iPhone 4 owners: Let's see what your case looks like...

O

ozziegn

The man behind the curtain...
Joined
Jan 13, 2001
Messages
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I thought it would be cool to see what kind(s) of cases people are using on their new iPhone 4s. post what you got... please include a product link of your case.

I'll start with mine. Product link

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I have a bumper case on order. But a warning to you and those that get a case that surrounds the camera/flash like that, your flash photos will look washed out. At least all the evidence I've seen on MacRumors shows that.
 
I picked up a $10 flexible plastic case from eBay. Wraps around the back of the phone with an opening for the camera, and hugs the sides while leaving the screen untouched. Should be all I'll need.
 
guys, can you try dropping your phone in that case from about 5 feet and let us know how sturdy it is? thanks!
 
lathode said:
I have a bumper case on order. But a warning to you and those that get a case that surrounds the camera/flash like that, your flash photos will look washed out. At least all the evidence I've seen on MacRumors shows that.
Click to expand...
The cases pictured thus far in this thread do not have this issue. I can say this because I have the same iFrogz case that Jstamsek has listed above, and the camera/flash opening looks very similar to the one on the OP's case. With these cases, the LED flash is unobstructed within the camera's field of view. The LED is obstructed at extreme angles but that is outside the viewable edge of the camera, so it is a non-issue.
 
I don't think that's exactly the issue he means, having those semi-reflective edges of the case opening so close to the flash and lens is going to cause light from the LED flash to reflect off those edges and back into the camera sensor, this light pollution can cause washed out images in comparison with no case. I imagine the issue varies by reflectivity and thickness of the case where the opening is
 
Waiting on Otterbox and Vaja Cases. Two of my personal favorites.

Not a big fan of most of the large scale mass produced companies that you find in big box stores and such, and that is mostly all that is out right now.
 
darkhorse said:
I don't think that's exactly the issue he means, having those semi-reflective edges of the case opening so close to the flash and lens is going to cause light from the LED flash to reflect off those edges and back into the camera sensor, this light pollution can cause washed out images in comparison with no case. I imagine the issue varies by reflectivity and thickness of the case where the opening is
Click to expand...

Indeed, here's a link with some example shots

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=950080
 
Damn, you guys are right! Sorry to misunderstand you lathode. I just tried a few test shots in a very dark room. With the ifrogz case on, part of the flash is reflected back into the lens. Here are my test shots.

Without ifrogz case:
photo-caseoff.jpg



With ifrogz case:
photo-caseon.jpg


FWIW I have the blue case, so I don't know if that is contributing to the blueness of the reflection. I'm going to email ifrogz with these pictures to see what they say. I suppose you could "ream" out the LED opening with a dremel tool to alleviate this issue, but that may look like crap.
 
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HenryBravo said:
Damn, you guys are right! Sorry to misunderstand you lathode. I just tried a few test shots in a very dark room. With the ifrogz case on, part of the flash is reflected back into the lens. Here are my test shots.

Without ifrogz case:



With ifrogz case:


FWIW I have the blue case, so I don't know if that is contributing to the blueness of the reflection. I'm going to email ifrogz with these pictures to see what they say. I suppose you could "ream" out the LED opening with a dremel tool to alleviate this issue, but that may look like crap.
Click to expand...

People on macrumors were just coloring the sides of the camera opening with a sharpie and getting good results.
 
@IcedEmotion: the sharpie trick worked, thanks for the suggestion! Now, low light pics with the case on & off are indistinguishable. At first I only "sharpied" the opening around the LED. This got rid of about 90% of the reflection. When I sharpied the entire opening including the part around the lens, it seems to have gotten rid of 100% of the reflection. The aesthetic results are good too...the black lining on the inside of the case opening looks good when flush up against the black of the phone.
 
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I snagged the Griffin Reveal a few days ago - it has worked out well, but the glass backing is scratched up already.

Otherwise - it's nice and seems compact still despite the added girth to the phone. The Rubber around the side isn't so tacky that it picks up lint from my pocket and it's easy in and easy out, too.

Overall - I'm happy with the purchase.

Note: I bought it to do 2 things - protect the phone form normal wear/tear and allow me to touch the phone the way I usually do - in my left hand with my thumb exactly where it shouldn't be according to steve jobs. In my experience, thus far, it doesn't eliminate the issue, but it does slow it down. I have adapted well to it, though by moving my thumb just a bit lower on the phone to the corner instead of where the antenna transitions.
 
I just got a Rocketfish case that seemed awesome on the surface, but the edges keep digging into my screen protector...so I'm taking it back. I need one like the OP's that covers a bit more and doesn't dig into my screen protector (Zagg InvisibleShield). Looking at the bumper, I'm wondering if it might do the same thing. In fact I like the OP's case, but I'm hoping for some more subdued colors...like normal black or navy.
 
Domingo said:
In fact I like the OP's case, but I'm hoping for some more subdued colors...like normal black or navy.
Click to expand...

my case came with two colors. yellow and black. I bought them at the AT&T store.
 
Jstamsek, the red goes really well with it. I am heavily considering it now thanks to your photos.
 
I took the Rocketfish back and bought an iFrog Lite case...which was absolutely ideal, until I discovered the whole "blue flash" problem. I can only imagine any case that has the small cut-out for the camera/flash will have. I'm back on the lookout for a Bumper. My local Apple stores never got any, and the Apple store doesn't seem very prompt with shipping. Hopefully I don't drop mine again in the next couple of days.
 
I'm waiting for the Speck Candyshell to be available.

Only at the ATT stores apparently :rolleyes:
 
Looking at the Candyshell, it still looks like the flash part of the camera is enclosed just like the cases creating the issues with "blue flash."
The iFrog case I had yesterday was a matte gray and still did it so I'd assume those will, too.

I'm paranoid of cases with a backing now.
 
Got my bumper on Monday, returned it today, it's terrible, loose fitting, doesn't fit the dock, bows on the sides when you grip it with any sort of force, super unhappy with that product, voted with my wallet on that one..

I feel sorry for anyone getting a free one from Apple, it's a terrible product..

I want a super thin stylish case that works with the stock Apple dock and covers the appropriate spots for the reception issue 'fix'. Hopefully Incase comes out with a slider or something soon, otherwise I'll probably just end up with some sort of skin/vinyl/wrap for the antenna/metal edges.
 
0ptional said:
I want a super thin stylish case that works with the stock Apple dock...
Click to expand...

Doesn't exist. The dock is tailored to the iPhone's physical specs; it simply will not accommodate a case by design, whether it's made by Apple or a third party. You might get away with a clear protective film, but the only films worth owning are usually just thick enough to make docking an exercise in brute force.

If you want a case and want to use a dock, you're just going to have to resign yourself to the fact that you'll have to remove the case before docking.
 
I'm totally ok with removing say, the bottom of a case, like the incase slider was, but with my iPhone 4 dock there is play with the position of the phone, 1mm on all sides, maybe that's a bit small but it's really all I care for, it doesn't even have to cover the front or back, just the sides, just the antenna band.. 1mm thin soft touch rubber, tight fitting with all the right cuts or some other acceptable material, plastic, w/e, just not as crappy as the bumper, etc..

I'd also be happy with Apple admitting there is a hardware fault or issuing a software fix that actually solves the issue, my hand even when tilting the phone sideways always falls onto the 'do not hold here' area and it makes using the phone infuriating..

In the Apple Store today I was returning the bumper that I ordered online, and I was trying to get my email to show them I purchased it from Apple and couldn't get a page to load despite having 5 bars and 3G showing, joined their open wifi and had no issues.. ugh.

The guy doing my return was nice and the store hasn't even gotten any bumpers to sell yet at all, they've got no iPhone 4 cases at all, this is a new store in a nice mall here, so I showed him how terribly it fit and he agreed he'd be waiting for something else for his own iPhone 4.

Also am I the only one that dislikes the new dock in that it covers part of the home button when docked? It makes it less accessible for my bedside surfing while laying in bed, ya know, the one-handed phone-in-dock surfing you do while you doze off.. yeah, annoying having to avoid the bottom lip of the dock, wtf.. both of Apple's official accessories feel shoddy this time around.. maybe I'll just use my universal dock w/ no fitting and whatever case I can find so long as it doesn't bitch and moan at me about 'not designed for iPhone' or some BS like that...

I'm a huge Apple fan and I'm just not happy with this situation at all...
 
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