The $100 iSkin enigma is to iPhone cases as James Bond is to secret agents. They’re both built well and look great, but they both have a tendency to indulge. In designing the enigma, iSkin made the same mistake that Apple keeps making in their iPod Touch designs: a shiny metal surface that can ‘t help but attract fingerprints. iSkin seems to think of this design element as a set of ‘metal accents ‘, but I think it ‘s rather akin to putting umlauts on every single vowel in a German word. It ‘s übërkïll, and I think it rather cheapens the look of this otherwise excellent premium case.
For Your i ‘s Only
Now that I ‘m done playing Dr. No No No ranting about how shiny the enigma is, let ‘s get to why it’s still a great case.
First of all, the fit is one of the best I ‘ve seen in any case. Period. All you need to do is slide your iPhone 3G/S in through the top and wait until it snaps into place at the bottom. There ‘s something about the contour of the enigma that makes it hold the device very tightly in place, and you ‘ll have to shake the case quite vigorously (or drop it from standing height) to get the iPhone to budge. The case provides scratch protection for most every area except the top and half of each side of the device. iSkin even included matte and privacy screen protectors that are specifically cut to fit the exposed areas of the screen. That said, I still think of the enigma as a tailored suit jacket for the iPhone, instead of a suit of armour.
All of the cut-outs for the buttons, screens, and ports are perfect, but it ‘s the hole for the camera that really shows how well this case was designed. The camera is simply spot on and looks absolutely fantastic, with its black and chrome accents (just accents this time). The Home button also receives a bit of special attention, with a specialized rubber cover that wards off dust and makes it a little bit easier to press.
The back of the enigma is covered in Napa leather (wrapped around a polycarbonate shell) and is probably one of the best features of the case. The enigma is available in two shades (black or white), and I received the fairer shade to review on my white 3GS. I ‘ve had the case for close to three weeks now, and white on the enigma looks almost like it did on day one. In other words, it holds up quite well, despite having been shoved into the pocket of my jeans every single day.
The only difference is the dirt that tends to build up on the seams along the sides. Most of this dirt can be removed with a micro fiber cloth, but it does seem inevitable that the dirt along the seams will accumulate. This shouldn ‘t be a noticeable problem on the black version of the enigma, though.
From Canada With Love
The enigma is definitely a little thicker than most cases (think Mophie Juice Pack thick), but I think it feels great in the hand ” especially with the Napa leather wrapped around the contoured back. Almost all of the buttons, ports, and switches are perfectly accessible, except for two: the ringer switch and charging port.
It ‘s easy to switch the iPhone into silent mode, but toggling it back may be a little difficult if you have large fingers. The recessed charging port, on the other hand, may spell trouble for your external batteries, regardless of the size of your digits. My regular iPhone cable fit perfectly, and the enigma still fits on universal iPhone docks, but I did have a bit of trouble using my iPWR battery (it barely made the connection to the device, and it wasn ‘t very secure).
Thankfully, use of the touchscreen is just fine, despite the raised frame around it. It can be a little difficult to use specialized gestures through Activator, but I didn ‘t have any trouble with typing or using any of my apps.
i Another Day
I ended up liking the enigma a lot, despite its ultra shiny face plate. iSkin has come up with a very interesting alternative to the premium high end cases that companies like Vaja offer.
However, I do wonder if it was released a little too late into the 3G and 3GS life cycle. After all, the iPhone 4 was released in July and features a totally new form factor, and while it is true that the 3GS will still be sold by carriers, it will only be the bargain bin version (8 GB of storage) of the phone I ‘m using right now. It ‘s more likely that the customers with money for $100 premium cases will have picked up the iPhone 4 by now, and the enigma is woefully unprepared for Apple ‘s new baby.
Then again, iSkin is a Canadian company run right out of Toronto, and the iPhone plans in Canada run a brutal three-year length. So iSkin still has access to the customers (like myself) who cannot, or will not, shell out the $400 it takes to buy a subsidized iPhone without a new contract. Handing iSkin $100 still isn ‘t cheap, but it ‘s a slightly more affordable way to make the iPhone 3GS feel like the newer, more expensive looking model. When seen in that light, maybe the release of the enigma isn ‘t such a mystery after all.
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The iSkin enigma is available for about $100 from iSkin.com. It ‘s available in Onyx Black and Platinum White.
The enigma was provided by the Max Borges Agency for review on Just Another iPhone Blog. For further information regarding our site’s review policies, please see the “About” page.
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TAGS: iPhone Cases, iskin
