driSuit hands on review – waterproof case for the iPhone 4 / 4s

Photojojo recently sent me a few products to test out. The first item I had to use was driSuit; a waterproof iPhone case for the iPhone 4 / 4s. This is not the first waterproof case I’ve used with an iPhone but it is definitely miles ahead of anything I have used before. All images in the review apart from photos of the case where taken with an iPhone 4 in a driSuit and processed with Instagram.

driSuit under water

Prior to writing this review I took the driSuit on two trips to the beach where I shot my daughter playing in the surf / sand and then on two 45 minute swims with Brighton Swimming Club. Previous cases I’ve used only give you access to the touch screen, which is not much use if you need to precisely control the moment a photo is taken. The driSuit gives you access to all the iPhone’s buttons, (just in case you did not know the “volume up” button can be used as a shutter release).

driSuit details

Once an iPhone is inserted into the case, the bottom is held on by two sturdy clamps that lock in place and keep it closed shut – there is no way it’s going to come open by mistake. When you slide the phone into the case, an audio plug is inserted into the iPhone’s head phone socket. This means that if you receive a call, you and the caller won’t be able to hear each other unless you have an iPhone earphone / microphone plugged into the driSuit.

Self portrait shot with a iPhone 4 in a DriSuit

Little Underwater selfy – Shot with iPhone 4 in a DriSuit

If you’re worried about loosing your phone in the water there is a little hole where thread can be looped through. However, it’s quite a small hole and the only thing I could find to thread through it was some old speaker cable (MacGyver style!).

Action shot taken with iPhone 4 in a DriSuit

Because you have access to the Volume up button (Shutter button on camera mode) it’s easy to precisely time your shots shot with a iPhone 4 in a DriSuit

Once inside, the iPhone’s screen is covered with a soft rubber sheet which sits just above the screen. When you use it you have to push down on it so that it makes contact with the screen. This is fine for the most part except when you have to interact with things at the edge of the screen as the driSuit’s rubber is not as stretchy at the edges. Sometimes I had to make a few attempts to enter the iPhone’s camera mode from the lock screen as the camera icon is in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. I’m afraid you’re not going to be able to play Angry Birds as you float around in the Black Sea. That said, the limitations are not that bad and I was able to review images I’d taken while swimming around.

Low shot taken Daughter - taken with iPhone 4 in a DriSuit

With this shot I was able to rest the phone on the wet sand to get as low as possible – shot taken with iPhone 4 in a DriSuit

Even if you don’t intend on going swimming with your iPhone I think it’s a dead handy thing to have because it makes your iPhone sand proof as well as waterproof which is great for trips to the beach in the summer time.

You can get the driSuit for $60 from photojojo’s store (they deliver to the UK).

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4 Responses to driSuit hands on review – waterproof case for the iPhone 4 / 4s

  1. thanks for sharing your experiences!

    i’m always a litle unhappy with the “blurr” the transparent rubber sheet puts over the shots…

    have a great summer sunday!
    nic

  2. Chad says:

    This thing is a piece of crap, I have gone through 5 or 6 end caps because they keep snapping off! Two of these cases later and a bunch more end caps I finally switched too otterbox water proof case. Drisuit cases suck, period! Customer service is great (thank you Tim) but man these are nothing but a waste of money and far beyond its rivals! Go elsewhere, please trust me

    • lomokev says:

      Are you talking about the small part that clips on the bottom or the 2 little things that hold it place. I wrote this review after using it for a couple of weeks and it always seem pretty sturdy to me.

    • Sean Rones says:

      Chad saw your post and have had no issues regarding the caps on my drisuit .I had the otter box before but was not happy , not going to get into my issues but beware of otter box !. Have a question saw you had some guy name Tim’s details can you post so I can call him. We are in love withDrisuit and have some amazing footage of what my Free Dive Club did with it and our Drisuit cases . Wanted to post to their site. Cool stuff .

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