iPhone 4 Gear4 Thin Ice Black case review

Official TB Verdict: 4/10. With everybody seeming to drop their iPhone 4′s as of late, which usually end in tears (I haven’t dropped mine yet) I have been scouring round trying to find an ideal case for the iPhone 4 at an affordable price (I say affordable, but to be honest, those who can afford an iPhone 4 don’t really mind paying an extra buck for a case do they?).

The latest case under my eyes is the iPhone 4 Gear4 Thin Ice Black case review bought from Curry’s Digital, Sheffield. It costs £19.99 and is, simply put, an Ice Thin shield which covers the sides of your handset and the back all polished off with a matte rubberized effect (the crystal clear edition is smooth for reference).

First Impressions

Initially the case, or rather when looking at it through the packaging, looks rather nice and tweek. With minimal packaging the Gear4 Thin Ice Black certainly looks good and shows the company is environment conscious. When taking it out however the first thing that will hit you is the thinness of the case (i’m not joking). It feels half a mm thick and weighs nothing, like it was injected with helium or something. This isn’t really reassuring, and you immediately begin to ponder on what else you could have bought with the £19.99.

Putting it on

Putting the case on is easy as pie, as all you do is place one side of your iPhone 4 into the side of the case and then push down the other. You’ll get a satisfying ‘click’ from this, and the addition of having a smooth inside back makes it a rather easy ride.

I liked

Visually there isn’t much not to like about this case. It is highly minimalistic and has brilliant access to all ports and buttons, not covering the top or bottom sides of the phone at all. Being thin, this case also add next to no bulk to what is the thinnest smartphone in the world, and the addition of a matte effect makes this case feel, although a bit flimsy, of a high quality. Grip wise it is okay, with the matte effect playing a key role. As for logo’s, there is a horizontal ‘Gear4′ stamped in to the back of the case and printed white logo on the inside.

I disliked

This case will offer no impact resistance at all. It is so thin that I felt like printing a Microsoft Word document or something on to it, and the case also could start to fray (its a known issue with matte effect cases) over time.  I also disliked that for the equivelent price of this case you can buy the sister product to this, the Gear4 Metallic Ice Thin (made of brushed aluminium).

Issues

I have only one main issue with the Gear4 Thin Ice Black case, and that is that it does not fit the iPhone 4 properly. This is an immediate effect when put on first time, because the phone ‘wobbles’ a little bit almost as if it has a few mm’s of free space. Whats more, the case also lets in dust at the back or any other crap you might have in your pocket, thus bringing out the OCD in all of us and making us have the drive to clean it constantly.

Verdict

Steer away from this case if you can, seriously. Although affordable, the Gear4 Thin Ice Black Case is essentially flimsy and traps dirt round the back of it, this with addition of the case wobbling, makes the dirt crush into the case and leave tarnishes or ‘blemishes’ imprinted in to the polished side of the case (although this is unnoticable when the iPhone 4is in the case). If you do buy this case, then please put on a back protector to stop the dirt tarnishing your glass back.

Microsoft Training