Rhiannon Lives Here

Some people like to use a case to protect their expensive digital devices. Others prefer to keep their devices completely naked, either because they want to keep the aesthetics and form-factor, or they simply just don't care whether they drop or scratch it all that much. I fall into the former category when it comes to the iPhone 3G; as much as I like the aesthetics, the plastic back makes it really slippery with absolutely no grip, and I just couldn't live with myself if I dropped and broke it. Afterall, I'm stuck with my iPhone for the next 24 months on a contract.

Finding a case that I liked was a bit of a pain. Not many cases were available at launch, and only a small percentage of those were any good. The one that stood out to me was the Capsule Rebel, made by SwitchEasy. It has a unique visual style and plenty of colour options, and the website claims that it uses a "special new material called ADSP (Adaptive Dynamic Soft Polymer)" as well as a hard plastic shell to protect the iPhone. It retails at about AU$29.95 which is somewhat average for an iPhone 3G case at the current time.

What also attracted me to this particular case was the sheer amount of accessories that are included. Bundled with the case comes an adapter for Apple's Universal Dock, 2x static screen protectors, a squeegee to use with the screen protectors, a little plastic stand for viewing your iPhone in landscape mode while it's on your desk, a 'connector protector' which covers the port where you connect your iPhone to the USB cable, and a microfiber cleaning cloth. Phew! That's a lot of added extras. When was the last time you saw a case that came with that many extras, even the expensive ones?

Installation of the Capsule Rebel took about two minutes. It's actually two separate pieces; the soft ADSP skin that you have to pull over your iPhone first and get a snug fit, and the plastic shell part that looks a bit like a skeleton, which fits along the back and corners of the soft part of the case. You clip the hard shell's edges onto the recessed parts of the soft case to get a really snug fit. And I really do mean snug - the iPhone is pretty secure in there. You can pull at the edges to expose the iPhone's chrome bezel when the case is on, but it's not loose in any way and won't be coming off by itself. The soft part of the case covers the ringer volume up/down buttons as well as the sleep button, but doesn't affect the buttons usage at all. This is good as it minimizes the amount of dust and dirt that gets in there. The silent switch is still exposed, as is the camera lens, speaker, microphone, dock connector and headphone jack.

Regarding the headphone jack, they seem to have left enough room to be able to use headphones that have a thick connector, but I haven't tried any (my headphones have only thin plastic around the connector) so you might want to check that out before you buy, just in case.

I also haven't tried the static screen protectors that came with the case since I've already got a Power Support Anti-Glare film on my iPhone (which does a superb job by the way), but they seem quite decent and will likely be fine for most people. Whether a screen protector is even necessary for the iPhone's optical-grade glass screen is up for debate, anyway.

The Capsule Rebel makes the iPhone slightly bulkier and heavier; not by much but its definitely noticeable. Whether this bothers you or not is a personal thing. For me, I don't mind one bit as it actually makes the iPhone more comfortable to hold, gives it a fair bit more grip, and above all, makes it feel VERY protected.

Overall, I think this case is exceptionally high quality, very protective and visually unique. A lot of thought has obviously gone into the design and materials used. If you're looking for an always-on hardshell style case (well, technically it's a hardshell/softshell hybrid), then I definitely recommend this one. It gets a well-deserved score of 9/10 from me.

You can see more photos of the Capsule Rebel in my Flickr set.