As any iPhone owner knows, it is easy to get addicted to this little piece of technology. Just as iPhone owners love their iPhones, they equally love the case it’s in. It’s a way to dress it up, customize it, as well as protect it. It’s kind of a status symbol to express who you are. Here is a rundown on the types of cases I reviewed and my take on them.

Hard Shell, Form Fit Cases

1) SGP Ultra Thin

The Ultra Thin case is just a back cover for the iPhone 3G/3Gs. It will do a great job at protecting the scuffs. The outside of the SGP Ultra Thin case is a hard plastic material that didn’t scratch after five days of use. The inside of the case is a smooth plastic that did not scratch or mark up my phone in anyway. The Ultra Thin case is designed to come “up to” the chrome bezel and not cover it or protect it at all. The SGP Ultra Thin is the type of case for someone looking for minimal bulk, while protecting the back from scratches. I do not recommend this case to anyone that wants to protect their iPhone from drops,bumps,etc.This case feels good in the hand, it feels like there is not a case on the iPhone at all. The SGP Ultra Thin is a decent case for what it was intended for.

2) Griffin Elan Form Chrome

The Elan Form Chrome by Griffin is a slider style case that merges the appeal of leather with the protection of hard polycarbonite plastic. Slightly less than perfect molded chrome accents on the face,sides,top,bottom and back. Just like the regular Elan Form from Griffin, you can slide the bottom off for connection to the Apple iPhone 3G/3Gs dock and any other compatible third party docking system. A screen protector and a micro fiber cleaning cloth is included. My overall impression with this case after about two weeks of using it is not that good. For starters the case looks awesome, it has the look in between a naked iPhone with the chrome accents and the Blackberry Bold with the leather back.
Aside from the good looks, the Elan Form Chrome scratched the bezel at the top and bottom of the iPhone. The bottom of this case eventually got terribly loose and would start to slide off throughout the day. It never actually fell completely off, but it was not as snug as I would have liked it to be. Along with the bottom piece loosening up, the sides of the case got real “squeaky” and was beginning to feel and sound cheap. This is just my opinion of this case but it gets a thumbs down on quality.

3) Otterbox Defender Series

For most people, the iPhone was a pricey investment. At 300$ it is not a cheap phone so you want to protect it.
The first thing I noticed about the Otterbox Defender case was that it was the most rugged looking case for the iPhone that I have ever seen. The case comes docked in a belt clip in which the Otterbox did not make the clip a permanent part of the phone. This is a plus in my opinion, I have seen so many nice cases ruined because the belt clip is part of the case, not having a separate holder.
The Otterbox Defender is actually a 2 part case, it has a hard plastic inner shell with a soft rubber shell that fits like a glove over the plastic shell. This gives you the best of both worlds, a nice soft feel with a very protective shell. This case provides a lot of shock protection but is still not waterproof. The defender will protect against dust,sand,and light precipitation.
At the bottom the rubber pulls up for the connector and at the top the rubber pulls up above the headphone jack. Also on the top and left side you have extruding buttons for power and speaker volume.
On the back of the case there is a small clear window for the camera and Otterbox was nice enough to make another larger window to expose the Apple logo for some added style. The screen is covered by a thin layer of plastic which I actually removed with an exacto knife due to the watermark effect that was caused on the screen. My overall opinion of this case is 2 thumbs up, I highly recommend this case to anyone looking for ultimate drop protection for their iPhone. The only downside about this case is that you lose the sleek look and feel of the original designed iPhone. But one will have to weigh their options when deciding on a case.

4) Incase Slider

The Incase Slider case is the best hard shell form fitting cases on the market today. It is a 2 piece hard plastic shell that fits nice and snug on the iPhone. The iPhone slides into the top piece gliding in on 2 rubber rails to prevent scratching. After the iPhone is in the top part of the case the bottom slides on which also has 2 rubber rails. The case locks in real tight and the iPhone has no movement in the case at all. It has openings for all the functions of the iPhone and all the cutouts are perfect and inline. The Incase Slider offers very good drop protection and lay on the table design all while adding only 1mm of thickness to the naked iPhone. The Incase Slider get 2 thumbs up for protection,style and design.

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