review: Audrey Charm

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, here comes the Audrey Charm for iPhone 3G and 3GS. If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “My iPhone is great but it would be even better if there were Swarovski crystals running around the edges of the screen,” well here’s your chance. Rather than being a case or even a backpiece, the Audrey Charm can best be described as a faceplate. The iPhone slides in from the top, and while the metal enclosure does wrap partially around the iPhone’s sides, that’s just to hold it on; the iPhone’s entire rear surface, bottom, top, and top corners are left exposed. Beyond the fact that it happens to coincidentally cover the bottom corners, this product is entirely decorative, not protective.

And as someone who’s been known to use my iPhone with no case at all when I’m not testing one or another out for editorial purposes, I’m not going to knock this product for being merely decorative; the iPhone isn’t exactly made of porcelain and it’s up to each user to decide whether they want to use external protection. An iPhone case that claims to be protective, but isn’t, would be a different story (and I’ve seen my fair share of those over the years), but this product is clearly intended for show and tell, not shock absorption. So while it’s important to be clear that this product doesn’t offer any real drop or impact protection, that’s not likely why you’re going to buy it anyway.

So why would you buy the Audrey Charm? Because it’s shiny and pretty. Those little crystals sparkle when they catch the light just right, and while it’s clearly not for all users or even most users, it’ll find its audience. My job here at Beatweek is to test the product from a functional standpoint, and in that sense it mostly did well. The iPhone slides in out easily when you want it to, but is in no danger of sliding out by accident, even when shaken vigorously while upside down. And the padding inside alleviated the kind of metal-on-metal issues that always give me pause when using these kind of products. My only complaint is that the row of crystals hugs the sides of the iPhone’s screen just a little too tightly, making it sometimes cumbersome (although not hugely difficult) to tap the keys on the outer edges of the keyboard. But it sure is shiny.

No star rating, because star rating are comparative, and really, what else on the market am I supposed to compare this to?

Learn more about Audrey Charm for iPhone at AudreyCharm.com