Innovation is definitely something found in the highly lucrative, and competitive iPhone case market. id America brings inspiration from the heart of the muscle car to this market with the brushed aluminium Gasket case. Inspired by the shapes of the head gasket on an engine it looks built for speed. Too often that speed has been felt by my iPhone 4, as the aluminium is low friction and really slippery.
The Gasket is a one piece snap on design made from brushed aluminium. The case is slim, and fits really snugly around the phone. The interior of the case is a thin suede lining that keeps the aluminium from scratching the back, and sides. It is fairly easy to insert the iPhone into the case, especially after a couple of tries. Extracting it is also quite simple.
The design is really nice with the inspiration straight from the engine world. This is sadly one of those cases that looks really great, but is highly impractical. All the cut-outs have sharp edges, and can be quite uncomfortable. It is not as bad as the edges found around the phone. At times these can actually cut into your fingers. This is not a problem along the sides, but rather around the top and bottom edges. Especially around the volume controls there are frayed aluminium edges.
As I mentioned in the opening of the review the case is slippery. I have never had such trouble keeping the phone in my hand. It keeps flying out of my hand when just handling it. It slides down a pocket easily though, and that is a good thing. Too bad that the uneven edges can get stuck when trying to extract it though.
For protection the Gasket isn’t the best choice. For one the lack of grip actually leaves it more vulnerable than the naked phone. Furthermore the case only covers the back, and sides. There is no protection at all for the screen. To counter this id America has included a front, and back screen film protector.
The Gasket is certainly appealing to the eyes, and if you are interested in cool design it might be a must buy. For everyday usage it isn’t that practical with poor grip, lack of protection and annoying edges. I can only give it a limited recommendation.
Final Rating
