Review: iSkin Limited Special Edition eVo^3 for Video iPod

This is definitely the nicest looking non-customized silicone rubber case I have seen.

For everyone who HATES U2—or just doesn’t like them enough to buy their special edition iPod—the eVo^3 Special Edition is like a one way all expense paid trip to Coolsville.

The iSkin Limited Special Edition eVo^3 for Video iPod has the now classic black with red clickwheel design that everyone but hardened Hello Kitty fans covet. So even if you bought, or had bought for you, a white Video iPod, all’s not lost for you style-wise.

Buy this, you’re cool again. Story over.

Or is it?

There are a few design issues that make me wonder about it as an overall product.

The case comes with a belt clip called the RevoClip2. It’s made of polycarbonate plastic and as such, well, it’s just going to break one day. At least if it lives on my belt for very long. I have fairly high standards, but anything I carry absolutely has to be oaf-proof. The belt case included with my Motorola RAZR cellphone, for example, lasted about a month before I caught it on my steering wheel and the whole thing just peeled apart. Anyhow, sure the RevoClip clip comes off from the case easily if you want it to, has a smart layer of silicone rubber on its iPod-touching side so it won’t scratch your metal up, isn’t likely to accidentally come off because of that neat post latch thingy, and it can be set to hold 12 preset angles for more convenient access, yadda yadda yadda. But the first time I brush against a door jam as I stumble past, this thing will rip off and go skittering away from me like a scared hamster looking for cover.

The rubber of the case seems a bit thin as well. Oh, I know iSkin is trying to prevent your iPod from overheating while you play long movies, and that the case is supposed to fit like a glove so you can use it in a dock or with other pretty tight hugging devices and all that WIMPY stuff, but all I can think of while moving the clip around and watching the back of the case twitch this way and that with the twist is that Whoa! This thing is flimsy. No way it will stop a bullet, or even a casual spear thrust. It’ll pull away inelegantly from its front panel in the first few seconds of any bar fight or pirate boarding action you might find yourself involved with.

I didn’t mention the front panel yet, right? The front panel is a cool thing. Definitely a nice idea. It’s called a VISOR, fits neatly over the front of the eVo^3 encased Video iPod, and comes with a nice clickwheel cover (red in the case of the SpeshEd, right?). Shows off the iPod, dresses it up and makes it look pretty, but the first time a pit bull gets hold of it and shakes, the VISOR will come right off.

I do not want to be mean or unjust to this case at all. Please look at my first comment. This is one of the nicest looking silicone rubber cases I have ever seen, and definitely the nicest non-customized case made of any material I’ve ever seen. It’s just that in my world of dexterity challenged flailing about and general stumbling over and whacking into things, I need more of a crash helmet than the elegant chapeau that is the iSkin Limited Special Edition eVo^3.

For now, from the Land of Klutzes, I give the eVo^3 Special Edition in this formulation an 80%. If you’re looking for a drop dead gorgeous case, and aren’t as paranoid or prone to breaking things as I am, well, it’s worth 90%. Even higher.

Do yourself a favour, if you’re doing this for the style, and buy the colour-matched headphones as well for the full meal deal. No use only looking almost cool, right?

Thanks, iSkin! Great product.