# iphone 4 question



## Reyn (Feb 10, 2009)

The iphone has never been an option for me before since AT&T has spotty coverage at my house and we no longer have a landline. So Verizon announced they have the iphone this morning and I have signed up for my place in line as I have been waiting for this forever!

My question is this.  Do you feel that you have enough protection with a skin and the bumper cover or should I go with something else?  I have kids...so keep that in mind.  Also, do you use a screen protector and if so what brand? 

I am mainly worried about drops and scratches.  Any advice you guys could give would be great. TIA!


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

For my Evo smartphone, I go naked and try to be careful.

For drops, consider how bulky a case you are willing to carry. Most thin and light cases don't actually offer much cushioning against drops.

As for scratches, I've never understood the utility of protecting that phone from scratches if I never see the pristine phone because a protective cover is over it.  I am also one of those people who trade in the phone for newer tech as soon as my contract allows, so I only have a year or two to accumulate scratches anyway.

Regardless of logic, if you just feel anxious or nervous without having your phone in a case, the peace of mind still night make the case a good buy!


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

I've been using an iPhone for years, and have never scratched the screen. I toss it in my bag. I keep it in the same pocket as my keys. The screens still look new. I have a bumper cover on my current iPhone, and have dropped it more than once, and have not broken it (yet).


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## jhanel (Dec 22, 2010)

I have an iphone 3g.

I HAVE scratched my screen, but only in the upper-right corner (not in the view area), so it doesn't bug me. I think if you treat it with reasonable care, it will service you well. If you want resale value in two years, get a case. If you just want to use it and keep things light, lean and thin and don't care about resale value (if any!), go "naked".

I love the EVO, but I'm stuck in a contract until later this year... then not sure what I'll do. I'm broke so "do nothing" may be my only option even when the contract expires.


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## geko29 (Dec 23, 2008)

I went fairly basic, with the Switcheasy Vulcan. I've been generally happy with Switcheasy cases in the past, the case is very thin and translucent, and basically doesn't call attention to itself, which is what I was looking for. It also comes with port covers for the headphone jack (stays in all the time in my case) and dock port (obviously comes out for charging), to keep miscellaneous pocket filth from getting into the phone.

However, be careful about buying a case now, as the volume buttons and vibe/ring switch are in a slightly different location on the Verizon iPhone than the AT&T one, so cases (like mine) that are custom-fit to the dimensions of the earlier device won't work. Cases with a single wider opening down the left spine should be ok.


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## Reyn (Feb 10, 2009)

Thanks for the responses guys!  I realize the other cases may not fit, I just wanted to get a feel for what I should be looking for.  I want an otterbox for protection but the footprint is so big it kind of defeats the point of having such a sleek phone.  So I guess I am looking for max protection and still allowing me to have a sleek phone.  I am leaning toward the bumper with a skin and a screen protector or an ifrogz case.  I am not interested in resale value or anything like that.  Thanks again!


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## corkyb (Apr 25, 2009)

I had the ifrogz luxe lean and that thing, while pretty, slid all over the place.  I had to stop using it for a cover with a little more "stick" to it.  I had the 3G before this with a pink rubberized or silicone case and I threw that thing all over.  But the biggest thing was, I could set it down on the edge of my chair or desk and wouldn't find it on the floor the next moment.  I had a screen protector on my old phone; didn't bother with this one.  I would get a bumper before I would buy that iFrogz lean luxe case again.


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

I have a screen protector and iFrogz luxe (not lean) on mine. This is my 3rd iPhone, I dropped the first onto rocks and the screen broke. I had a superprotective flip case on my next one, and now for this one I'm going fairly minimal. IMO it's not possible to really prevent scratches. They accumulate no matter what you do. My kids are 9 11 and 12 and they're very careful with my phone. Under five I'd be worried though.


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## Reyn (Feb 10, 2009)

My little boys won't be allowed to touch it.  They are almost 5 and 6.  It will be a fight with the older boys, 14 year old twins, since they both want one.  But they will be very careful with it.  

Thanks for the info on the luxe lean, as that is the one I was considering.  I think I will go to Best Buy or somewhere when the cases/phones actually come out so I can see them in person.  I know I don't want a case I have to flip open.


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

See them in person, definitely, but keep in mind there's likely to be very few choices on the market for your new phone immediately available due to the changed design.  Cutouts on current cases will not fit your new phone, unfortunately as they had to rearrange the controls to accommodate the CDMA radio antenna. 

I have the Acase iPhone 4 case through Amazon and love it for it's extremely thin design, but I'm under no illusion that it provides much protection against impacts.  It's fitted into a hard leather pouch unless I'm actively using it, and I HAVE dropped it while in that setup without damage.  But you're talking a glass phone; all it takes is one drop the wrong way and that's that.  I had the bumper and liked it, but it too provides very minimal protection for all that glass.  The bare iPhone is a slippery little bugger, and the Acase negates a lot of that issue, while not blocking any of the bottom docking port the way many bumpers and cases do (most don't allow the use of third party connectors, only Apple stock cables).

As for screen protectors, I never used them with either my original iPhone (3 years) or my iPad and never had a problem.  My iPhone 4, on the other hand, has been babies from day one and yet the front screen has several curved parallel scratches; no idea when or how they showed up.  Again, glass scratches and unless you're OCD about it, it's not that big a deal.  If you are paranoid though, by all means get a protector.  They're cheap insurance.


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