Okay Geek Farm
Speck CandyShell Card iPhone 4 case review
Brandon Davenport Mar 30, 2011
Accessories, Apple, Exclusive, Gadgets, Okay Geek Review, Reviews, iPhone 
Early this year, Okay Geek (then called T3ch H3lp) got the oppertunity to attend CES for the second year in a row, and it was astonishing. We hit all the stops, shmoosed with all the big wigs, and played with enough gadgets to last a lifetime. Something that caught our attention was the Speck booth, and they happened to be announcing some pretty amazing products and we just had to check them out. I ended up walking away with a bundle of stuff that I’ve been testing for the past while, and now I’m going to review it — starting with the Candyshell Card Case.
Overview
What Speck says — “Leave your wallet at home with this convenient and ingenious iPhone 4 card case! …Just slide your cards in to store them securely, and use the handy thumb release to access your cards when you need them!”
Core features — Durable case designed for an on-the-go lifestyle, built in credit card holder (up to 3 cards), easy access to iPhone 4 buttons and a pretty decent price.
Our Impressions
The case overall isn’t pretty to look at, but the usefulness of the case really outweighs the lack of cosmetic appeal. The Candyshell Card Case is really rock solid providing some of the best protection we’ve seen from a case in a while. It also features the unique ability to hold up to 3 credit cards (or anything similar) behind your iPhone 4 and allows “easy” access to the cards when you need them, getting rid of the need to scramble through your wallet. I also found it handy to stuff cash inside the case, but I was only able to do that with Canadian bills (US money tends to tear unfortunately) but after a while, it did get old.
Something I strongly dislike about the case is the fact you really have to pry your cards out of the back, needing the strength of the hulk — I mean it’s next to impossible to get a card out in less than 5 seconds — and it’s a whole different story with multiple cards. You kind of have to dig them all out to get at the one you actually want, which sort of defeats the main purpose of the case.
Did we say this case is sturdy? Yes we did, and let me tell you why — I went out to the mall in our city to do some real-world stress tests. I used a bricked iPod Touch as a stunt double and held the case to my head. I then proceeded to let it slip out of my grip and let it plunge to the ground. I kicked it a bit, and to my surprise, no visible damage to the iPod Touch, or the case occoured. All I had to do was clean it off with the sleeve of my jacket, and it was good as new (minus a few scuffs on the rubber rim).
The tight fit of this case (a good thing) makes trying to get it off your phone a real pain in the butt, never mind putting it on. The first time I attempted to latch it to my phone was in the Las Vegas hotel room, but I was so scared that it would snap the buttons clean off my iPhone 4, so I gave up. I was successful after carefully sliding the case over my phone, but the real nightmare was getting it off. I swear, my power button is all wiggly thanks to this case — it does not want to come off! You can literally hear your iPhone buttons clicking and cracking under the pressure when sliding this case off — It’s not fun, but it’s worth it.
Overall
$39.95
After using this case for a few weeks, I can only suggest 2 things to Speck. Number one, supply a removal tool to make sure the case doesn’t strip the buttons clean off your iPhone, something like a wedge to help pry off the case. The second thing is to supply the case in a few more colors. The colors Speck offers now are no great, but we’re sure they’ll be adding more soon!
Pro tip — We reccomend you grab a plain ol’ CandyShell case without the credit card holder.
Pro’s
- Extremely tough, and rugid
- Very tight, secure fit
- Cards stay inside case - never slip out
- Easy access to all buttons on the phone
Con’s
- Next to impossible to put on/take off case
- Difficult to remove cards from holder
- It’s pretty ugly
- iPhone 4 only
Where to buy
Brandon Davenport Mar 30, 2011
Accessories, Apple, Exclusive, Gadgets, Okay Geek Review, Reviews, iPhone 
