Review: Case-Mate Tough case for iPhone 4S

Paid: $35

Purchased: eBay

Summary:

Looks good, feels great and (mostly) provides excellent protection, but still with one or two minor flaws.

Case Philosophy

Even more so perhaps than the gadgets themselves, cases tend to be quite personal.  People look for different things and can sometimes have very different requirements, so I'm going to begin with a word on my philosophy on cases.  To my mind the most important thing about the case is that it provide protection.  A case that provides no practical protection merely covers up the device and, particularly with visually-striking devices such as iPhones, hiding an aesthetically beautiful device behind a case that provides no meaningful protection seems pointless.

However, there are different types of protection.  For example, some review sites seem to care a lot about whether as much of the device's surface is covered as possible.  I can't see the point in this -- fine dirt will get in no matter what you do.  To me protection means saving the expensive gadget from a potentially catastrophic impact -- something the glass-covered iPhone 4/4S is particularly vulnerable to.  After all, if you just care about protecting the phone from scratches, you may as well simply invest in some cheap and unobtrusive protective film while enjoying the world-class industrial design (and hoping you don't get slippery fingers).

When protecting against impacts, in my view it is largely unnecessary for every single surface to be covered up.  For example, some cases provide elaborate removable plugs that can be removed to access dock connectors and side volume buttons.  I can't see the point in this as exposing these parts of the device provides a negligible reduction in protection against impact as long as some part of the case extends beyond the device on any axis along which the phone may impact the ground if dropped.

Finally, I prefer cases to look good and be at least a little stylish.  My preference here is usually for leather, but leather cases for iPhones seem to fall in to one of two categories: they are either difficult access or relatively unprotective. The difficult to access cases include various pouches and flip cases where actually activating the device involves uncovering/removing it from the case in addition to pressing a button.  As someone who uses their phone regularly and actively, I know I would find this just too annoying in practice.  The unprotective leather cases leave some edge of the device exposed (either of the top or the front face) such that, if the device were dropped on the wrong angle, the case would do little to mitigate the impact.  Having experienced the results of such an impact stemming from an unprotective leather case on my previous phone (iPhone 3GS), this is something I specifically wanted to avoid with the mostly glass 4S.

So, in short, what I was looking for in an iPhone case was something protective against impacts (particularly drops) and looks reasonably classy while still being easy to access and use the device.  So how does the Case-Mate Tough case measure up to these requirements?

“Rambo, only pocket sized?”

The Case-Mate Tough case packaging comes with the tagline: Think Rambo, only pocket sized.  A big claim, at least with respect to protectiveness -- I'm not sure the Sly Stallone's mullet could be considered classy.

The source of these claims comes largely from what Case-Mate refers to as "dual layer protection".  That is, the case itself is made up of two separate pieces -- an inner layer of silicon-like material and an outer, more rigid, layer of polycarbonate plastic.  The idea is that the combination of these two materials provides superior protection compared with cases made solely out of just one, although it should be noted that the inner silicon layer is somewhat thinner compared with most stand-alone silicon wraps. 

Obviously, to test this scientifically would involve propelling multiple iPhones in different types of cases at various hard surfaces and measuring the results.  As I'm not in a position to perform such an experiment, I'll only say that the claim makes sense to me both intuitively and having handled the case itself.  I've never entirely trusted hard cases to protect devices properly if an impact comes in at the wrong angle with the force being transferred directly through the case and to the device itself.  Similarly, I've always been sceptical of the ability of a silicon case to absorb significant impacts as the case itself has no ability to transfer the force of an impact in a way that avoids this going through the device.  (However, I must confess that my wife's silicon case seems to have done a reasonably good job of protecting her iPhone 4 against all kinds of abuse... although this may be largely luck!)

To my way of thinking, the Tough case's way of dealing with impacts mirrors that of car manufacturers.  That is, modern car body shells are designed such that impacts are transferred through the shell and, as much as possible, away from the occupants while airbags are used to cushion occupants against those impacts that can't be so transferred.  The hard, outer polycarbonate shell of the Tough case extends beyond the edges of the phone itself in all directions and, it seems likely, in the event of a drop, the impact would largely be transferred through the hard shell parallel to (rather than directly through) the device itself.  However, the silicon inner layer also extends past the edges of the phone (and indeed the hard shell) in most directions, and it seems likely this would partially absorb heavy impacts before these even reach the hard shell.  In particular, this provides a significant buffer to the front face of the phone although, if dropped face-first on to a protruding surface such as a rock, the case would obviously be of little benefit (although screen protectors would likely help somewhat).  The only area of the phone not protected in this way by the silicon shell is obviously the back of the case where the outer shell fully covers the soft silicon inner.

Rambo's Soft Spots

The Tough case does, however, have a couple of potential weak points when it comes to protection.  On the top of the case, the hard shell only extends very slightly beyond the top of the sides of the phone, with the result being that the majority of the phone's top is protected only by the silicon shell.  While the hard shell extends slightly past the top of the rear of the phone, if dropped at exactly the wrong angle towards the front, the outer shell would probably provide very limited protection.

Note the join between the hard outer shell and the soft inner silicon layer.

Fortunately, the top of the phone is where the silicon layer is at its most thick.  However, the same is not true of the bottom.  Here, the silicon layer runs both above and below the phone's dock connector and speakers.  However, the layer above (aligned with the phone's front face) is relatively flimsy and exposed.  Although fitted more tightly than many silicon shells, it takes very little pressure for this to slide away from its intended position, leaving the edge of the phone exposed.  It seems distinctly possible that, if dropped on the wrong angle, the silicon could be pushed out of position during the impact and a substantial amount of the force transferred to the phone.  I imagine that you would have to be pretty unlucky for this to happen in practice, but it is an unfortunate weakness in the design.

The piece of silicon along the lower top edge is not well supported and prone to movement.

Perhaps worse is the way the bit of silicon at the bottom of the phone constantly slides around when touched.  For example, it irritatingly stretches and slides out of position when putting the phone into or taking it out of my jeans pocket.  I imagine this could be easily fixed either by linking the top and bottom of the silicon shell along the phone's bottom edge in line with the screws or, even better, by extending the hard outer shell in this area.  It's fair to say though that these are relatively small criticisms -- the danger of damage from impacts due to this issue is probably very small -- but I do quietly wonder whether the wear and tear from stretching the silicon in this place will cause problems long term.

Shows the undesirable flexibility of this part of the silicon layer.

Rambo in a Tux

So the case is very protective... but does it look any good?  In short, yes.  The silicon inner layer is certainly nothing to write home about, but this is mostly covered by the hard outer shell.  Fortunately, this polycarbonate shell is actually, somehow, a bit special.  Unlike many similar shells, it doesn't feel or look plasticy.  In fact, it has a slightly soft, slightly grippy feel that actually feels great in your hand.  Unlike many plastic shells, it has an matte finish meaning it doesn't pick up scratches easily (for example, from being squashed into the same pocket as your keys) and its almost rubbery surface means it doesn't feel like it will easily slip out of your hand.  Without wanting to raise expectations too high, just about everyone who has picked up the case has actually commented on how nice it feels. Considering the case costs little more than many silicon shells, arguably it represents pretty good value. Is it as classy as leather?  No.  It certainly doesn't visually scream quality the way a really nice leather case can.  But it still looks good and feels even better when you actually go to pick it up.

Practical Hero

There are certainly more protective cases out on the market but, as I said, these seem to revel in their impracticality.  Unlike many of these, the Tough case adds very little bulk -- I would say little more than a good quality silicon wrap.  Similarly, I haven't had any problems accessing the dock connector or other external controls.  The coverage around the earphone jack is reasonably tight though and might cause problems if you have a bulky headphones plug.  I certainly haven't had any issues so far though. The volume buttons and lock button are fully covered, but easily operated. The cut out around camera is quite wide (not the same as some pictures I've seen on the web of what must be an older model of the case), but this is unlikely to cause any problems unless you happen to drop the camera lens onto a small rock and the wide design probably helps ensure that the flash throws as wide a beam as possible.

Note large cutout around the camera.

So no practical complaints?  Well, the flimsy piece of silicon along the bottom that is easily stretched when taking the phone out of a pocket is easily my biggest gripe.  The only other practical problem I can see is that the silicon layer, like most silicon wraps, seems to attract pocket lint very easily.  Fortunately very little of the silicon layer is exposed and the lint seems to come off easily enough, so I'm really just nitpicking here.

Conclusion

If you want a case that gives easy access your phone while providing well-above average protection and looking/feeling great (albeit without the class of a less practical/protective quality leather case), Case-Mate Tough case is an excellent option.  If it weren't for flaws in the design of the silicon layer, particularly along the bottom, I would be raving about it.  Still, these are relatively minor criticisms and, overall, if these requirements are lined with your own, this case definitely deserves to be on your short list.