If you want to stay on top of all of our video reviews of the latest tech, be sure to check out and subscribe to the Gear Live YouTube channel, hosted by Andru Edwards! It’s free!
The folks over at AGF have worked with AT&T on bringing their Beetle case for the iPhone 4 to market. We were sent an assortment of them to play around with and test on our iPhone 4 model, and we wanted to report back to you guys with some of our thoughts on the case.
Case Design
The Beetle case is a hybrid of strong polycarbonate for the outer shell, while the inner layer is made of soft TPU, meant to absorb shock and protect the iPhone 4 from getting scratched. They are a solid color, with a sort of racing stripe accent color lining the sides. The cases are available in six color combinations, three of which you'll find in retail stores, and three that you can get by ordering online:
Black with blue accent
Black with yellow accent
Lilac with magenta accent
Red with white accent
Hot pink with purple accent
Blue with white accent
The back half of the case is where the software TPU is, so just know that the front of the phone isn't protected by anything other than a hard plastic lining of the edges. At least once you snap the two pieces into place, you don't really have to worry about it coming apart due to a normal drop. It takes a bit of force to remove it--nothing terrible, it's definitely a good thing.
With the case on, you still have full access to all the buttons, ports, and switches on the outer perimeter of the iPhone 4. There were no problems using any of the functions, but if you like to dock your phone into a desktop dock, speaker dock, or any other sort of dock, you may find difficulty trying to do it while the phone is housed in the Beetle case.
Using the Case
You know, it's odd, but the case doesn't really have that much grip to it. At first glance, we figured that the racing stripe accent along the sides would be more rubbery. It would make sense, since it would allow the case to be a little more "sticky" in your hand. Not so. Instead, it feels a little slippery and easy to drop. Good thing you have a case on the phone though, amirite?
That's really my only complaint about the case. I want to feel like a case is helping me from damaging my phone in all ways possible, and by using a case that makes it feel more slippery than it would without one kind of feels silly.
Wrap-up
The iPhone 4 Beetle case from AGF costs $34.99. At this point, there are so many iPHone 4 cases at so many different prices, that we'd only recommend this one if you really like the color choices available, since that is kind of what sets it apart. You get a little shock absorption and a good design in a nice and light case, but in the end there isn't really much that we see that sets the Beetle case apart from the crowded pack.
