Splash Case for iPod nano

When it comes to keeping your skin fresh and young-looking, moisture is your friend; when it comes to sensitive electronics, moisture is the greatest of enemies. Your average case is likely to protect your iPod against minor moisture, but when you’re really worried about dryness, you might need to kick it up a notch. Power Support’s Splash Case for iPod nano boasts a design that is nearly watertight, but still allows you to groove to your favorite tunes.

The Splash Case comes with a few parts. The bulk of it is a silicone skin that has just one opening, the one into which you insert your nano at the bottom of the case. Once you’ve gotten the iPod in, you block that opening with a thick rubber plug. The plug includes one opening, for an included headphone-adapter cable that fits perfectly through that hole to plug into your nano’s headphone jack. You then attach your own headphones to the other end of the adapter, which itself has an adjustable rubber sleeve to keep its connection water-resistant. Your iPod’s screen, Click Wheel, and hold switch are all covered with a thin layer of silicone, but all of the controls are easily nonetheless usable.

Not only does the full coverage of the Splash Case protect your iPod from moisture damage, but it serves admirably as everyday protection, as well. The silicone is thick, and the rounded edges fit comfortably in your hand. The case even includes small notches on the side which you can use to wrap your headphone cables around the case. Although the Splash Case is not actually waterproof — you shouldn’t take it swimming — it should protect the iPod should you be caught in a tropical downpour. The screen looks a little fuzzy through the silicone, but that’s really only an issue if you’re looking at photos. You’ll need to remove the bottom plug in order to access the dock connector, but Apple’s dock-connector cable fits fine once that’s done and, since the silicone stretches, you can use many third party dock connectors as well.

My only gripe about the Splash Case is its price. At $35, it’s a sight more expensive than most silicone cases, but if the water resistance is important to you (say you live in a monsoon-afflicted region, or like to go jogging in the rain), it’s probably a price worth paying. –Dan Moren