Okay Geek Farm
GelaSkins for iPhone 4S and iPod Classic review
Jason Tsay
You want to protect your brand new iPhone but you don’t want a case nor do you want a boring clear protective film either. What do you do? You get a skin! Skins provide protection and customization without adding the bulk of a case. Today, we’ll be reviewing GelaSkins for the iPhone 4S and iPod classic. Are they any good?
Features
- Customize and protect your iPhone 4S, 4
- Skins cover the front, back & sides of the iPhone 4S, 4
- Avoid the bulk of other iPhone 4S, 4 cases with GelaSkins
- Works with other iPhone 4S, 4 covers and accessories
- Super-thin (less than 1mm) tough scratch protection
- Includes full access to the GelaSkins Wallpaper Gallery
Our Impressions
Promptly after we placed our order for the skins, GelaSkins sent us a email with the Retina Display optimized wallpaper. You can also download them off of the GelaSkins website or get their free app in the App Store. The GelaSkins come in a plastic sleeve with the 3M skin sheet inside. The iPhone 4S version includes a back decal, two side strips, and three pieces for the front (top, bottom, home button). The iPod Classic version includes a rear skin, front (faceplate, scroll wheel, button), and a screen protector film.
The skins are fairly easy to apply: just peel off the 3M backing and align with the device. The decal material is different from what clear protective films are made of an have a special adhesive and cross weave pattern. What this means is that they are pretty durable and won’t leave any residue. If you mess up while applying the skin, you can pretty easily remove it and try again although we were actually able to align it on the first try (since these skins have color they are easier to apply and line up than clear protectors). The print on the skins is very high quality, with vibrant colors and great detail. The one issue we had with our particular iPhone skin was that the coloring was off. Whereas the website and wallpaper depicted a gray color, the skin we received actually came in a more purplish hue. We think this might have been an issue with just the Mustache design because our iPod Classic skin came in a color much more similar to what we had seen on the website.
iPhone 4S
The cutouts on the GelaSkins are pretty precise - maybe a little too precise. Let me explain, the left side strip has inividual cutouts for the volume buttons and the mute switch. The volume buttons holes are so precise that they line up exactly with the sides of the buttons. If you aren’t careful when applying the skin, it’ll go on the side of the button and get in the way of pressing the button. Even if you apply properly it still feels a little unnatural to press the buttons. That said, we’re really nitpicking about this and it isn’t that big of an issue at all in usage. The mute switch leaves a longer cutout for compatibility with the older AT&T iPhone 4. It’s a little disappointing that there are only films for the sides and not the top and bottom. We’re glad the side strips are included for extra grip but it leaves an incomplete look around the metal band. On the front of the device, cutouts are also very precise - the earpiece, ambient sensor, and the camera. The precision makes the skin a little easier to apply although the ambient sensor cutout is actually wider than the black spot on the iPhone is. We assume this is also a compatibility measure for the older iPhone 4 (it stood out on our white 4S). We like the back and side films a lot but the front pieces became a bit of an annoyance after a while. They stick out unnaturally due to their thickness and really distract from what you’re looking at on the screen.
iPod Classic
The iPod Classic skin covers the rear and the face, leaving the sides, top, and bottom exposed. Although this looks better in terms of the artwork, the color contrast between the metal and the bright skin can be odd. This skin has fairly precise cutouts as well. We applied the clear screen protector first and then the face sticker, followed by the click wheel and the center button. Lining up the pieces was not an issue due to the clear design on the skin. We were able to put on the skin on our first attempt although we did remove the skin to see how hard it would be to reapply it. It turns out that the 3M adhesive is actually great for reapplication. We wouldn’t recommend taking the skin off too many times but if need be, you’ll definitely be able to put the skin back on with ease. A word of warning about the screen protector: due to the rigid material that is used, make sure you rid the screen of any dust and that you don’t accidentally get the edge of the film on the aluminum rim of the screen. If you do, the air bubble will never go away (the hard plastic doesn’t flatten to the screen). Now, we had expected that due to the thickness of the 3M decal, touch sensitivity of the click wheel would be impacted. We’re glad to report that the GelaSkins make no difference at all in regards to controls. The button and wheel are just as easy to use as before.
Overall
We really like GelaSkins because of the high quality decals and great art selection on their site. Although we ran into some issues with cutouts and coloring, we were pretty happy with our GelaSkins. If none of the designs on the site are appealing to you, the company offers options for custom skins as well.
Pro’s
- Great art selection
- High quality 3M skins
- Screen protector included (iPod classic)
Con’s
- Coloring is off (iPhone)
- Side film isn’t around entire rim (iPhone)
Where to buy
GelaSkins (iPhone 4S) — MSRP: $14.95
GelaSkins (iPod Classic) — MSRP: $14.95
///4///
This review was done by Jason Tsay, who was provided the GelaSkins by GelaSkins.
