Installation, Testing and Comparison

Opening the case involves grasping at the top of the case, by the openings for the headphone jack and hold switch, then pulling the front and rear plates apart. This is not as easy as it sounds, because the front and back are very securely closed. This is definitely a good feature in terms of protecting the phone, but makes removing the phone a little bit of a hassle.

Now I have been using a screen protector from day one and do not like using my iPhone without one. Unfortunately, the extra millimeter of surface these protectors create, makes sliding the iPhone into the Showcase a little more difficult. I also had a Gelaskin on the back of my iPhone and had to remove that, otherwise the iPhone would not budge into the case.

Inserting the phone involves angling the dock port end of the iPhone into the front plate of the Showcase and then sliding the iPhone into the case. Once inserted, close the case and you are done.

The Holster has a lip that extends along the entire left side of the case when looking at the phone in a vertical position. Along this side there are two cut out areas. These spaces are for access to the volume control, whether the iPhone is facing frontward or backwards in the holster.

The other side of the holster has a central hook type clip to secure the iPhone in place. If the volume controls are facing this side, then there is no obstruction to them since the middle clip does not block the controls.

Obviously with protection such as this, there is a price to be paid. The slim iPhone does get some additional bulk. From my experience, the iPhone becomes as thick as a 40GB fourth generation iPod without the holster.

The Showcase is a nice understated case, keeping the focus on the iPhone. The clear plastic lets the elegance of the iPhone show through and the black on the rubberized surface provides a nice contrast to the native black on the iPhone.

Now, normally for testing I do not intentionally drop my iPhone in any protective case, because I do not wish to find out the case does not perform as advertised the hard way. However, in a moment of klutziness, I dropped the iPhone while housed in the Showcase onto a hard floor from a height of five feet. Well, ContourDesign makes a great product. Neither the phone nor the case was damaged. In fact, there was not a scratch on the case.