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21 April 2011
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If I ask what the major problem with the iPhone 4 is, the majority of people will answer something along the lines of how bad the antenna design is. Second in line to this is how worried people get about cracking the glass back on their phone, or the screen for that matter. After all, an iPhone with a cracked screen isn't much good, and if the back's cracked, it's just a pain. Luckily for us there's a relatively easy, though not always inexpensive fix to this problem - a case. And today I'll be reviewing my favourite case to date; the Griffin Survivor. More info below.
Before I start the review off, I'd just like to mention that I know I haven't posted a review for the last couple of days, like I said, internet's not the easiest thing to find, and 3G coverage in my current locale isn't brilliant. Sorry boss, I will be doing my best to keep the articles going up daily. Anyway, enough of that, what you really want is the review on the case, right? Well, in case you didn't know, the Survivor is a case built by Griffin, who are fairly well known for their nifty inventions. They've come up with some very cool things, including a little connector that you plug into your iPod/Phone, and it turns any headphones you have into headphones with the Apple Remote, allowing you to change tracks and pause/play songs. It also adds a mic, so you can take calls without taking your headphones out. Griffin, if you're reading this, I would love to be able to review that. Hint hint.
Anyway, I'm getting so off topic here it's not even funny. Time for the case. Griffin states it offers three layers of protection, and they include a hard cover, a soft cover, and a screen protector. The way they all work goes like this; The hard cover is a two piece that clips together over your iPhone, and includes a screen protector (more info on that down the page). Over the top of the hard cover slips a silicon soft cover, and that fits over the top very snugly, with little tabs in the soft cover that fit into slots in the hard cover.
So that's the general idea of the case, but I want to go a bit more indepth to the different parts of the case. I'll start with the hard cover, since that's the first bit you put on. It clips together very tightly, and is the perfect fit for an iPhone 4. The result is an almost airtight fit that won't allow any dust in the side of the case, which can pose a real problem with cases like this. What has happened to me with other cases is dust gets in the side of the hard cover, which means it gets under the screen protector, and you can't get the dust out unless you take off both the hard plastic and the silicon covers. It's a real pain, but Griffin has eliminated that problem by making the hard case fit super-tight over the phone.
Next up is the screen protector. It's built in to the case, and doesn't stick directly to the screen, due to a slight bevelling on the screen-side of the protector. The good news about that is that you won't get an oil-slick effect, which occurs a lot with screen protectors, especially cheap ones. The other thing that occurs with cheap screen protectors is a nasty sticky feeling, which makes sliding your finger over the screen a bit of a pain. None of that with this, the screen is just as smooth and just as responsive. There is a slight change in the way the screen looks, but you'll quickly get used to that and won't notice. The downside to having a built in screen protector is that if you have a protector on the screen already, then you'll notice a definite decrease in responsiveness if you use this case. You can quickly fix that problem by removing the screen protector on the phone, but if you're sentimentally attached or don't want to take the screen protector off for some other reason, you're stuck. I'm not 100% on this, but I imagine the screen protector on the case can be removed, but I don't want to try it myself. If anyone can elaborate on this, let me know. The other downside I can see would be getting scratches on the built in screen protector. You can't swap it out like you can other protectors, but so far the Survivor hasn't got a scratch, and I haven't exactly been taking it easy with the case.
So now we come to the silicon part of the case. Some of the comments people have been saying round the web about the silicon is that it's "Low quality" "Sticky" and "Absolutely pathetic". Lies, all of them. The silicon doesn't stretch, doesn't stick when you try and get it into your pocket, and adds an enormous defensive layer to the case. The silicon round the sides and corners is ridiculously thick, so offers huge amounts of protection to the phone. There are tabs that cover every port and switch on the phone, and these all open easily. The buttons are probably more responsive with the case on, and the home button sticks out with the case on, instead of being an indent. Something people with fingers of the broader variety might have difficulty with is using the silent switch, but it wasn't an issue for me. Not really much more I can say about the silicon, but it is really good, no question about it.
So, as far as defense goes, how does it fare? Well, since I only have one iPhone, and I can't afford another one, I can't test it myself. But if you go on Griffin's website, you'll be able to see videos of some of the things they've put this case through, and I can tell you, it is brutal. They've thrown it off buildings, through walls, gone bowling with it, dropped it onto concrete, and it's fine. Now I don't know about you, but most of us don't do those kind of things to our phones, but it's nice to know we can. This case also offers protection against vibration, dust, even rain. And I can confirm myself that the rain resistance is good, I had it out with me on a run and the case got soaked, but the phone was completely fine.
But it's not all perfect, as we know it can't be. The major downside to these kind of cases is the added bulk. It does make the phone a fair bit bigger, but for me, that's an upside. It makes the phone easier to hold, and the added bulk makes it feel tough, as well as look tough. I know a lot of people like the slimlineness of the iPhone 4, so if you want a case that doesn't add any extra bulk to the phone, then this isn't for you. The thing is though, if you want to protect your phone, you're going to need to add bulk. It's just something you're going to have to get used to. The other downside is that dust tends to build up a little bit on the edges of the screen, due to the raised edge. It's only bugged me once, and I quickly cleaned it out, but it is a little annoying.
The other thing you might find a pain is that I doubt any iPhone dock will fit the phone while this case is on. It won't fit on my dock, nor will it fit on any at Harvey Norman. I don't use the dock very often anyway, but I know there are people that do, and this case will prevent that. The last thing that bothered me was that my aux cable in my car doesn't fit perfectly into the headphone slot. Not everyone's gonna have that problem, I imagine it's just my cheap, nasty cable, since headphones all fit fine. So overall, despite the few downsides that are inevitable on a case like this, the case is awesome. I haven't taken it off since it arrived, and I can't see myself taking it off any time soon. I'd like to thank Griffin for sending me the case, we wouldn't have been able to review it without their support.
To close, I've asked some friends to describe the case in three words. This is what they said; "It's pretty tank" "Tank, meaty, and durable" and "Grippy, green, and drop-proof". From those comments you can see why I'm writing the review and not them. How would I describe it? It's the best case I've tried, chunky enough to feel tough without being ridiculously huge, and strong without sacrificing style. Well done Griffin, you've created a bunker for the iPhone, and I love it.
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