[EVO 4G Accessories] scotthellewell:
Innocase Rugged Review

I also just received my rugged case and thought I would share my thoughts on it.

As my brother often says, "It is amazing how the phone manufacturers spend so much time and effort to make the phones sleek and shiny and as soon as we get them we cover them up to protect them, hiding all the built in beauty."

The "killer" feature of this case/holster combination is the protection it offers. It doesn't make your phone look extra cool, easier to use, or anything of that sort. Other than protection you can now also carry your phone on your belt with the included holster.

You will find that after you put on the rugged case you will have to use the holster. This rugged double case makes your phone nearly twice as thick. It still fits in the pocket of my jeans, but it is very apparent that my phone is there.

I purchased the version that also includes the Innocase II Surface holster as well. In comparing the two holsters, you can quickly see that they are like night and day. The rugged holster will support belts that are almost twice as thick as the non rugged holster. The plastic on the rugged holster also looks to be slightly thicker through out. The rugged also includes a locking mechanism to prevent you from bumping into something and having your clip release your phone to the floor. I do find that the locking mechanism is a little tough to put into the lock position, but very easy to push to unlock.

The phone must have its face in on the holster. You will not be able to just clip the holster into your car and have your phone face out. It will not be usable as a poor man's car dock using just some twist ties or paper clips and an A/C vent. With the rugged part off, you can use the phone face out in the rugged holster. (I haven't tried seeing if that combination will allow access to the power ports to charge.

The screen protector went on easily and the included cloth fully cleaned all of the finger prints and grime off of my phone. It seems that the screen protector could have been slightly (very slightly) wider to fully fit the front of the phone. After putting on the Innocase II on the phone, I was unable to see the area that wasn't covered with the protector.

All of the buttons on the phone are easily hit even though they are covered with silicone. This includes the power button as well as the volume up and down buttons. You can hit them just as easily as when they were not covered.

The USB and HDMI port cover reminds me a bit about the usb port cover on my wife's Palm Pixi. You can get it off, but it would help to have longer finger nails. I was glad when my USB port cover previously broke off of my Palm Pre and made it always available.

The camera cover seems like a very nice feature. Almost no camera would exclude something to cover the lens when not in use. Yet almost no phones try to cover it up at all. Since the EVO also has the lens stick out the back of the phone this can be a real worry. I definately like the idea of having a cover, but it does have a few draw backs. First it is a pain ot open. It took me a bit to get it, but I found that the two finger solution seems to work. Use one finger to press down on the little piece of rubber and then another to pull it out. It is too bad it doesn't work much more like the kickstand where you can press on one side and it pops open. It does latch into the hard plastic exoskeleton, but it can take a bit to get it to stay. The camera cover also covers the speaker on that back, so you might need to uncover it when talking on the speaker phone. Overall I like the camera cover.

The headphone cover seems to be the easiet cover to open. It left plenty of room when open for me to put in my headset. In saying this, my headset has a vary narrow plug, so your milleage may vary.

The case does not seem to effect my signal coverage at all. I can hold my phone in the left or right hand and still get 5 bars of signal. I can also get a gps lock with this case on my phone.

I tested throwing my phone down onto hard ceramic tile in my kitchen and was unable to see any damage to my phone or the case. (just kidding)