iphone 3g Cases that WORKS with skins

Griffin Elan Form (with EasyDock) for the iPhone 3G won't work with a BSE skin applied to the phone.

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/elanform3g

The only case I have been able to use with a skin is a stretchy silicone skin, not the Incase protective case however. It does not fit right with a skin.

Sadly there are hardly any hard cases that fit right with the skin without either being too tight or marking the skin.

Again your only real option is a silicone skin or a pouch.

AGENT 18 ecoshield works perfectly fine with my SGP incredible shield. The capsule rebel works, sort of, but it's a tight fit, and you really have to jam it in there. Wouldn't recommend it. But agent 18 is great.

I'm at a total loss as to why the need for a skin AND a case. Do you then put the whole thing in a pouch, then a travel bag, then a Samsonite suitcase, then a wood crate, then a...?

If you answer resale value, BZZZ. No good. I used a simple sleeve case for my 1st gen and a screen protector. I was careful with it, but still got a nick here and there. I sold it for about $400, no questions asked.

If you answer "to keep it perfect", I ask WHY? My grandmother had a couch encased in clear plastic. Never once did she take the plastic off, for fear of ruining it, thus, no one ever sat on it. Why she even bought the couch I'll never understand. If you need your phone to be so perfect that you can never bear to see it without 2 cases on, what point is the perfection?

Try This Link!! This Case Apparently Fits With Skins.

threezero said:

ok I did a quick search and nothing came up. For those of you that have any kind of skins on their phone (i guess they are all about the same thickness) and have tried case can you post which case works and what doesn't.

I'll start

I have BSE back and cheap $5 night market screen protector (crap quality)

The original 2g LRG case and it fit snug on unskin 3g even snugger on skin one but works itself out after awhile so this one definately works with skin.


do share. I'm in the market for a hard/soft case for the phone that its fully functional without taking out the phone for drunk times

Click to expand...

Try this link and case. It appraently fits with skins!!!
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/529246/

mcdj said:

I'm at a total loss as to why the need for a skin AND a case. Do you then put the whole thing in a pouch, then a travel bag, then a Samsonite suitcase, then a wood crate, then a...?

If you answer resale value, BZZZ. No good. I used a simple sleeve case for my 1st gen and a screen protector. I was careful with it, but still got a nick here and there. I sold it for about $400, no questions asked.

If you answer "to keep it perfect", I ask WHY? My grandmother had a couch encased in clear plastic. Never once did she take the plastic off, for fear of ruining it, thus, no one ever sat on it. Why she even bought the couch I'll never understand. If you need your phone to be so perfect that you can never bear to see it without 2 cases on, what point is the perfection?

Click to expand...

I'll do my best to give you an answer, as I'm in the "looking for a 3g case that works with skins" boat:

I really like the look of gelaskins. They serve a purpose (scratch minimization for the back of the phone), but the reason I am interested in a gelaskin is purely aesthetic. One thing that gelaskins (or any skin) won't do is help with shock absorption and damage from falls. That's where cases come in. So for me, the ideal solution is a clear case - that way my phone has some fall protection but the gelaskin is still visible beneath. Finding a clear case (or any case) that has enough room for a phone+skin is problematic, though.

My solution (not sure if it is going to work, yet) is the Capsule Rebel (linked above). I bought but have not yet received the Capsule Rebel in Arctic. It's transparent. I'm hoping that because it is a hybrid case (it has a hard spine but is otherwise more giving), it may fit over the gelaskin. I haven't bought a gelaskin yet - I want to see how tight the fit of the Rebel is before I do that.

For me, matters are complicated even further by the fact that I use my iPhone when I go running. I use the Marware Sportsuit Convertible case when I run - it's a good armband, but I don't like the case for everyday use. If only I could find an armband that could hold the Capsule Rebel, my life would be complete...

I'd guess that most of the flexible and cloth-based cases will work with the iPhone 3G. The Beyza leather cases work just fine with skins as well as the sfbags soft cases.

And the reason I have both a skin and a case is very simple:

Skin: Protect against scratches

Case: Protect against drops

The case at some point needs to open or come off in order for me to use the phone at which point I am at risk for scratching the screen. The skin does absolutely nothing to protect against drops. Thus, I use both.

Many cases do some with screen protectors for the iPhone 3G so there should be no surprise.

bk888 said:

And the reason I have both a skin and a case is very simple:

Skin: Protect against scratches

Case: Protect against drops

The case at some point needs to open or come off in order for me to use the phone at which point I am at risk for scratching the screen. The skin does absolutely nothing to protect against drops. Thus, I use both.

Click to expand...

My reasons precisely although I have periods, like now, when I don't bother with any of the cases that I have.

mcdj said:

I'm at a total loss as to why the need for a skin AND a case. Do you then put the whole thing in a pouch, then a travel bag, then a Samsonite suitcase, then a wood crate, then a...?

If you answer resale value, BZZZ. No good. I used a simple sleeve case for my 1st gen and a screen protector. I was careful with it, but still got a nick here and there. I sold it for about $400, no questions asked.

If you answer "to keep it perfect", I ask WHY? My grandmother had a couch encased in clear plastic. Never once did she take the plastic off, for fear of ruining it, thus, no one ever sat on it. Why she even bought the couch I'll never understand. If you need your phone to be so perfect that you can never bear to see it without 2 cases on, what point is the perfection?

Click to expand...

CASE NAZI ALERT!!!!
Second time is the charm?


As dauerhippo said, the Agent 18 Ecoshield will work, but frankly that case sucks, so I wouldn't choose it. I used it for a couple weeks and it would pop off very easily after a while, including when it was dropped on a mattress...

danterner said:

I'll do my best to give you an answer, as I'm in the "looking for a 3g case that works with skins" boat:

...One thing that gelaskins (or any skin) won't do is help with shock absorption and damage from falls. That's where cases come in. So for me, the ideal solution is a clear case - that way my phone has some fall protection but the gelaskin is still visible beneath. Finding a clear case (or any case) that has enough room for a phone+skin is problematic, though.

Click to expand...

I have to disagree with you about this conclusion. In order to add impact protection for your iphone, you need something that absorbs energy rather than one that transmits it. Some gel cases are too thin to absorb much energy, but most hard cases transmit all the energy from a fall/drop. Your iPhone exterior may be protected, but the internals can take good beating on a drop with just a hard case.

There are a few Speck cases that do an awesome job of protecting iPods and iPhones, like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Speck-Product...sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&qid=1220239895&sr=8-3

I have an order in for one, although they're backordered all over the 'net. The look isn't for everyone, but they're very effective. I've used/use them on an original Nano, a current 8g Nano and current 80g iPod Classic. The 80g classic is a little heavier than an iPhone, but I've dropped it a couple of times with not so much as a scratch. Speck and a few other manufacturers make other cases that don't offer as much shock absorption but which are a little sleeker; here's an example:

http://www.amazon.com/Speck-Product...sr_8?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&qid=1220239895&sr=8-8

dkeninitz said:

I have to disagree with you about this conclusion. In order to add impact protection for your iphone, you need something that absorbs energy rather than one that transmits it. Some gel cases are too thin to absorb much energy, but most hard cases transmit all the energy from a fall/drop. Your iPhone exterior may be protected, but the internals can take good beating on a drop with just a hard case.

Click to expand...

I agree with you re: shock transferance from hard cases. The two cases I've used, so far, are the Incipio Silicrylic (good video review), which I picked up on Day 0 just to have something, and the SwitchEasy Capsule Rebel, mentioned earlier in this thread (good video review). Both are hybrid cases in that they consist of an inner gel (for shock absorption) along with an outer polycarbonate hard shell that hugs the inner gel. I switched from the Incipio to the Capsule Rebel because one of the available Capsule Rebel colors is "Arctic" (clear). My plan is to have the gelaskin on my phone, and then the Capsule Rebel Arctic over the gelaskin. Whether the gel layers of these hybrid cases are thick enough to take all the energy from the fall or not remains to be seen (as does whether there's enough room within the case to squeeze a phone+gelaskin), but I'm willing to make that beauty vs. function tradeoff. I have no doubt that the Speck cases you linked would be far superior in terms of shock absorption, but aesthetically they just don't do it for me.

The Contour Showcase would be a third option. Haven't tried that one yet, but it too provides hybrid protection apparently, and has a clear back which would allow for the skin to be seen from beneath. Coming in a few days for the 3g.

The SwitchEasy Colors case worked well with a FullBody skin. I got to really dislike the skin though -- the corners are never perfectly smooth however much you do to it.

I have just received the SwitchEasy Capsule Rebel. What a great case!

I agree Colors from Switcheasy works great, as does rebel and neo. Also the iskin Revo2.

danterner said:

I agree with you re: shock transferance from hard cases. The two cases I've used, so far, are the Incipio Silicrylic (good video review), which I picked up on Day 0 just to have something, and the SwitchEasy Capsule Rebel, mentioned earlier in this thread (good video review). Both are hybrid cases in that they consist of an inner gel (for shock absorption) along with an outer polycarbonate hard shell that hugs the inner gel. I switched from the Incipio to the Capsule Rebel because one of the available Capsule Rebel colors is "Arctic" (clear). My plan is to have the gelaskin on my phone, and then the Capsule Rebel Arctic over the gelaskin. Whether the gel layers of these hybrid cases are thick enough to take all the energy from the fall or not remains to be seen (as does whether there's enough room within the case to squeeze a phone+gelaskin), but I'm willing to make that beauty vs. function tradeoff. I have no doubt that the Speck cases you linked would be far superior in terms of shock absorption, but aesthetically they just don't do it for me.

The Contour Showcase would be a third option. Haven't tried that one yet, but it too provides hybrid protection apparently, and has a clear back which would allow for the skin to be seen from beneath. Coming in a few days for the 3g.

Click to expand...

Contour showecase is a no-go. Just tried it yesterday in the apple store, and there was no way in hell it was going in there with my zagg. If i pushed any harder, it woul've torn the zagg right off.