Radtech, the makers of the PodSleevz, have had a few years’ experience in protecting valuable items: before breaking into the iPod case world they were providing quality hard laptop cases for the medical community. Their newest offering is PodSleevz – super-thin Optex cases for maximising protection and minimising bulk.

They are designed to completely cover the iPod 3rd and 4th generations and the iPod mini, uniquely including the click wheel. The employment of their exclusive debossed control zones (their words not ours) means that the click wheel can be controlled even whilst the case is on. They retail at £21.99.

First impressions
The PodSleevz model that we tried out was the purple one for the 4th generation 20GB iPod. It comes packaged in a plastic tube, which was distinctive if nothing else. The case has the texture of felt, is flimsy and very soft (no chance of scratching) – the purpose being to act as a barrier rather than a hard shield. It has a clear vinyl screen neatly stitched into the front of the case, and the area over the click wheel is ‘flattened’ so that it is thinner for maximum sensitivity. The dock connector port is covered by a piece of material that can be pushed out to connect the charger cable. The iPod is inserted into the case through the open top, and thus the headphone jack, hold switch and firewire port are completely exposed – useful for connecting top-loading devices such as the iTrip.

Initially without seeing the iPod in the case, it doesn’t have the same appearance as it does in promotional pictures. Although it is well made, the material felt a bit tacky and looked slightly dirty. This could be just due to the colour of case that was being reviewed: on inspecting the other colours they looked a lot better.

Put the iPod in…
The iPod slides in the top of the sleeve easily and fits snugly, ensuring that the iPod wont fall out. It is not perfectly flush to the iPod’s surface though; the front panel is a bit wrinkled due to the vinyl screen, but overall the case fits well and looks smart. In the product description it says that the screen panel can be smoothed out to stick to the iPod – this is not advantageous as it merely gets lots of air bubbles which blurs the iPod’s screen.

However, the case does allow the click wheel to be used – the material is thin enough to retain sensitivity and provide complete control. This is a really great aspect of the case (and the main intention of their design), and practically unique amongst iPod cases.

In addition the entire iPod (apart from the top panel) is completely covered by the strong Optex material to prevent scratches. It is not shock proof however – if the iPod was dropped the case would serve no purpose by way of protection.

Overall...
Podsleevz are a great way to protect your iPod from scratches and keep it clean, and the control-through zones are a unique selling factor that will no doubt appeal. The case causes no unnecessary bulk and the range of more unusual colours lends them to cater for a less mainstream market. The £21.99 price tag may seem expensive for such a minimalist product, but the material is high quality, the product is well made, and you would be hard pushed to find a similar product in the same field.