Review: Carve Case for iPhone 4/4s

The iPhone is a premium product which needs nah, “deserves” to be protected from bumps, scratches and falls. Despite the attributes of Gorilla glass these devices are still susceptible to damage from carelessness. There are of course a myriad of cases available for the iPhone and with Apple selling so many of these device users often like to differentiate their’s from others.

But why then would you stick a 5euro rubber casing on a device that at the very least is valued upwards of 100x that cost? Well now you don’t have to.

An Irish carpenter has come up with a premium product that’s not only keenly priced but certainly helps an iPhone stand out from the crowd. Donal Moloney (a carpenter) is based in Kildare where he manufactures and sells his “Carve Cases” from http://www.carvecases.com. We got a chance to review one of the cases he makes by hand.

The carve case uniqueness comes from the fact that it’s completely made of wood. The case is machine cut, hand sanded, hand filed and then hand varnished. The solid hardwood used is teak. Even though the case is rigid the iPhone fits snugly into it and from our tests would not slip out. The case’s edges also come just far enough out that they protect the iPhone screen from any damage if you rest the phone in the case face down. We had no problems attaching ear phones or chargers to the device while it was in the case as there’s plenty of room and nothing gets in the way. The iPhone buttons are easy to access while it’s in the case also.

For a hand made product, which is certainly unique, we think the carve case is an excellent example of form and function combined. Overall you’ll feel confident that the case will not only protect your device but it will look great too. There are plans too to offer other wood options including walnut, maple and cherry. Donal’s a one man operation and his hard work has been rewarded recently with him winning a 10,000euro investment. The product is 100% Irish and even the packaging is made from recycled materials so you can feel good about your purchase as well as loving it.

The case is currently only available for the iPhone 4 and 4s models although Donal is looking at bringing out wooden cases for both the Samsung Galaxy SIII and the iPad in the near future. It currently retails at 33euro (was 39euro) for the plain case and 69euro for adding a custom design to it on the back (Available pre-order only) but courtesy of Carve Cases we have a competition to give away our review unit. For a chance to win it check out our twitter feed @Irish_technews

Update:  And the winner of this excellent case is @MCoxall82. Congrats and we’ll get that case out to you in the coming days.

Carve Cases:

http://carvecases.com/