Review: SwitchEasy Colors for iPhone 4

Although it has been awhile since we have had any sort of review on the site, we’ve been testing a number of iPhone 4 cases. Although Apple’s antenna woes have made many want some sort case for the iPhone (some are still waiting for their free ones), there are a lot of great choices and a lot of duds. We had an opportunity to test out SwitchEasy’s $15 Colors case, a rather inexpensive and thin silicone case that offers quite a bit of bang for your buck.

The case itself is nothing too different from many other silicone iPhone and iPod cases on the market, especially if you are familiar with SwitchEasy’s other Colors cases. It wraps around the edges of the screen to provide protection on all corners and angles, but has cutouts for the Dock Connector, speaker and microphone, headphone jack, and silence switch. Furthermore, Colors is available in a wide array of colors, including “Stealth” (black), “Milk” (white), “Crimson”, “Fuchsia”, “Lime” (neon green, almost highlighter-yellow), “Mican” (yellow), “Saffron” (orange), “Turquoise”, and “Viola”.

A big difference between this and many other cases is the home button—rather than leaving it exposed or covering it with silicone like the rest of the case, Colors features a hard resin coated button that depresses the home button. This button is a slightly different color than the rest of the case, save for the Stealth model, which features a red button. We would’ve liked to have a truly stealth all-black case, but there are plenty of variations to suit one’s tastes. The button is something that takes some getting used to, but not annoying. Additionally, the case includes two headphone jack protectors, two Dock Connector protectors, two screen protectors with application squeegee, and a microfiber wipe.

Looking at the list of included accessories, Colors is a great value compared to most iPhone 4 cases sold at various retail stores. All work as advertised, although in normal practice the headphone jack and Dock Connector protectors will probably be forgotten or ignored more often than not. The screen protectors work as advertised, although do not have the feel of more expensive screen protection products.

Having a bunch of packed-in accessories is great, as are a variety of colors, and a low price, but how does the case perform? After a month of testing, quite well, actually. The protected home button has an interesting feel that takes some getting used to, but is certainly not bad at all, while the other buttons still have a good tactile feel under the silicone. The case seems to fit the iPhone 4 quite well.

Unfortunately, like many early iPhone 4 cases, the flash is affected by the cutout in the case. This seems to affect all the cases except the “Stealth” one. This has been caused by light reflecting off of the cutout for the camera and flash and has plagued early cases by Belkin, Griffin, iFrogz, Speck, and others. SwitchEasy is working on a fix soon, but recommends blacking out the inner edge of the camera cutout with a market to prevent glare.

In short, SwitchEasy’s Colors protect the iPhone quite well, offer quite a bit of features, and cost half the price of many other cases. If you aren’t a fan of bright colors, the “Milk” or “Stealth” options can still offer the features, with a more conservative appearance.