Aquapac Phone Case Review

Over the past couple of weeks came across a nifty piece of gear that we think you should own if you ever take your cell phone near water.  It’s a simple, well-designed waterproof case made by Aquapac.  It’s easy to carry around, and using your phone while it’s in the case – especially with a touchscreen – is a piece of cake.

We loved the Aquapac because

• it made it much easier to use our phones around water,
• it’s smaller and much more convenient than a hard dry case, and
• it’s a rugged solution that applies when ziplock bags don’t cut it.

Design

• It’s a heavy-duty bag made mostly from TPU.
• It’s got a bombproof plastic closure system called an Aquaclip.
• The top panel is clear allowing full use of your touchscreen.
• The bottom panel has a clear section allowing use of your phone (more on this below).
• It has a lanyard that works well for hanging the case around your neck.
• Aquapac says it’s waterproof to 15 feet.  We didn’t do a submersion test.

Use

We tested the Aquapac Model 108 with an iPhone and with an HTC  Inspire 4G.  Both fit easily in the case.  Use couldn’t be simpler – slide your phone in, flip the levers on the closure, and use your phone as normal.  The case is supple enough that accessing buttons through the TPU is not a problem, and using a touchscreen through the case works shockingly well – it’s like the case isn’t there at all.

Sound quality through the case is great – the difference is barely noticeable, if at all.  One huge bonus for folks out on a boat – when you’re talking, the case cuts the wind entirely.

Taking pictures through the case works just fine.  In our very unscientific “compare two pictures side by side” test, we couldn’t tell the difference between pictures with and without the case, without the flash.  One caveat though – pictures taken with the flash didn’t look too hot since the flash tends to ‘light up’ the case.  This shouldn’t be a huge issue though – when was the last time you needed to take a picture, with your phone, near water, with a flash?

The lanyard is convenient and nice to have – to loop around your wrist to ‘just be sure’, or if you really want to stay in touch when you’re out on the water, to hang around your neck for always-on access.

Summary

The Aquapac is a new addition to our ‘every day on the water’ gear.  It’s simple and solid, it provides great peace of mind, and it barely impacts the use of your phone at all.  You can get one on Amazon for $30.

Here’s our Product Review Policy and FTC Disclosure.

More Gear We Like

• Sage 99 Nymphing Rod
• Rio Alloy Hard Mono
• Sage DXL Typhoon Backpack