Create your own patterns with the Incipio Dotties case

Incipio’s $30 Dotties for the iPhone 4/4S is a silicone soft-shell case with a customizable back. Each case has 13 cutouts on the back panel with room for attachable silicone “dots,” which you can pop into the case in any pattern you choose. The Dotties ships with dots in three different colors—in fact, the case ships with enough dots of each color that you could just use one color for the entire case if the mood strikes.

The Dotties case comes in eight different main body colors, and each has its own different colored dots. Try a navy blue case with yellow, green, and blue dots, or a pink one with teal, green, and white dots, among other options. It even comes with different colored inserts to go around the camera cutout, so you can coordinate that with your overall design as well.

The top of the case has a precision cutout for the headphone jack and a silicone press-through button overlay to allow easy use of the Sleep/Wake button. Along the side, the Ring/Silent switch is exposed while the volume buttons get the same press through overlay. The bottom has a cutout that precisely accommodates the dock-connector port and speakers. The camera hole is large enough to allow unfettered use of the camera and flash.

This is a more protective case, and as such, is bulkier than some. The soft silicone shell is quite easy to take on and off, so if you need to remove it to get it into a tight fitting dock-cradle accessory, it won’t be difficult. The edges of the case do come up over the screen for facedown fall protection—actually, more so than other cases I’ve tested. The case also comes with a film screen protector, an applicator card, and a cleaning cloth.

This brings me to the one functionality problem I found with this case: it closely surrounds the lower half of the Home button. While not obscuring the Home button at all, it just feels a little bit awkward, as the silicone shell protects the bottom edge of the button.

All in all, it’s a solid, protective case with a touch of whimsy in its interchangeable dots pattern—a perfect fit for teenagers or those who like to change the look of their iPhone case without having to buy a new case all together. If you don’t mind a bit of bulk, then the Incipio Dotties is a worthwhile option.

[Karen Freeman is a writer, teacher, and Apple fan. Follow her on Twitter @karensfreeman.]