Why buy an iDry?

The iDry waterproof case for iPhones - does what it says on the tin!

As an avid iPhone user I tend to use it both by and often wading in the water to send live photos. Bad habit as I dropped my beloved phone in the drink just a week or two ago. Is the iDry the solution?

What They Say

There's nothing worse than destroying an expensive iPhone with water or sand. But thanks to the great new iDry Waterproof Case, exclusively available from www.thesportshq.com, your iPhone can perform danger-free even in the trickiest of situations.

The iDry is the must-have case for anyone who wants to enjoy their iPhone at the beach, around the pool, on a boat, while fishing or walking - in fact anywhere where the risk of splashing, submersion or sand would stop you using it! It takes less than 10 seconds to fit an iPhone into the iDry and once it's in, you retain complete control to take and make calls, text, listen to music over the loudspeaker, take photos and use your favourite apps.

When fully submerged, it has a completely watertight seal to a depth of five metres and if you put music on before submerging, the music will continue to play even when fully underwater. Because of the pressure of the water on the screen, you won't be able to press any buttons whilst the phone is fully submerged. But as soon as it's out of the water, even when dripping wet, full functionality returns.

This essential case is perfect for any holiday or trip, or those who lead an active outdoors lifestyle. It comes with a convenient and detachable neck strap and is easy to clean, lightweight and strong.

What We Say

For just £9.99 I was wondering what the quality of the iDry case would be and was a little concerned about that all important first test. I needn't have worried.

The plastic case is rigid and a nice clean white colour and the o-ring seal looks to be good and tough. As with any waterproof case like this though it is only as good as the seal it makes and so you should check it often for any sand or grit which has got in and make sure it is cleaned away, perhaps adding a dab of silicon grease also to keep it from drying out and cracking.

I really liked the ease of twisting the top to lock and unlock the case - no hard to close latches like on some other waterproof bags and cases I have tried. Once my iPhone was inside I could use the controls with no major problems through the thin latex-like screen material and thanks to a neat clear rigid plastic lens hole at the rear of the case the camera was still able to be used with no obvious degradation in quality in bright conditions.

I took the iDry with me on the family vacation to Orlando this summer where I knew it would get a good work out and where better to give it a test than in the pool. I seriously bashed it about to simulate diving with it, throwing it, dunking it repeatedly and towing it around with me whilst swimming (thanks to the handy neck cord). Not a drop of water appeared inside the case I am pleased to report.

For fishing I took it out with me to the Mosquito Lagoon where an afternoon thunderstorm did its best to drench me and my iPhone but again the iDry case did its job and I felt very comfortable from then on wading with it around my neck ready for the next Tweet or Blog post from the water.

The only minor downside I could find was my 3G phone did not fit 100% snugly inside it and rattled a little as the case is just a bit too long. You would not notice this unless you actually rattled it to be fair but apart from that I was very happy with its performance and it will become a permanent fixture in my kit when I am out on the water.

iDry has been designed to work with the iPhone 3G and 3GS models but NOT the newer iPhone 4 and is priced just £9.99 from The Sports HQ.