Ok, so maybe the HTC EVO 4G isn’t the latest and greatest phone around. But the fine folks over at Ballistic Cases had a case for one and asked us to review it.
Ballistic lives up to its namesake in what appears to be rugged over-engineering right out of the box for this protective phone case & holster. Very masculine, rough and tumble appearance design in tactical black and grey color scheme.
The two-piece primary case in high-impact composite material snaps together tightly locking, but not impossible to pry apart if necessary. The case has top-notch quality optically clear, glass-like face to protect the screen as well as camera lens window protection, both easily cleaned with a microcloth. Touchscreen of the phone works just as if there was no cover there, aside from the fact that the notification shade is sometime hard to get to on the first try due to the raised top edge. A water-resistant membrane protects the phone’s speaker and microphone openings, and a rubber plug at the bottom protects the ports. The raised rubber over the volume and power buttons allows for easy operation, if not better than bare buttons. The black rubber armor jacket fits like a glove over the water and dust resistant case, further adding to the shock protection.
Finally, the hardshell composite holster with belt clip is also up to Ballistic’s high standard of fit, finish and rugged durability. The hook on the end of the belt clip is a must-have for keeping the holster securely on the belt. And the swivel 180-degree swivel feature has positive clicks so you can have the phone horizontal, vertical, or anywhere in between.
A larger smartphone like the EVO works best in the horizontal position. The thumb release lever has a positive, audible click when the phone is fully retained by the holster. Although sharp corners of the retainer clip are prone to catching on clothing or other things you may brush against.
One other smart engineering feature I would draw attention to here is that Ballistic had the fore thought to design the belt holster to firmly fit the phone with or without the rubber armor skin attached to the case, as it can be used without.
One drawback of the Ballistic case is that your whole device grows exponentially once you’ve put the case on and you have to be prepared for it. It’s approximately twice as thick and slightly wider. If you’re used to carrying your phone without a case, or with a slim case, the Ballistic will be a shocker when you first start using it. But the peace-of-mind protection makes it well worth the bulk. The whole thing should be able to take a drop into a puddle of water, pile of mud, or a toilet and not damage the phone. During testing of the case, there were even a few (accidental) drops of the phone from waste level onto concrete and the Ballistic case just laughed it off like it was nothing.
Overall score would be 9 out of 10 only detracting points for the few things mentioned above.
It appears the EVO 4G case is no longer available from Ballistic (although it can be found on Amazon or Ebay). But Ballistic have a whole range of cases available for many different devices. You can check out all the cases on the Ballistic Cases website.