Agent18 Shield iPhone 3G

I’m a little embarrassed by this purchase. I had spent a long time reading reviews, looking at various cases and even watching superb videos on YouTube that reviewed various cases...convincing myself that this was the case for me.

It wasn’t until it arrived that I realised I had been in such a rush, I failed to notice one very important point...this thing is open at the front!! There is no protection for the screen area at all, other than the surrounding plastic ridge.

And keep reading, it gets worse :-)

Keeping the price in mind, I was gutted. $50 for a case that doesn’t cover the whole iPhone, when I’m also reviewing a $24 case that covers everything. Something’s not right.

That said, I do like this case. Unlike the Crystal case, this case clicks together, so the first thing you do is open it up, slip the iPhone in face down and then click the two parts together. It feels a sturdy fit. Inside the back are two pads that help make sure the phone sits tight in the case. To open, there is a small slot that you use a coin in two twist the two sides of the casing open.

Like the Crystal, the casing has openings for the sleep/wake button at the top, a left-side opening for the volume and vibrate buttons, camera opening, headphone jack opening as well as one long opening at the bottom for charging and the speaker and microphone. These holes are bigger in size in some areas such as the headphone jack. This is good for the fact that you might use an unusual headphone plug, but will also allow dirt in possibly.

The face is completely open, including the Home button being exposed, with the surround of the case being slightly raised, meaning if it fell face down on to a flat surface the screen is unlikely to contact that surface.

Whilst this is superb to get at the iPhone screen, I have concerns if I do drop it at an odd angle or towards an irregular shape....not that I want to drop it. There’s also some discussion on the Apple site about what actually happens with the iPhone in a rigid case if you drop it....well to be honest, I don’t want to ever find out. I can’t imagine there being an attractive and easy-to-use case that will ever provide as much protection as needed.

With the case on, the phone won’t slip into to either the Apple iPhone 3G dock, nor the Universal dock I will review. “Don’t panic” I said to myself, as it has an “Agent 18 dock adaptor” included....only (again) I should have had a really good read of this. This adaptor “Docks in any Universal Docking device.”....so I actually need the Apple Universal Dock by the looks of things...so I’m going to be spending more money!!

I have to say though, the text can often be very misleading. The above comments “Docks in any Universal Docking device” might make me think it will work with the Universal Dock (no brand...not Apple) I review here later also....but it won’t. It does easily connect to a USB dock connector however.

All-in-all, this is a nice case and looks more professional than the Crystal case...but at double the price, you’d expect that. I only wish that the face had some form of protection. As it is, I’m probably going to stick with this one as I have found that it can be used with a “no brand” screen protector film that I will also shortly review. I will also go off and buy an Apple Universal dock so that the dock connection adaptor that came with it (wish it was white and not black, as it sticks out) can be used.