Review: Contour Design iSee for iPhone

I’m not usually a huge fan of holster cases; there’s something about them that makes me feel a little too corporate. I also worry from time to time—perhaps irrationally—about the phone falling out of the holster and being dashed into a million pieces. Still, I can understand the appeal of not having to constantly fish your iPhone out of your pocket. Contour Design’s $30 iSee for iPhone does what it can to alleviate my second concern by pairing a belt holster with a transparent plastic case.

The iSee comes in two sections that you snap together around the iPhone. The back section reaches down only to where the black antenna portion of the iPhone begins; that part is protected by a wrap-around section of the front part of the case that creates a little cradle for you to slide the bottom of your iPhone into. Snap on the back half and you’ve got full coverage for your phone. The case gives you complete access to the iPhone’s touchscreen, Home button, and earpiece on the front; the headphone jack and Sleep/Wake switch on top; volume controls and Ring/Silent switch on the side; microphone, speaker, and dock-connector port on the bottom; and camera on the back. There are also two small dimples in the sides of the case that help it snap securely into the included belt holder. One nice touch: the back of the case features three non-stick rubber feet that keep your iPhone from sliding around when you put it down on a table or counter.

Although the iSee’s plastic feels a little flimsy when you don’t have the phone in it, the construction is actually pretty solid: I dropped the whole shebang on the floor a couple times—by accident of course—and had no damage to either iPhone or case. I was also a little worried about the belt holster, which is just a plastic frame into which you snap the iPhone, but those worries proved unfounded; the iPhone feels very secure when you insert it into the holster and only extremely violent shaking dislodges it. Although the iPhone’s screen is left uncovered by the case, the case is thick enough that the screen ends up slightly recessed, which helps offset potential damage. Also, you can put your iSee-encased iPhone in the holster with the screen facing inwards for all-over protection.

From an accessibility standpoint, my only complaint is minor: the opening for the iPhone’s dock-connector port is a little narrow, so while Apple’s standard dock cable fits fine, larger accessories that rely on the dock-connector port may not. On the other hand, like the screen, the iPhone’s other controls end up slightly recessed, which I found actually helped prevent accidental button-pushing.

The iSee does add a little bulk to the iPhone, but not considerably more than similar cases. It may not be the most attractive case of its type on the market, but it’s hardly the ugliest either. All in all, while it may not provide the most robust protection on the market, the iSee is a good case that should keep your iPhone safe and sound.