Last week Brando sent me a Crystal Case for the Nokia E61 to test and it got me to thinking about Smart Phones and cases. I used to carry my traditional style PDAs in cases all day and every day and they became a required part of my set up. Each case had to have spaces for credit cards etc. and thus no wallet was needed either.
When I received my Treo 650 that all changed and the thought of carrying it in a case was alien to me. Hon earth can I put a smart phone in a case and still use it practically for phone and PDA use throughout a working day? The problem is that a certain level of protection is required as well and this we are left with cases that fit snugly to the device, allow all of the features to be used and also let the design of the device show through.
I had a Crystal Case for the Treo and to this day it is the only one I use on a regular basis because it offers a certain level of protection whilst keeping the phone dimensions roughly the same and allowing that lovely modern Treo design with the gorgeous antenna showing (the lovely and gorgeous bits were a joke by the way).
Take a look at the Nokia E61 image on the left- it is a pointless photo for this review because you cannot tell that the phone is even in a case and that’s the beauty of this product. It fits the E61 absolutely perfectly and even on the back it is moulded to the slight centre drop down of the E61. Having no touch screen is an advantage for this case because no flip up part is required. Without this the case itself is a lot more solid than for example the Treo variant. Access to all functions is good but some have mentioned that the QWERTY keys nearest the edge of the case are more difficult to press- I do agree with this and it takes some getting used to but in my view it is not a big hinderance as I can still type at good speeds with the case on (this review is written on the E61).
The front and back part of the cases clip together very firmly and at no time have they come apart in my testing. The majority of damage done to PDAs is usually from minor scratched and dinks when dropped- this case may not save the device from a big fall but in my view it will stop 90% of the normal damage caused to a phone through day to day use. It’s fair to say that the case itself is quite scratchable and will suffer from the odd mark but beter that than your £200 device suffering the consequences. At least I can now put my phone in my pocket without worrying- that was one thing I would not do with the Nokia until now.
It is $14.00 which is excellent value (especially considering the state of the US$ at the moment) and I for one view this as the best accessory I have for my Nokia at this time. If you own another device take a look around the Brando site because there are cases available for various models.
Available from Brando for $14.00. Pros: great value, looks superb on the phone itself, design quality. Cons: can get scratched easily.
I got a crystal case for my E61 too. I paid HK$20. I assume you got yours for US$14. If I’m correct, they ship it out from HK too. Don’t ask me for the shop name because it isn’t quite a shop but just a corner on the street with all these phone cases hanging on the wall. If you say yours is easily scratchable, mine too so both are probably made of the same material.
Comment by alex — September 4, 2006 @ 11:35 am
Got crystal case from eBay, shipped from Hong Kong to Finland for about 8 euros.
And I agree with everything you wrote, good product… don’t have to worry about
screen scratching, and doesn’t add weight and size like some leather case or such.
Comment by ode — September 4, 2006 @ 12:03 pm
Has anyone used the silicone cases also available all over ebay? How do they compare to the crystal ones?
Comment by bookboy — September 4, 2006 @ 10:51 pm
I got mine for less than US2 (converted from Malaysian rinngit). I suspect they’re all the same and some online sellers are charging quite expensively. Shop wisely people.
Comment by Bernie — September 5, 2006 @ 8:01 am
Can anybody tell me if that case covers the screen? If it does, then I’m buying it. One month into having my E61, and I’ve already got a couple of small scratches on that beautiful screen. Oh, the horror!
Comment by C Thomas — September 5, 2006 @ 8:56 am
it cost US$4+ over here in singapore =)
Comment by colin — September 7, 2006 @ 12:14 pm
yea my friend bought one for also $3.50 in the philippines. it covers the screen entirely but it makes opening up the e61 to access the mini sd card a hellish experience
Comment by agwe23 — September 14, 2006 @ 7:25 pm
can anyone tell me where to buy the crystal case for Nokia e61 in Singapore ?
Comment by Richard — October 8, 2006 @ 5:23 am
Does it protect the keypad as well?
Comment by Gurjit — January 18, 2007 @ 5:11 pm
In Poland it cost about 0,7$.
Comment by Pablo_pol — May 14, 2007 @ 2:42 pm
In The Netherlands crystal case cost 4,95 euroand screenprotectors 3,95, check the website.
Comment by kin — May 28, 2007 @ 11:20 am