough street cred for you?
(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)I'm not a fan of protective case for gadgets (which, as long as they function, are fine the way they are, even with a few scratches). For this reason, the only things I've put on my iPhone 3GS so far, and only when I travel, are the Mophie Juice packs, which add more battery life to the phone.
I just, however, found a new protective case that I actually am going to use more regularly, for the sake of convenience. It's the Case-Mate I.D. case.
Unlike other protective cases that try to be as slim as possible, the I.D. case deliberately bulks out at the phone's back to create a small pouch that's just large enough to fit two credit cards or, in my case, my driver's license and a library card (yes, I read).
Of course, you can swap these out for any two cards you want. The point is this is very convenient, especially when the iPhone is something a lot of us don't want to be separated from. And I would like to stress the inseparable notion, as you definitely don't want to lose the phone and the two important cards attached to it.
Despite the added functionality, the case actually only adds another 2.5 mm (about one-tenth of an inch) of thickness to the phone, compared with other purely protective cases.
Other than that, the Case-Mate I.D. is very much like most protective cases. It comes with an easily attached protective film for the phone's screen and another protective layer for the back of the phone (so the card won't mess up all the fingerprints you've gathered).
The Case-Mate I.D. works with both the iPhone 3G and 3GS. It comes in eight colors and costs $30, which is a little more expensive than other cases that add no extra usability to the phone.
