Z World: May 2011

A few weeks ago when I received an email letting me know that the Speck ToughSkin for the iPhone 4 was finally available, I was very excited. I loved the ToughSkin for my 3GS, when I initially heard there was going to be an iPhone 4 version... Well, see here for some of my raving about it. Needless to say I ordered one straight away. I've been living with it on my phone for a couple of weeks now, but I'm not nearly as happy with the iPhone 4 version as I was with the 3GS one.

The "case" actually consists of three parts. First up is a hard thin plastic shell case that clips to the iPhone, providing protection by itself, but also having some ridges moulded into it to give the main silicone case some grip. This snaps on very easily, adding minimal bulk to the phone - which is a good thing as it's actually held on so tightly it's very difficult to remove.

Next up is a silicone case. The iPhone pops in and out of it easily, but not too easily as with the OtterBox Defender I had. The silicone fits snugly and looks quite well integrated with the phone as a whole.

   Finally there's a holster/stand into which you can mount the iPhone either screen in or out. (No pictures of this.) It seems to hold the phone relatively securely, but I'm not the kind of person who wears my phone in a holster so I've not actually tried it out.

   So there's some good and some bad with the new iPhone 4 ToughSkin. (I can't help comparing it against the 3GS ToughSkin.) The first case layer is really quite nice. It's just a thin shell with good clearance cut outs around all the switches and cameras - it doesn't cover any of the buttons. The ridges and bumps that are incorporated to give the outer silicone case some purchase also give your hand some. I was always vaguely worried about the naked iPhone 4 slipping out of my hand. At the same time, because it's a simple hard plastic case, it's still very easy to slip in and out of your pocket. I leave my phone in this layer all the time now. Though I must admit, this is partly because even though it's a bit of a struggle to get the iPhone into its "jogging" case with that layer on, it's easier than getting that first layer of ToughSkin off.
   Overall the system used on the 4 version is much better than the 3GS version, where the inner "case" was really just a flimsy frame with some lugs on it to hold the silicon. This new first layer is all good. Unfortunately, its not why I bought the case. Even more unfortunately it's about all the "good" that there is left in the product.
   The outer silicone case is really what the ToughSkin is all about, the rest is just there to support the silicone. Either physically, or just to round out the overall "do anything" package that the ToughSkin is meant to represent. My biggest gripe with the case is that's it's significantly less grippy than the 3GS one was. You could throw the 3GS ToughSkin down on almost anything, at any angle, and it would grip and cling there like a spider. It was fantastic. (It also made it a pig of a thing to put in your pocket, but I was happy to make that tradeoff.)
   The ToughSkin for iPhone 4? Well, you can put it in your pocket much easier. If you throw it down on something it's more likely to bounce off than stick and grip. If you leave it on the dash of your car it'll slide roll and tumble.
   I'm not that clumsy Speck. I don't really need all that extra rubber around the phone because I drop it every three steps. I want it there so my phone is super grippy and will stay where I put it, regardless of how precarious a location I decide to leave it. It doesn't do this, so the case fails at the primary purpose I bought it for.
   Adding further salt to the wound, the case isn't flat on the back. Another positive of the 3GS ToughSkin was that it took a phone with a rounded back and made it flat. This meant that you could type on it while the phone was sitting on a desk without it rocking around crazily. The iPhone 4 lies flat without a case, but speck have made the back of the ToughSkin 4 with 3 flat panels. It's not quite a curve, but it still has enough shape that the phone rocks and moves side to side if you're trying to type on it while on a desk. Very annoying and anti-utilitarian. Worse still the "Speck" branding is right in the middle of the case, and slightly raised, adding more to the rocking abilities of the case. Letting your branding interfere with your product is a massive fail as far as I'm concerned - it just associates a negative experience with your brand. I look at the way the way the silicone portion of the iPhone 4 ToughSkin case is designed and shake my head sometimes.
   So overall: Fit and finish is great. The inner hard case is really quite nice (something I wasn't counting on). The multiple inner plastic to outer silicone attachment points really help the silicone case to fit well. To my mind the styling isn't as aggressive as the 3GS version - it's more stealth fighter than rock crawler tyre. Functionally it seems as though it'd be very protective in a drop situation, but far far more prone to sliding off something and falling than the 3GS version.

   I'm keeping it on my phone for now, but I'm still casting my eye around for an iPhone 4 case that captures all the good qualities of the iPhone 3GS ToughSkin. It's just a shame that the iPhone 4 version isn't that product.