Apple's Bumper Case
The iPhone 4 is Apple's second product to launch with first party accessories. Like the iPad before it, the iPhone 4 is available with an Apple fabricated and sold case, dubbed the "bumper." At launch, this was the only case available. Most Apple stores (and online) only had black in inventory, though I'm told a few also had pink in stock. As of right now, the Apple store shows other colors shipping on July 16th - white, pink, orange, green, and blue eventually. I just went with black.
The bumper is an interesting beast. For $29.00, you get a hard plastic strip that runs atop the stainless steel antenna band, completely around the phone. On the outside of the hard plastic are two stiff rubber bands that seal over the side of the phone. If the Otterbox Defender is a bomb proof suit for iPhones, Apple's bumper is more like a slightly-scandalous bikini. It's literally just a continuous strip of material.
Apple brings the exterior metal volume and standby buttons out to the edge of the phone, and from what I can tell they're also metallic.
Buttons are metal and brought through the case, except the vibrate/silent switch.
Inside the case, there's a felt-like mask which rests atop the buttons and aligns itself up. It works surprisingly well, and the buttons feel like those on the device itself. There's no gap inbetween - hey, the buttons just work.
Putting it on is a little bit of a struggle. I've found the best way is to insert the top, standby button side first (so you don't accidentally turn it on and off while inserting it), and then shove the bottom part in. After you've got it in, there's just a bit of massaging to get the rubber seats settled, and then you're good to go. It's very snug, there's no flexing.
At the top, there's a break in the hard plastic for the headset jack. Instead, this is entirely rubber. No doubt this is to allow jacks that come out and have a 90 degree bend to be inserted, something we're all too familiar with being a problem on previous iDevices. There's a tiny hole next to it you want to be absolutely certain isn't blocked for the noise canceling microphone.
The nice thing about the rubberized strips is that you get a grippy surface to hold the phone with, and you raise the front and back glass panes about a millimeter off the surface you're resting it on when you lay it down flat.
The idea of having a glass back is fine and dandy until you lay the iPhone on another glass surface directly. The result (if both surfaces are very clean) is that the two will come in optical contact and become very hard to pry apart. It's the same sort of reason coasters aren't glass - the two seal together, and become difficult to separate. Not to mention any particulates underneath will make those hairline scratches (sleeks) I talked about before. Even the strongest of glasses will get micro scratches when rubbed in optical contact with other glasses. It's obvious that raising both the front and back were design objectives here.
Look ma, I can rest the phone face down and not scratch it up!
Apple's bumper case is unique that it doesn't cover the back of the phone. At all. If you prefer a case that covers every square inch of the device and offers total protection, don't get the bumper and instead wait for something else. If you want to show off as much of the iPhone 4's design as possible, Apple has done it with the bumper. If you already purchased an iPhone 4, well, you know that outside of a plastic bag or a rubber band, the bumper is really the only option.
Like we talked about before, the other hugely notable benefit is that the bumper insulates the stainless steel band from being detuned by your meatbag extremities (read: hands). Instead of a 24 dB drop, you'll incur a 10 dB drop completely in line with every other cellular phone ever made.
The only problem with the bumper is the dock connector port. It's about a millimeter too small.
That doesn't fit inside. Frustrating? Yes.
The unfortunate result is that all of my third party accessories don't fit. My Alpine iDA-X001 head unit in the car, three different vehicle accessory port car chargers with dock connectors, all my third party cables, and not to mention docks all don't fit.
If you've rolled with other cases, this is an all too familiar story that seems to repeat every single release, but it's frustrating in this case because the connectors don't match up by seriously under a millimeter. You can jam the dock connector in, but it doesn't go far enough inside to snap into place, and comes right back out.
The result is that I drive around with the bumper case halfway off, like this:
It's not the end of the world, but I would have to file down that edge a half millimeter on both sides to make my accessories work again. Considering just how much the bumper improves signal and protects against accidental scratching, it's arguably a must have accessory. One that should maybe be given away with every iPhone 4 purchase. But you already know our thoughts on that.
No doubt within a month or two the usual assortment of iPhone cases will pop up again, tweaked to meet the iPhone 4's slightly thinner dimensions. For now, however, the bumper is essential.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
270 Comments
View All Comments
Stuka87 - Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - link
Yet another top notch, in depth review Anand. I love the amount of depth you add to any review.One question, on the first page you refer to the SoC used in many Android devices as "Scorpion" rather than "Snapdragon." Is there an actual difference, or just different names for the same device? Or perhap Scorpion is more specific to the revision?
I am still thinking that for now I will keep my 3GS. next year when its time to upgrade, a new better iPhone will be out anyway.
Spoelie - Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - link
Scorpion is the CPU, Snapdragon is the entire SoC (with gpu etc etc)brandonicus - Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - link
Still reading the review, but from the first page pictures I have to ask...Did you already scratch your iPhone to hell? When seeing the front side comparison with the Nexus One I thought the iPhone looked terrible. Bad pictures? Or does it just scratch really easy?...I'm sure later in the review I'll read that you threw it on the ground a few dozen times :)ipredroid - Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - link
Many of your in-depth reviews have helped me decide on how to customize/purchase/learn about a product. Nevermind people saying you (Shimpi) are bias towards a product. People are just annoyed at anything Apple related because the media won't shut up about Apple. I realize you are smart enough not to respond to random haters and treat those here with respect and even respond to comments or questions. Thank you to the AnandTech team!The0ne - Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - link
Don't be a fool, many of us here are here at Anandtech because first many of us do like Anadtech ever since he started his site, secondly the reviews are good in general and lastly because most of us are either engineers or in the computer related field.What most of us criticized are valid to some extent. What I've criticized is immensely valid. Do the test and write the review without any type of unjustified opinions included. And if it's not too much trouble be CONSISTENT. I don't go around testing similar products every which way. I'm not saying Anandtech does this all the time but I get really annoy when things are not consistent from one review to the next; meaning testing was not consistent and thus results could be dark matter for all I know.
ipredroid - Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - link
You Proved my point, you randomly hated on a general comment I made, (which I made to no one in particular). No one here is a fool. Base your opinions off of facts not general assersens of which you are speculating. Misplaced criticism based on speculation is for tabloids. Which is unfortunately how you come across when you call people fools and bash with out facts. I'm sure you realize how Hypocritical you are being. You are entitled to your opinion of course but your ignorance shows when you don't base off of facts. (Referring to antenna issue) Apple and Google are both guilty of faulty antennas saying either company's engineers didn't test properly is just silly.The0ne - Thursday, July 1, 2010 - link
Your comprehension is misplaced. When I called you a "fool" it was in referenced to you saying."Nevermind people saying you (Shimpi) are bias towards a product. People are just annoyed at anything Apple related because the media won't shut up about Apple. I realize you are smart enough not to respond to random haters and treat those here with respect and even respond to comments or questions. Thank you to the AnandTech team!"
In short you are saying that some of us that have differing opinions on the subject matter are idiots and that Anand is smart to avoid us and our lame comments. That is pretty much your entire take on it. All I'm saying is that there are many professionals as members here on Anandtech, many of which are very intelligent. Assuming we're that dumb is foolish, and hence the use of the word "fool."
I'm sorry, this Antenna issue is a laughing stock to any respectable engineer. If could have only gone into the finish product by decisions made against the respectable Engineer(s). Whether you choose to believe otherwise is irrelevant because the FACT remains the problem is a basic one. Whether it's Apple, Google or our company is irrelevant as well. The discussion here is Apple iphone, thus the blame is directed at Apple. That does not imply it is ONLY Apple that does this.
And lastly where do you get off telling me I'm ignorant because of my "hate." Where is this hate you are talking about? You're making things up to justify your own means to have something to say to me, less the lack of comprehension in the first place. As for what I've said, that is very general. Why is asking "Do the test and write the review without any type of unjustified opinions included" full of hate?
Sorry you got the wrong idea of my original response.
ipredroid - Thursday, July 1, 2010 - link
I never said you were ignorant because of your hate... read it again... lol. Ignorant for calling me a fool and baseless facts (thank you for the apology). I even stated you ( everyone is) entitled to their opinion. Just stating some people comes across as "haters". People complain about everything, it is easier to see the bad rather than the good, human nature maybe.Anyways, I could careless, meant it as a thank you of sorts to the AnandTech team. Not to belittle other bloggers posts. To the overly negative with out sensible reasoning, yes. You, no. I enjoy reading others posts and rarely comment. I did this time because work put into the review by the AnandTech team seemed to be under appreciated in this review and I commented.
Of course anyone that runs a business isn't going to respond to distasteful posts rudely that wouldn't be smart. Not that those who are "haters" are idiots, even though they certainly can be.
IKeelU - Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - link
I liked the review. It seemed objective to me and I appreciate that the phone and OS were covered separately.Something that wasn't addressed: will the straight edges of the iPhone4 cause damage to one's pants (or one's purse)? My old Sony Ericsson candybar phone actually caused damage to the lining of my left pocket after several months of use. It seems like the iPhone4's edges are the sharpest-ever in a phone...
Though I must disagree about the iPhone 4 making the N1 look dated. In those photos, at least, the N1 looks way sexier to me.*
* I own an N1 ;)
tdream - Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - link
First of all calling the iphone 4 styling uptodate just because its new doesn't make any sense. Jobs says its like an OLD Lecia camera... The 3GS doesn't look dated in the objective sense. If you were to place these two devices in a test, a control group and another which was bombarded with marketing spiel (like the world has) you would get a vastly different viewpoint. Sharp edges are out, just because Apple have run out of ideas decided to be different doesn't mean it's better. Eg glossy vs matte, Apple have made matte cool again... even though all of my monitors are matte. Apple will do anything to be different and stand out, doesn't make it better though.Once again you ignore your own data and say the IPhone 4 is better than the 3GS even though in every case you tested it CLEARLY isn't. It a problem, you know it, Apple knows it, and now everyone in the world knows it. You "feel its better", well then if you feel it then I must feel it too right. Glad we live in a world which values science and facts too. Sorry but you're falling into Apple's main ploy right here, it's magical...
However the rest of your article remains fairly objective and up to your old high standards.