Keeping the iPhone real safe (SwitchEasy CapsuleRebel)

Member Name: Pass1

Product:	SwitchEasy CapsuleRebel
Date:	18/05/09 (25 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Package complete of extra accessories and excellent protection

Disadvantages: The padding adds quite a load of bulk, can restrict the use of some headphone

Choosing the best way to protect an investment so big wasn't an easy journey. Anyone that has owned a mobile phone (read: everyone having a double digit age count) must know what a traumatizing lifestyle it must go through. Sharing a pocket or a handbag with keys, change and any other accessory we care to carry, means that through a lifetime it must withstand an incredible amount of stress.

For this reason I started looking for cases fit for the job and my first choice was a rubber one which snugly embraced it's precious cargo. Sadly this was a bad choice since the heat of Italian summer combined with the heat in my pockets meant that it soon started warping and becoming loose.

I needed something better, something that combined the padding of rubber but would keep its snug fit for a long time. After a somewhat vast amount of research I made my choice: the switcheasy Capsule Rebel.

The package took a while to get delivered but it was worth it! As the website says you get everything but the kitchen sink: on top of the (expected) case you get anti static guards, a very nice micro fiber wipe, a universal dock adapter (kind of useless for me but if you use a docking station it saves you the hassle of having to remove the case), a super useful power jack protector and best of all a video stand.

Applying the case is not easy, you first need to encapsulate the phone with the plastic/rubbery internal "sleeve" which offers most of the padding, then incase that with the skeleton that offers extra protection and stops the internal layer from becoming loose.

I must say the protection against shocks is very good, but there is a price to pay. Given that the rebel is formed of two layers it does add quite some bulk to the unit, bulk that I've got quite used to actually, and the times that I don't have it on I find that my long thumbs struggle to press the keys near the edge.

There are other issues too...

Firstly my preferred headphone's jack won't fit in the hole, so I find myself having to keep it firmly into position (not an issue with the standard iphone earpiece) until my hand hurts so much that I can no longer withstand the pain.

Secondly to switch the SIM card requires a complete removal and reapplication of both layers, which is never a nice thing to do.

These possibly minor issues aside, the case has withstood many falls, and the lip over the screen makes sure that when your friends decide to drop it on the table whilst looking at your latest pictures, it still has a chance of surviving scratchless.

My favorite accessory out of the lot is definitely the video dock stand: it allows you to perch the phone in landscape mode on a flat table. With a little help of bluetak and a slightly inclined surface (my docked laptop) I've also been able to stand it in portrait mode, although I wouldn't recommend it to the clumsy and fainthearted.

Overall I've been very satisfied with the product and at the price I paid (free as a present from my girlfriend) I would highly recommend it. That being said some people may find the price a little steep and the added bulk a complete turn-off, I still think it's the best case I've ever had: it's outlasted its predecessor and even though some of my friends curled their nose at the style I don't have to hold my breath until I turn blue when the little iPhone is passed around to see who can land the most planes (you've got flight controller too... right?).

I think that SwitchEasy has realized the issue with the "sex appeal", after all the iphone is just as sexy as it is functional, on their website you can now find a range of "RebelEssentials" which allow you to freshen up the look of your case by changing the external skeleton with different colored ones...

Final verdict: buy it if you would like everything but the kitchen sink... and you are prepared to loose some slickness on the way.

Summary: If protection is your main concern... this is the place to get it.