January 2, 2010

Proporta has a great lineup of accessories. Some of them are really unique, so when they offered to send me the new Shine case to review, I jumped at the chance.

I don’t particularly care for leather cases. The sides typically come up impeding the swiping motion, necessary to move from page to page when using the iPhone. But Proporta has designed the Shine to avoid that little issue, by making it a barebones holder, inside a patent leather case. 

Definitely a girlie case, the Shine still provides everything you want in a case. Front and back protection are solid. The padded leather will prevent scratches and dings, and I wouldn’t even worry much about drops – although I’d hate to scratch this pretty case!

Because of the way the phone is held, the sides are also protected. The sides and bottom have plastic tabs to hold your phone in place, and prevent it from falling out. These tabs will also protect the sides in case of a drop. They have rounded sides and edges, so they will not scratch your phone at all.

The inside of the case is leather, also guaranteed not to scratch. The part of this case that actually makes it “shine” is the flap that covers the screen. It has a mirror embedded in a frame of leather with felt strips to give it an animal print look, and a little extra protection.

A firm magnetic closure keeps the whole thing together and looking nice. This was the first case I’ve had that I felt really comfortable dumping in my purse…although it’s too pretty to keep out of view!

The flap allows access to the headphone plug when closed, and folds almost flat behind to allow you to talk on the phone. There is a cutout in back for the camera, and this is the only downfall of this otherwise great case. While the case holds the phone securely, it does offer a bit of wiggle room, and you often need to do some adjusting to get the lens centered in the hole in the case.

I use the camera a lot, and having to stop and fiddle with the case at all is too much for me. If I used the camera less frequently, it probably wouldn’t bother me at all, but when 30-50% of my use is photographic these days…it bothers me a lot. That being said, I have a friend who is extremely rough on her iPhone. Her iPhone is so beat up and scratched, it looks like she has used it in a war. She will pull it from her purse, check Twitter, check email, and toss it back.  I think she’ll be very happy when I give her this case.    

Meanwhile, check it out for yourself. It’s available for $35.95 from Proporta.

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