iPhone 5 cover

I was recently sent a LifeProof iPhone 5 cover for Mr. TBaM to test, which he was very excited about it. He's been testing it rigorously for a month and here are his thoughts.

I've been using the LifeProof cover on my iPhone 5 almost exclusively for the past month, and have had virtually no problems; the touchscreen doesn't appear to lose sensitivity even when playing Fifa 13, although for understandable reasons the sound is slightly muffled at higher volumes when watching shows on iPlayer. All other buttons work as they should, even the mute slider, and the recess for the home button is positioned with pin-point accuracy. It has gained a small scratch, but it's only noticeable when the screen is at its brightest, and it's better being on the case than on the phone itself.

But this cover isn't just an everyday cover; its value is in protecting a £500 phone from water, snow, dirt and shocks.

With the Boy's birthday fast approaching, I'd been given the task of rearranging parts of the garden. It's a messy job that included moving a compost bin, so with the current lack of snow and my unwillingness to drop my phone from height it seemed like the easiest way to test the remaining protections.

With several hours of podcasts queued up, phone and case followed me around all afternoon. A bit of drizzle ensured it soon gained a light covering of mud – the photo below captured it about half-way through the afternoon, and it only got more and more caked!

So how well did it work? Well, faultlessly. LifeProof includes a protection programme that, for a small fee to cover service charges, will repair or replace any device that is water-damaged whilst in one of their covers, but there was no sign afterwards that I was at risk of needing to take advantage of this.

After all that I put it through, it seemed only fitting that I clean it off properly and return it back to its normal state.