[ # ] Xylo’s T2 Reflect Chrome iPhone Case Unboxing Pics

/* Posted June 12th, 2008 at 9:57am */
/* Filed under Apple, iPhone */

ivyskin_front iphone

We’re true to our words here at Code Retard so when we rave about a beautiful iPhone skin in a post, you can definitely be sure it’s because we want to buy it. I was recently presented such an opportunity so I made sure to snap up all the unboxing pics of Ivyskin’s fully enclosed chrome iPhone skin.

The box it came in was trapezoid shaped, giving it a feel of mystique and edginess contrasted to all the boring box iPhone cases in the market. With the box I got a letter from Ivyskin congratulating me on ownership of their case. Unfortunately it was a sad little note printed on low quality paper in by a black and white inkjet printer that didn’t do much to build the company’s credibility. Here’s the back of the box:

ivyskin_back iphone

The contents of the box were the actual case in two pieces along with an instruction manual:

ivyskin contents

Though Ivyskin claims the case is made with German materials and made in the USA, the instruction manual is chock full of grammatical and spelling errors reminiscent of badly written Chinese manuals shipped with low grade Chinese products. I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that these were Germans writing the manual, Germans that skipped one too many English classes during school. Don’t believe it’s that bad? Here is the full reproduction with all grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors:

Step 1:
Rip off the anti-dust film covers on the face panel of crystal case.
( same for iphone and iPod touch case)

Step 2:
Glide the top-case out,along the two side running slot.then remove out the paper card, install introduction and cleaing cloth etc.
( same for iphone case and iPod touch case)

Step 3:
Insert your iPhone/iPod Touch into the case,make sure the inductor matched with the cirular hole,then press the tail part of the device gently.Make sure that the whole device are inside of the down-case complete well.( same for iphone and iPod touch case)

Step 4:
For iPhone Case
Glide the top case in, along the two side OUTER runing slot, forbid to install the up-down cases by up-down force press.

For iPod Touch Case
Keep the up-case be close with the meet point of the runing slot aslant. Glide it in,along the two side INNER runing slot, forbid to install the up-down cases by up-down force press.

Step 5:
Lastly,enjoy the Touch-Thru funcation of your devices freely.
( same for iphone and iPod touch case)

Hopefully you won’t feel I was exaggerating. At any rate the pictures are sufficient to figure out how to put the iPhone into the shell. The case slides in with exact precision and smoothness of a high quality product. The lines are flush and the plastic feels soft and flexible yet strong and sturdy, not like some of the hard cheap plastic cases.

My only gripe is the “touch-thru” screen which leaves an ugly smear as the plastic sticks to the iPhone screen wherever you touch it. After a week of usage the ugly smear becomes an ugly fingerprint. You learn to be gentle to touch the screen otherwise you risk creating these sticky hotspots all over. See this closeup of what I mean.

ivyskin fingerprint

Another thing to clear up is the misleading “Chrome Reflect” moniker this model receives. Contrary to what it might suggest, the screen does not become reflective when the iPhone screen goes off like some of the other reflective chrome skins on the market. The product pictures are angled in such a way to suggest otherwise, but it’s just a camera trick. Look closely and you will see that the screen remains black.

Now that you know what you’re getting into, you can make a better decision of whether or not to invest in this case. There are a lot of iPhone cases out there and at around $46 after shipping this case is certainly not one of the cheapest out there. Though build quality is excellent, the smudges that reside on the screen after every touch are really annoying and should not be present in such an expensive product. My verdict would be to take back my recommendation of this case and consider other options.