My first informed purchase as a iPhone 3G owner was the Contour Showcase. It also turned out to be my absolute favourite for the device beating both great cases from Speck and OtterBox. The iPad version of the Showcase was a great update bringing excellent the excellent coin opening mechanism that Contour has used for their Hardskin cases. Seeing a new iPhone 4 Showcase I could barely contain myself. For some reason the release of it was delayed in Europe, and it took me quite a while to track a unit down. With high expectation I opened the parcel as it arrived just to be sorely disappointed. The case arrived with a broken side latch. I am truly grateful that I could get a replacement delivered quickly to be able to review the case.
The Contour Showcase is a hard shell with a clear back, hence the name showcase. It is opened using a latch found on the left side. It is easy to insert the phone, and then latch it up using this butterfly style latch. I do enjoy this innovative latch from a design perspective, but it isn’t all that practical. It can’t hold the case together tight enough, and this causes the case to become somewhat springy. Furthermore you can clearly see the phone between the top, and bottom half of the case front and back. This is most noticeable on the top of the case. When you press the front of the case against the phone it is not tight, and makes a rubbery noise. It might not be intrusive, but I find it really annoying considering how tight the iPhone 3G Showcase is.
While we are on the subject of negative aspects of the case I have to mention the uncomfortable volume, and silent buttons. They are hard, and small making them painful to press. Another thing worth noting is that it is hard to use a screen film protector as the case intrudes slightly on the front. If you have a screen film you have to really make sure it fits within the frame of the case, or it will bubble and fold.
There are a whole lot of truly positive aspects of the case. First of all it really showcases the iPhone 4 in a great manner. No text or other interfering art is found on the back, just clear plastic. The area around the camera is indented, and overlaid with rubber giving zero reflection when using the flash. This rubberized material is also covering the sides of the case giving it excellent grip.
For protection the Showcase is excellent covering the entire back, sides and edges of the screen. If dropped the case will open absorbing the impact. The latch is the most vulnerable part of the case, and I doubt it will survive many falls. The iPhone will probably survive, and that is what matters.
Worth mentioning is the innovative holster design. Just like the previous 3G model the holster has a thick side, and one pronged side. You can have the phone either screen in or screen out. For maximum protection it is great to have it screen facing inwards. The inside of the thick side is covered by a thin rubber piece. This is glued on poorly, and came off after a week of usage. The swivelling belt holder is strong, and lets you wear the phone in either portrait or landscape mode. Another cool feature is a foldout prong letting you either create a stand for landscape mode, or a one point stand for portrait mode. This is the first ever case that I have seen with the ability to stand up. There is no camera cut-out though in the holster, which would have been great if you have an application with timed camera functions. 
The final thing to note about the holster is that it is best to have the side with the latch facing inwards. If placed towards the pronged side it tends to want to open the latch when you extract the phone.
The Showcase is a good hardcase providing excellent protection, an innovative holster and a great sleek look. I just wished that the case had the coin opened latch instead of the new butterfly latch. Having a vulnerable, not strong enough latch lowered the final rating by a whole star. This could have been another five-star Showcase if Contour had kept it simple using known solutions. I can still recommend it, but be careful not to stress the latch.
Final Rating
Showcase for iPhone 4 at Contourdesign.com $39.95
