BodyGuardz Shelter iPhone 4 Case Review

There are a bazillion iPhone cases on the market and we’re here to tell you about one of them… It’s the Shelter Case from BodyGuardz, the same people that offer protective screen and body skins for Apple’s popular smartphone. Their Dry Apply Screen Protector is actually one of my favorites… but what about a full case? Can I call it a favorite too? Let’s see…

Note: Click the images in this review to see a larger view.

Package Contents

1 BodyGuardz Shelter Case
1 ScreenGuardz HD Anti-Glare Screen Protector
1 Cleaning Cloth

The Shelter case is available in 9 colors and is made of two materials. It has a rigid Polycarbonate shell, with a soft TPE rubber covering on the back, interior and top edges that surround the display.

The Green part of the case is the soft rubber, while the lighter (off white?) colored part of the case is the rigid polycarbonate.

You’ll notice the Green lines inside the case. These are raised ridges that are supposed to protect the back of the iPhone.

There are cutouts for the earphone jack, mute button, camera, speakers and docking connector.

You’ll notice that there are special hard buttons that cover the volume and power button.

These buttons actually work very well and because they are raised, it is very easy to locate the buttons with your thumb / finger without looking at them directly.

Insering the iPhone into the case takes a little effort, but not enough to complain about. Once inserted, you have access to all the buttons and ports. The mute switch cut out is large enough so that you can easily flip the switch when needed.

You should have no issues with plugging in the stock set of earbuds or any other earbuds into the earphone jack of your phone while it’s in the case.

I had no issues plugging in the dock  / charge connector either.

The BodyGuardz site claims that this case provides enhanced sound from the speakers. Ummmm… ok… How? I haven’t noticed any difference with or without the case…

I will say that the thin layer of soft rubber does offer a very good grip to the phone, which it doesn’t have when not in a case.

The cut out over the camera lens does not case any issues with flash photography as far as I’ve noticed in the short time I’ve been using the case.

Also included with this case is an HD anti-glare ScreenGuardz screen protector. It’s an easy to apply protector that will keep your display scratch free, while the case protects the rest of the phone. I installed the protector in a couple of seconds and give it a thumbs up for clarity and touch screen sensitivity.

The Shelter Case from BodyGuardz performs its intended job, but isn’t what I would call sexy. It’s actually a bit boring as far as the style goes and no one will stop you to ask where you bought it. I would not spend $30 on one, but I suppose that the case is really only ‘worth’ around $14 since they include a $16 screen protector with it. With so many more interesting cases on the market, I can’t really see this case becoming all that popular.

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