I didn’t get an iPhone 5 right away, so I also didn’t have a case for it right away, but I knew I would be looking at iSkin as an option. When everyone I work with got an iPhone 5, I heard two repeating concerns about putting a case on it. The first was the looks of the phone. It seems a little silly to me to put the aesthetics over protecting it from damage, especially when damage can include scratches to the phone, but I understand the sentiment. The other concern I kept hearing was about the bulk it might add. Understandably, people don’t want to bulk up this thinner, lighter design. Luckily, iSkin sent me their new Claro iPhone 5 case to review and it answers both of these questions very well. Take a look for yourself in this video.
With my phone’s beauty protected as much as the hardware, I found this case to be a great compromise without much of an actual compromise. It’s slim and looks great and it generally protects well. The compromise I do recognize is that it’s thinner than some other cases and can be subject to its own damage while protecting the phone. As often happens with me, I had the Claro wrapped around my phone for less than 48 hours before I dropped, and subsequently stepped on it in a parking garage. There’s the real test, I suppose. As was its intent, the iSkin Claro protected my new iPhone 5 from any damage at all. The case, itself, has obvious scratches and broke in the thinnest part (right by the camera lens), but is still usable and did its job well.
Like most iSkin products, I really enjoy the Claro case and would recommend it for your new iPhone, especially if you’re afraid of covering up your iPhone 5′s design. If you want a fresh twist to the design, take a look at their Aura cases, which looks just as good, but with some additional color options.