review: Pelican i1015

As the company clearly states, this is not a waterproof case; instead it’s in the “weather resistant” category – don’t go swimming with it, but you can use it while playing football on a muddy field on a rainy day. Other vendors have offered this with an entire front face of thin plastic for accessing the touchscreen on the iPhone or iPod touch, but Pelican has gone in the other direction, simply offering a clear hard plastic housing that allows you to see your iPhone’s screen but not actually touch it. Not ideal, but if you’re in a situation where hardbody protection is essential for every inch of the device, this product does at least allow you to listen to your iPhone while keeping it heavily protected.

Make no mistake: at nearly an inch and a half thick, this thing’s a monster. I couldn’t quite get it into my pocket, so instead I ended up using the built-in hook to leave the whole thing dangling from a belt loop. It’s heavy enough that while doing so works, it’s not all that practical (it’s enough of a monster that the pass-through headphone jack is actually on the side of the case, something I’ve never seen in five years of reviewing iPod cases). And the iPhone specific controls on your earbuds won’t work, because the signal doesn’t pass through.

In fact everything about this product suggests that you’d only want to use it if you’re in a compromised position to begin with – you need to protect your iPhone from the elements and such a level of potential impact damage to the point that you need to seal off all of its controls and can’t even adjust the volume or pause the music – but it is a well done product for people who find themselves in such a situation and still stubbornly insist on being able to listen to their music. And I’d probably be one of them if I ever found myself in such a situation.

Learn more about the Pelican i1015 Pelican.com