Last week Apple World Today covered the announcement of a newiPhone 7 Plus case called iGlass made by SwitchEasy. It’s unique in that, like the iPhone itself, it’s all glass and aluminum.
I had the opportunity to test one of the cases this week. The case is two parts– an aluminum frame and a tempered glass back. The glass is only 0.8mm thick, and the transparency is 90% with a hardness of 7H. This should prevent scratching under most circumstances. The clarity of the back clearly shows not only the Apple logo, but you can even still see the small writing at the bottom of the iPhone’s back.
There is only a 0.1mm gap between the glass and the back of the iPhone, but the glass never touches the iPhone. Only 13% of the iPhone is touched by the case. To keep dust from getting under the case at the camera cutout there is a small rubber gasket that is lightly glued to stick to the case — and which makes a seal where the iPhone camera and flash is located.
I noted immediately the rigidity of the frame. Most cases and bumpers are somewhat soft and malleable but this one was quite rigid as it is aluminum, which lends a very good and solid feel to an already well constructed iPhone. The frame has specially constructed corners to permit signals to easily transmit to and from the iPhone.
The frame has buttons to depress the three iPhone buttons. There are two separate volume buttons and a power button. They are some of the best buttons I’ve ever experienced on a case. They are easy to press and have a very solid feel and audible click making the iPhone easy to control via the buttons.
I do advise to read the instructions first when using the iGlass. You simply cannot pop on this case with the rigidness of the aluminum frame. Once you read the instructions and follow them, the case easily assembles, and there is a small locking switch at the top to keep the case together.
I do game quite a bit on my iPhone. With the power of the A10 chip there is always going to be some heat to dissipate. I have always been concerned about rubber-type cases that touch and basically insulate the iPhone, thus preventing heat from easily escaping. The 0.1 mm gap between the back of the iPhone and the tempered glass provides a good space for heat to escape, and the aluminum frame even serves as a heat sink to help disperse any heat.
Many cases“cheapen” the iPhone with the materials used in them. They are made of rubber or plastic and just not worthy of the quality construction of the iPhone. This case doesn’t lower the aesthetics or construction quality of the Apple smartphone whatsoever. The iGlass case actual adds to and builds upon the premium quality of it.
There is a very nice video showing the features of the case. I could not help but notice the Apple-like production. Even the announcer sounds somewhat like Jony Ive and the flow and wording sound like an Apple keynote video announcing a new product.
I had been on a quest to find a case to showcase the beauty of the jet black iPhone 7 plus. The iGlass certainly does that and much more. The case feels great and premium in the hand. At $39.99 this case is certainly the case to get to show off the beauty of your jet black iPhone and in turn adds its own beauty.
