Griffin's
Survivor case has the protection thing down pat, but how does it handle everything else? When it comes to smartphone accessories, I look for two key quality traits: portability and accessibility. I take my phone everywhere I go, and I don't like it when the simple act of pulling it out of my pocket becomes troublesome. The case I owned before the
Survivor was almost purely decorative (black and gold with a fleur-de-lis), but I liked it for two main reasons; it was light enough to easily access from my pocket, and it did just enough to shield the screen from immediate threats.
Unsurprisingly, accessibility is where the Survivor comes up short. For starters, if you like to use your iPhone 4 as an audio device, make sure you've got the right-sized auxiliary cable, as the Survivor does not feature much negotiating room for your port. Otherwise, you might have to take the case completely off when you want to use those features. If you like to put your iPhone 4 in your pocket, the Survivor's silicon sleeve will cling stubbornly as you try to extract it. Of course, you can wear it on your belt, provided you wear one all the time. It also doesn't give you as much screen access as I hoped for; I'm not used to turning my finger sideways to reach keys on the edge. More troubling is the way in which it handles the camera. The flap that covers the lens is almost airtight when it's closed, but if you ever want to take pictures or video, you'll have to open the flap and keep it open yourself. If you let it go, it will flap back, getting in the way of the picture. Perhaps elegant solutions for these problems were simply unattainable for a case with this core function, and I understand that completely. Sometimes sacrifices must be made.
Griffin's Survivor case is really a remarkable piece of work; an iPhone 4 encased within one of these babies can probably withstand everything short of a direct hit from a tactical nuclear bomb. If you take really great care of your iPhone 4 and like to take pictures, this one might not fulfill all your needs. However, if you consider yourself a high-risk smartphone owner, this is the case for you.
