A hard case that’s… not so hard

Being someone that likes to drop his phones, having solid protection for my phone is a must.  As such, finding a case for my iPhone has always been a priority for me.  One of the cases that I tried was the Belkin Ballistic Formed Hard Case.

s

This case features a leather front coupled with a “ballistic nylon” back - a textured nylon plastic of some sort.  It also comes with a standard screen protector for the touchscreen as well.  After using the case for about a week, there are two things I noticed about this case.  First of all, this case turns your phone totally inconspicious.  With the touchscreen off, it’s hard to tell that it’s an iPhone at all.  The leather front, which extends about a 1/3cm edge to the phone, makes the case look a lot larger than the phone really is, making it feel a lot more like a PDAin your hand than a smart phone.  During those first weeks it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing; I was one of the first to get the new 3G, and the fact that it didn’t look like the 3G made me feel a little less self conscious.  For a while.  Then you finding that it’s hard to show off your iPhone when it doesn’t look like one. The other thing that I found was, due to the larger front, the phone is a lot tighter in your pant pocket.  These two things considered, I preferred a sleeker, more form fitting case.

So that pretty much covers the front of the case.  Now for the back.  Belkin advertises this case as a hard case; but technically, it’s not really hard.  The “ballistic nylon” as mentioned above, is a type of textured plastic that’s about the thickness of a folded greeting card.  It’s also flexible.  While I have confidence that this nylon would protect my phone against scratches, it doesn’t seem thick enough to provide impact absorbtion of a silicon case, nor the impact protection of a pure hard case.  I for one would am not willing to test this out.

The Verdict

This case loses in two ways for me. The front adds additional width to the phone, turning the sexy iPhone into a PDA-like size and making it uncomfortable to put in your pant pocket. On the back side, the textured ballistic nylon doesn’t give me confidence that it would protect my phone in case of a drop, which is why I am using a case in the first place.

Review Score: 2.0 out of 5

Permalink