Ultra-Case Doeskin Review

[7lowe]

Personally, I don't care for cases much. However, my wife nagged me into getting one so that when she inherits my 3GS it won't have scratches on it. I figured the plastic back will scratch easier than my old 2G. Sorry, for the pic quality, but they were taken with the 3GS under not great lighting. Also, the pic of the back shows something on the left hand side midway up that turned out to be a piece of a leaf or something. The tiny hole I mentioned is barely noticeable around the camera opening.

I saw the ads on here for the Doeskin from Ultra-Case.com and it was one of the few that I thought actually looked good. I ordered the blue one and waited a few weeks for it to arrive from Hong Kong.

My first worry was that since they don't show the inside of the case on the site that it would just be plain hard plastic that might scratch the phone itself. That was unwarranted though as the inside is some red material that is extremely soft and smooth. The iPhone just snaps into the case and is held quite snugly. The case doesn't cover any of the front of the phone or the bezel, so if you dropped it face down it's still unprotected (I knew this ahead of time, so that's fine.) One thing I like about the case is that the sueded texture gives a better grip than the bare phone. With the case I can sit the phone on my leg while I'm driving and it doesn't move, whereas normally it would slide off.

As I said I ordered the blue model and it seems darker than the one in the ads, but that's probably accounted for by major lighting being used during the photo shoot.

The quality doesn't seem all that great to me. Occasionally around the edges or corners there seems to be a bump from excess material, but that's very minor. Also, there is a sort of black piece of trim that runs around the entire edge between the blue exterior and red interior and at the bottom corner by the dock connector it was separated like it might start peeling off. Hopefully a tiny drop of super glue might fix that. The final quality complaint is that underneath the blue sueded exterior is some shiny chromed looking surface and there are tiny little holes where it shows through. It wouldn't be so noticeable if the material underneath wasn't so reflective.

I wish the price was lower or the quality was better. But, overall I do like the case.

7

[caseify]

Do you find the material darkens over time from being touched? Most sueded leathers like that will unless they're treated with something. I'm interested in these but not if they'll darken with use.

[bobright]

Do they fit extremely snug? I want one of these cases so bad but ive got a invisibleshield

[7lowe]

It is very snug. If you hold the case in one hand and the phone in the other they don't even pull apart. You have to kind of pick a corner or end and pry it off.

Only had it for like 3 days, so I can't speak to the darkening yet. Though I forgot to mention a small stain on one of the corners. I tried to rub it with something wet, but it didn't come off and did make the material darker. But, when it dried out it went back to normal.

7

[ZipZapp]

As an alternative...the fit and finish of the SGP's is very good.

[majikp3]

Caveat Emptor!! I purchased the "TwoPiece" iPhone cover for $27 and what a WASTE of money! You have no idea how furious I am about the crap quality of this product! "Lightweight Polycarbon provides complete protection..." WHATEVER! My iPhone fell off my coffee table on to the floor (distance of less than 2 feet) and I have very plush carpeting, so it had a soft landing and a piece actually chipped right off the cover. This was within 2 weeks of delivery. My roomate purchased the "Shining" series for his iPhone at the same time and we could not believe the thin piece of plastic that was shipped! I wouldn't be crabbing so much if I paid $10 but for the price we paid, I expect MUCH better quality!

[ZipZapp]

I had a drop with the SGP..a bit of a nick on the edge of the phone but otherwise fine...Fall height about 4 feet.

These ultra thins provide minimal protection to back. I think if they were just a bit deeper (wrapped around phone edges better) they would be perfect lightweight solutions.