Apple Thoughts: Speck Cases, Fitted or SeeThru Satin for Your iPhone Protection

Speck products have been around awhile, well, 9 years in fact since they debuted their first product in 2001 at Macworld. They offer a variety of cases for everything from hard drives and Kindles to Macbooks and iPods. They have recently added bags and sleeves to the product line. I've used many over the years to protect my various incarnations of iPhones as well as my Macbook Pro, and they have served their purpose very well. Recently they came out with a couple new versions of their SeeThru Satin [Affiliate Link] and Fitted2 cases [affiliate link] for the iPhone 3G/3GS, both retailing for $29.95 USD. I put these two cases together in this article to provide a little contrast to what each one offers.

Figure 1: The clear Speck SeeThru Satin Case

The fit of the Speck cases has always been very good, and the SeeThru Satin case doesn't disappoint. The material is polycarbonate shell, with raised edges along the front of the iPhone. It also comes with a plastic screen protector that is optional to use, since I already have a screen protector on my iPhone I didn't install it. It does fit very snug, and is easy to install, but I did have some difficulty when I tried to remove it. It took a little bending and twisting of the case to get my iPhone 3GS out, but I'd rather have that instead of a case that fits loosely. That aside, it offers very good protection, with raised trim over the volume and power buttons (which protect but still allow full functionality) and full access to all the ports and camera. They have also added some height to the front of the case, raising the edges to give additional screen protection. This case also comes in several colors, and while you might think a case like this would be hard to hold on to, I didn't have that problem as the surface isn't slick like previous versions. What they have done is added a soft rubberized coating which does two things. For one, it makes it easy to hang on to, and two, it doesn't get scratched up as easy as previous versions of this case.

Figure 2: The Speck Fitted2 iPhone case, in a variety of styles.

The Fitted2 case [affiliate link] is a bit different than the SeeThru for a few reasons. One reason is that it isn't a one piece solution for your iPhone protection, this one comes in two pieces. What this does is make it more form fitted to your iPhone. The underlying case is a hard shell with a color coordinated top piece that snaps together. The other difference is that this case is very light weight and comes in a variety of fabrics, so you can personalize it however you wish. And lastly, as with the SeeThru case, you can access all of the ports on your iPhone, but instead of covering the side and top buttons, this case leaves them open as well for access, as seen below in figure 3.

Figure 3: Side view of the Fitted2 Speck Case.

The interesting thing about these Fitted2 cases is that the back piece is covered in fabric, so it really adds to the grip, much better than any other case I've tried. They come in a variety of color combinations so you are bound to find something that suits your style. And as an added fashion option, for those of you that want to coordinate, you can match some of the cases to the bags that Speck sells.

I had a few friends try these two different cases out on their iPhones to see how they liked them, and the response was varied. The advantages to the SeeThru were that it was one piece, and it was felt that it provided a little better protection. What was liked about the Fitted2 case was the added grip provided by the fabric, the tight fit because it was form fitted and the openings for the switches. So you can see there are advantages to both, it just depends on what you are looking for. Overall I liked both cases, very well made, and it is nice to see a company like Speck continue to improve on their products as they have with these two cases.

Jeff Campbell is a fan of all things Apple, an X-boxer (the 360 kind) and geek. He works as a floor supervisor in a 911 center in the Portland, OR area, and lives in a small town just north of Mt. Hood with his wife, two kids, two dogs, a snake and a tarantula. Oh, and a three legged cat named "Tres."

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