Review: Cozip iPhone Case

UPDATE Wed Jul 16 10:42:05 EDT 2008: Just got word from Cozip that they are working on a new version for the iPhone 3G and it should be ready on July 25th. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I’m not, in general, big on cases for my gear. But sometimes when the urge strikes, I look for the most minimal case I can find. I tote my laptop in a basic sleeve in my regular bags. I just, y’know, remember not to throw my bag around when I’m carrying the laptop. I don’t think I’ve ever had a case for any phone I’ve had that lasted more than a few days.

Fortunately, I was checking on Ben’s iPhone and he was rocking one of these Cozip cases. Generally speaking, Ben knows. Like when I used to have a Treo, I tried a few of those plastic screen protectors, but never found one that was good, so I just gave up till he comes over one day and is like, yeah, I found these ones from Hong Kong that are ok. All casual like. And lo and behold, they were.

So, I dialed up Amazon and ordered one of these bad boys. As cases go this is pretty minimal - which is exactly what I’m looking for. If this is more than a millimeter thick anywhere, I’ll be shocked. The nice thing about it is that it in the front it’s flush with the glass, so it doesn’t add any thickness to the front. It has cut outs for everything you need access to - so everything still works as advertised (although it won’t dock with the dock the iPhone comes with - but really, any case is going to prevent that, you just need to plug it straight into the cord).

The material is rubberish - but not really tacky, it doesn’t seem to accumulate dirt or lint or anything but does make the phone a good bit more grippy and that little cutout in the middle to display your Apple, it actually makes it easier to pull the thing out of the pocket. The glass, thus far, hasn’t received even a single scratch, so I’m not so worried about protecting it. The iPhone has taken a few short falls like a champ - this case probably adds only a marginal protection (hopefully it’ll pop off in a fall, absorbing some of the impact - but I’m not going to test it right now… :)

Mostly, I was looking at this because I just got a stainless steel wallet (thanks Maria!). This jingles around in my iPhone pocket so I worried that it might wear on the back of the phone. This Cozip case is pretty much a free fix for that problem adding as close to no weight or bulk as possible. Plus it looks damn cool. My iPhone is now probably 70% more ninja-like.

Another option I looked at briefly was the Agent 18 Eco Shield. Seemed pretty similar, but was two pieces and extended past the front of the screen. Seems like it might be a tiny bit bulkier and at 2x the price, I figured, I’d stick with what Ben knows. Anyone sporting one of these?

See Also: My review of the XRAP for iPhone. Another smallish case for the ol’ phone.

UPDATE: Maria just sent me a link to these Gelaskin iPhone protectors. They seem interesting what with all them designs - wish they did 1-off runs so I could print my own, but minimum 50’s a bit much. I’m not sure about the adhesive part, I’d want to see if they really came off without leaving any residue or marks… Anyone tried these?

Jan 27th, 2008 · Comments RSS · · · · · Tags: iphone