Professional cases for the Nokia E7 Communicator continue to trickle in - here's OtterBox's 'Commuter' accessory. Fresh from the triumph of the N8 design, how on earth did OtterBox cope with the sliding, hinged E7? And how bulky and/or useable is the end result? Is the form factor a bad 'fit' (pun intended) with the idea of an all encompassing, totally protected phone?
I'd originally planned another case review roundup for the Nokia E7, but several of the possible cases have failed to materialise, so I'm going to tackle a few of the best cases individually. Starting with the Nokia CC-3009, a simple, yet superbly made shell that both protects and enhances daily operation.
In one of those "why the heck haven't we reviewed this before?" moments, I look at Nokia's really rather spectacularly useful DC-11 universal charger. Talk about hiding its light under a bushel, the DC-11 has several rather unique benefits - though if you want to avail yourself of one you might have to shop around, since at full RRP it's on the expensive side!
Following my review of the comprehensive (but very expensive) OtterBox Commuter case, I thought it only fair to round off 'accessory week' with a look at its vastly cheaper sister case, the Impact. Living up to its name, it provides significant drop protection and is superbly constructed - I think we may have a winner, especially in the value for money stakes.
Accessory week here on AAS rolls on.... (at least for me!), with the Trexta-made and Nokia branded CC-3002 'Hard cover', available in grey, red or blue. Could this be the perfect low profile N8 in-situ case or will this too fall at the last hurdle?
The accessory genre of portable battery pack is well established, of course - the Proporta ones are best known. But a twist on the concept is to have solar input as well, giving extra flexibility when away from computers and power sources. The Scosche solBAT II Solar is a recent example, so I got it in for review, only to find a showstopping problem almost immediately. It's interesting tech though, so do please read on...
After my initial roundup of traditional 'pouch' or enveloping cases for the Nokia N8, I've been trying a number of sleeker, 100% in-situ alternatives. The latest in this accessory genre is the rather sumptuous OtterBox Commuter, providing premium look and feel, together with what amounts to comprehensive protection. With only a couple of small caveats, this is a case well worth investigating.
Another week, another Nokia N8 case to review. You may remember my original roundup some time ago and then my CC-1005 and FlexiShield reviews? Now comes another hard case, designed to add as little bulk as possible to the N8. It succeeds on many fronts but has a flaw that's silly in the extreme.
There are those who proclaim that the Nokia N8 needs no protection at all. After all, with Gorilla Glass and aluminium unibody shell, what's there to get damaged or to break? However, it's still a relatively expensive bit of kit and even small scuffs will annoy if you drop it onto concrete enough times. And you will, since the aluminium is incredibly smooth and slippery. Which is why there's a small industry creating grippable skins for the N8 - the FlexiShield is the latest of the breed - but it does it pass muster?
If you've been paying attention to our coverage of the Nokia E7, you'll remember that I complained at length about the slipperiness of the unibody main shell of the device: it was prone to dropping, especially when opening the E7, plus the device tended to skate away from me on the desk when I was typing. In addition, the camera glass on the back was flush, meaning it was prone to picking up dirt and scratches. The Black Silicone Skin fixes all the above, as you might expect, although there are a couple of minor caveats that help to push my rating for this accessory down a bit.
