Review: Belkin Acrylic Case for iPhone

Belkin’s $30 Acrylic Case for iPhone is like many other plastic iPhone cases on the market these days: it’s transparent, protects most of your iPhone from damage, and—most importantly—doesn’t get in the way of using the phone.

The Acrylic Case consists of two halves that sandwich the iPhone between them: one covers the iPhone’s entire back (except for a small hole for the camera), the front is basically a ridge that goes around the iPhone’s face. The case fits securely as long as you make sure to firmly press the clasps around the edges into place; you’ll hear a definite click when each clasp is fastened. An opening in the left side of the case provides access to the volume up/down and Ring/Silent buttons; the top has openings for the Sleep/Wake button and the headphone jack; and the bottom has an opening to accommodate the microphone, speaker, and dock-connector port. To remove the case, you just pull on the top edge of the front piece—there’s a small tab for doing so—and the front will pop off.

Since the case is constructed from acrylic, it’s fairly resilient. Dropping an encased iPhone didn’t do any substantial damage to the case or the phone, although I did get some nicks and scratches on the case’s plastic. As long as you’ve securely fastened the clips, the case should stay together, too.

Although the case provides no screen protection, the front half of the case forms a raised ridge around the screen that helps avoid incidental scratches while leaving the Home button, touchscreen, and earpiece accessible. The case doesn’t add much bulk, either, so you can still slip your phone into your pocket without any trouble.

Belkin has also included a rotating belt clip that doubles as a stand for watching video. The stand function works well—the clip, which rotates 90 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise, actually folds out, letting you stand the iPhone in either portrait or landscape orientations, though at only one particular angle. (I found that in landscape mode, it wasn’t tilted quite as far back as I’d like.) The clip attaches to the case using a thin strip of plastic, as long as the phone, which clips onto the back of the case. It’s nice that Belkin gives you the option to use the case without the belt clip, which makes the case thicker. My only complaint is that the clip sometimes folds out into stand mode more easily than it comes off your belt, which can be awkward.

Overall, the Belkin Acrylic case is a solid offering in the plastic hard case market, and the stand functionality and belt clip are helpful add-ons that extend the usefulness beyond just mere protection.

Category: Reviews

Posted by Dan Moren on Feb 27 2008, 3:29 PM ET

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