Macworld Forums: Miniot Pouch is a wooden iPhone 4/4S sleeve - Macworld Forums

Post your comments for Miniot Pouch is a wooden iPhone 4/4S sleeve here

Quote

Gosh, Lex, that seems a pretty fundamental question to leave unanswered in a review of a protective case. Seems you could have located a phone or three to use in some drop-tests, to give at least some indication of the protection afforded. Without that info, there isn't much left to report on aside from aesthetics and fit. I suppose it's asking a lot to risk a couple $600 phones to test a $75 case--except that it's exactly what the vendor is asking its customers to do!

I will say that it's a pretty case, thanks for bringing it to our attention. And as it's made of wood, at least we shouldn't expect it to interfere with reception while the phone is housed in it.

This post has been edited by TeaEarleGreyHot: 06 July 2012 - 07:43 AM

Tea - The problem is that a few drops is utterly useless as a means of estimating how the case would protect a phone. MacWorld would have to many drops of multiple phones to achieve anything remotely close to statistically useful information. Unless someone is willing to front a few thousand dollars for such a study, it's not going to happen. In that context, a statement that a wooden case has unknown protective capabilities is perfectly reasonable.

BB

 TeaEarleGreyHot, on 06 July 2012 - 07:41 AM, said:

There are a couple challenges here. The first is that it's expensive to test every iPhone case by trying to damage the phone--some percentage of cases won't protect as well as promised, and iPhones are around $700 each without a contract. We actually do perform some impact and element testing for cases that claim to be waterproof or extra-rugged, because that's the key appeal of those cases, but when it comes to "everyday" cases, it just isn't feasible, so we look at the case based on our experiences looking at hundreds of iPhone cases to see if the material and construction seem to be up to snuff. With a case such as the Miniot, which uses very different materials and construction, it's more difficult, even with our experience, to judge how protective it will be if you drop your phone, say, onto concrete from chest level.

The second challenge is that, as anyone who's had a freak iPhone accident can attest, the iPhone is a curious beast when it comes to damage. I've seen iPhones dropped 10 feet onto concrete that survived with little more than a small dent, but I've also seen an iPhone dropped from from a couple feet onto carpet that had its screen cracked because it happen to hit the corner of a small toy. In other words, even if we did impact testing on every case, unless we performed such tests many, many times for every case, from many different heights, onto many different surfaces, and somehow found a way to simulate every possible point and angle of impact, such tests wouldn't be reliable measures of whether or not a particular phone would be protected from a particular impact.

Until Consumer Reports gives us a grant to spend $700 on each case review, so we can test each case to the point of failure , we'll have to use our experience with cases to comment on the apparent degree of protection offered by each. Sometimes, as with this particular case, we won't be able to provide reliable comment.

 palane, on 06 July 2012 - 10:13 AM, said:

Yes, I suppose we can't expect anything more, given the realities of journalism today.
We're stuck with suggestive observations, anecdote and apocrypha.
Fortunately, this isn't a life & death issue.

 Dan Frakes, on 06 July 2012 - 10:20 AM, said:

Understandable, Dan, thanks.

Interestingly, I was about to also mention Consumer Reports in my reply to BB, above, and then decided I just didn't want to even suggest they have anything at all to do with iPhones, ever again.

Do you guys ever say, "Don't buy this."? You did not like anything about this case yet you close with, "If you're in the market for a hard sleeve-style case, the Miniot Pouch may suit you."

I also offer that your right side/left-side and right hand/left hand 'operation' is pretty limited in thought. I am sure you can slide the phone in using either hand and slide it out using either hand. There is nothing to indicate otherwise.

Other than that thanks for wasting more space on the inter-webs.

 TeaEarleGreyHot, on 06 July 2012 - 10:27 AM, said:

I trust that the next time you cook a meal for someone, that you will provide a detailed analysis and lab report indicating that a hundred lab rats ate the food being presented and did not suffer any food poisoning in the week of observation after the dosage given.

I don't know what universe you live in, but this one doesn't really allow for much destructive product testing. Cars, yeah, because automobile accidents kill people.

The world isn't a padded room to protect you and your babies. And heck, you could still trip on a shoelace and tear your Achilles tendon in a padded room.

 grackle, on 06 July 2012 - 11:44 AM, said:

We do advise against buying things that we don't recommend at all. I wouldn't advise most iPhone customers get this, but if you are indeed in the market for a hard sleeve-style case, this is one, and it's pretty.

Your analysis of my right-side/left-side analysis falls short in my book: Popping my phone out upside-down and/or facedown doesn't improve my experience of using the case at all.

It's been a pleasure sharing this Internet space with you.

For a hard wooden case to provide good drop protection it needs to be well lined with soft cushioning material like the Otterbox or Lifeproof. This case doesn't provide much of that and seems like an expensive novelty.