spacerocket.org.uk

The Exspect 468 is a clear silicone skin case for the ipod touch which comes complete with a thin but more rigid than usual screen protector.

Inside the packaging you will also find a cleaning cloth to give your display a pre application clean and a ’soft card’ to assist with getting an air bubble free union.

The screen protector appears to be of the slightly more ‘rigid’ design and will stay perfectly flat self supported, when compared to the more top-of-the-range highly flexible ‘film’ type of screen protector. (Note: The screen protector is not fitted in any of the photos here).

Also included is a strap for attaching to the case:

Most worthy of the note is the back of the case, in addition to a number of ‘breathing’ holes, there are also two very long vertical ‘belt’ slits/slots. These slits and openings connect right through to the inside of the case and anything that goes through them will come into contact with the shiny faced back of the ipod.

Despite having these rather questionable openings on the rear, it does feature the necessary opening on the front to allow the ambient light sensor to work:

This is worthy of note as some of the clearest illustrations on the retail packaging and manufacturers website suggest it does not have the aperture - and the design of the packaging itself makes it impossible to see this area clearly inside and confirm that it does.

The bottom of the case has a full width opening for the essential dock connector and headphones socket:

Despite some other case designs featuring an opening much more tightly cut to the two ports in question, this is not actually much of an issue as the exposed area lines up neatly with size of the matt-black base end of the ipod touch.

The strap attaches onto a small silicone loop on the side of the case.

Personally, while I would give the silicone loop iteself a good lifespan, if the strap was to be used reguarlarly as the sole point of support and subjected to repeated shock strain I’d be tempted to consider giving the loop a far shorter life span for staying in one piece attached to the case.

Generally the skin fits ‘reasonably’ well to the ipod. While there is certainly reason to be cautious about pressing too tightly, this could definitely do with being just one tad more snug. There are certainly more ideal skins out there. Hopefully this is something that can be improved with future production runs.

Its main failing however is the belt slits on the back. Although they are probably the right size for most belts they are far to long for the case itself. Indeed I think that a reasonably amount of that slight looseness of the case can be placed at their door.

Using the slits with a belt would certainly result in scratches to the back of your ipod, unless you have a full-body ‘invisible shield’ wrapper on inside.

Not using them however is far worse because, due to their length, they allow the back of the skin to slide ‘open’ with the slightest touch, meaning that any items sharing a pocket - or hand - with the ipod, would probably find a way to make ‘good contact’ with the back of the ipod.

Coupled with the slightly rigid screen protector, I think you should give this case a miss.

Currently in stock at HMV where it appears to be their standard issue ipod touch skin.