Call me a heretic, but I'm not overly enamored with the appearance of the iPhone 4. When the earliest iPhone 4 prototype photos were leaked, I found myself hoping Apple's final product would be a little more sexy, and a little less 'industrial'. Personally, I felt (and still feel) the iPhone 3G/3GS was a better looking product. Now, put away your pitchforks and torches! I am not saying I think the iPhone 4 is ugly or anything. Its appearance is OK, but I simply don't find it as attractive as the previous generations.
That situation posed a little bit of a problem for me, because I like to use my iPhone naked (the phone, not me
). And I'm simply not a fan of rubbery slipcovers or leather cases with folding flaps.
So, when Apple introduced the iPhone 4 at WWDC, the iPhone 4 Bumper also caught my eye. Rather than covering everything except the screen, the Bumper only covered the edges. The very part of the new 'industrial design' that I wasn't particularly excited about. Hmm...
On Wednesday, when my iPhone 4 arrived, and I finally had a chance to handle one in the flesh (err, glass and stainless steel), my fears were confirmed. My hand craved the rounded smoothness found in previous generations of the iPhone. The iPhone 4 felt hard and sharp. Abrupt. Industrial instead of sleek and sexy. I knew immediately that I would have to give the Bumper a try.
A visit to my local Apple Store on Thursday morning allowed me to procure an iPhone 4 Bumper in black (my preferred choice). When I opened the package, I was pleased to discover that the Bumper was not simply a big 'rubber band' you stretched around the iPhone. Like all things Apple puts its name on, the Bumper had its own level of sophistication and clever design!
The Bumper is constructed of two materials. There is an 8 cm wide band of (what appears to be) flexible PVC material that runs all the way around the edges of the Bumper (except for a small gap in the material at the headphone jack). This PVC material actually has a nice gloss to it. It's a design feature that makes the Bumper look far more attractive than all of the rubber slipcovers I've seen. The rest of the Bumper is constructed out of black rubber. That includes the gap area around the headphone jack, as well as the part of the Bumper that wraps around to the front and back of the iPhone.
Sliding the Bumper onto the iPhone 4 is a piece of cake. Yet, it holds in place firmly once you've installed it. Or course, cutouts are provided for the iPhone's speaker, microphone, dock connector, headphone jack, and ring/silent switch (the last one is a big plus, because having the switch recessed eliminates the chance of accidentally flipping the switch). The Bumper even has a little hole for the noise-cancelling mic. All of the cutouts line up perfectly with the associated iPhone 4 areas.
But Apple didn't stop there. Rather than simply providing a flexible rubber area over the sleep/wake and volume buttons (like all of those traditional rubber slipcovers), the Bumper has its own metal buttons. One button each for sleep/wake, volume + and volume -. Finding (with your finger) and pressing the Bumper's metal buttons provides exactly the same tactile feedback that you get from using the metal buttons on the iPhone 4. It's a very thoughtful design decision!
The Bumper probably isn't for everyone. But it sure has turned out to be exactly what I needed. The Bumper is smooth, rounded and very "grippy". Not only does it improve the appearance of the iPhone 4 (to my eye), it greatly improves the iPhone 4's feel in my hand. It also provides a nice little layer of protection to the edges of the iPhone. Plus, its rubbery feel will help to prevent dropping the iPhone in the first place.
A photo of the black Bumper installed on my iPhone 4 is shown below.
Additional photos (including high quality closeups of each edge) can be found at The Photo Booth.
Edit: A note about USB/dock connector cables... The USB/dock connector cable that came with my iPhone 4 connects perfectly, even with the Bumper in place. However, I have a non-Apple USB/dock connector cable that has a slightly fatter plastic housing at the dock connector end. That cable will not fit into the opening provided in the Bumper. Apple should have given just a bit more clearance for non-Apple cables. But if you use the supplied Apple cable, you'll be fine.
Mark
That situation posed a little bit of a problem for me, because I like to use my iPhone naked (the phone, not me
). And I'm simply not a fan of rubbery slipcovers or leather cases with folding flaps.So, when Apple introduced the iPhone 4 at WWDC, the iPhone 4 Bumper also caught my eye. Rather than covering everything except the screen, the Bumper only covered the edges. The very part of the new 'industrial design' that I wasn't particularly excited about. Hmm...
On Wednesday, when my iPhone 4 arrived, and I finally had a chance to handle one in the flesh (err, glass and stainless steel), my fears were confirmed. My hand craved the rounded smoothness found in previous generations of the iPhone. The iPhone 4 felt hard and sharp. Abrupt. Industrial instead of sleek and sexy. I knew immediately that I would have to give the Bumper a try.
A visit to my local Apple Store on Thursday morning allowed me to procure an iPhone 4 Bumper in black (my preferred choice). When I opened the package, I was pleased to discover that the Bumper was not simply a big 'rubber band' you stretched around the iPhone. Like all things Apple puts its name on, the Bumper had its own level of sophistication and clever design!
The Bumper is constructed of two materials. There is an 8 cm wide band of (what appears to be) flexible PVC material that runs all the way around the edges of the Bumper (except for a small gap in the material at the headphone jack). This PVC material actually has a nice gloss to it. It's a design feature that makes the Bumper look far more attractive than all of the rubber slipcovers I've seen. The rest of the Bumper is constructed out of black rubber. That includes the gap area around the headphone jack, as well as the part of the Bumper that wraps around to the front and back of the iPhone.
Sliding the Bumper onto the iPhone 4 is a piece of cake. Yet, it holds in place firmly once you've installed it. Or course, cutouts are provided for the iPhone's speaker, microphone, dock connector, headphone jack, and ring/silent switch (the last one is a big plus, because having the switch recessed eliminates the chance of accidentally flipping the switch). The Bumper even has a little hole for the noise-cancelling mic. All of the cutouts line up perfectly with the associated iPhone 4 areas.
But Apple didn't stop there. Rather than simply providing a flexible rubber area over the sleep/wake and volume buttons (like all of those traditional rubber slipcovers), the Bumper has its own metal buttons. One button each for sleep/wake, volume + and volume -. Finding (with your finger) and pressing the Bumper's metal buttons provides exactly the same tactile feedback that you get from using the metal buttons on the iPhone 4. It's a very thoughtful design decision!
The Bumper probably isn't for everyone. But it sure has turned out to be exactly what I needed. The Bumper is smooth, rounded and very "grippy". Not only does it improve the appearance of the iPhone 4 (to my eye), it greatly improves the iPhone 4's feel in my hand. It also provides a nice little layer of protection to the edges of the iPhone. Plus, its rubbery feel will help to prevent dropping the iPhone in the first place.
A photo of the black Bumper installed on my iPhone 4 is shown below.
Additional photos (including high quality closeups of each edge) can be found at The Photo Booth.
Edit: A note about USB/dock connector cables... The USB/dock connector cable that came with my iPhone 4 connects perfectly, even with the Bumper in place. However, I have a non-Apple USB/dock connector cable that has a slightly fatter plastic housing at the dock connector end. That cable will not fit into the opening provided in the Bumper. Apple should have given just a bit more clearance for non-Apple cables. But if you use the supplied Apple cable, you'll be fine.
Mark
