candyshell

While I wasn’t immediately convinced of the need to ever hide a beautiful Apple Watch under an arguably unattractive protective case, seeing my wife’s experience accidentally damaging the sapphire display solidified my spot in Apple Watch Case Camp in some contexts.

Because Apple Watch materials — aluminum, stainless steel, gold, Ion-X glass, and sapphire glass — are strong but not entirely resistant to scuffs, scratches, shatters, and all the same ailments that strike our iPhones in normal use, it makes sense that accessory makers want to apply the same formula used to produce iPhone cases when making protective solutions for Apple Watch.

But Apple Watch has to look good, so does porting that same formula actually work? That’s the question I’ll tackle with my hands-on experience with Speck’s $29 CandyShell Fit hard shell case for Apple Watch.

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I prefer to start iPhone case reviews with a photo showing the iPhone within a case, so you can immediately see how your device would look inside. For Speck’s new iPhone 6 Plus versions of the super-popular CandyShell, I’m doing something different, because the magic here is hidden inside the case. CandyShell’s one-piece, co-molded design — textured rubber inside with hard plastic outside — has been copied (and admired within the accessory industry) more than almost any case feature in the past five years. With military-grade drop protection and the ability to absorb scratches, CandyShells are the cases I’ve historically used to keep all of my personal iPhones in perfect shape, and I’ve loved them.

That changed with the iPhone 6 Plus. Until now, Speck didn’t have a plain old version of CandyShell available, so I switched over to Incipio’s thicker, steel-pinned Trestle. But Speck has just released CandyShell Inked for iPhone 6 Plus ($45, available for $37 and up based on color), joining the earlier CandyShell Grip for iPhone 6 Plus ($33 to $40, also color-dependent). Unlike the standard CandyShell, which still hasn’t been released for the iPhone 6 Plus, both of these cases are visually intense: Inked is offered in a handful of multi-colored versions, while the two-toned Grip adds extra rubber ridges to the back. If you’re looking for a super-protective and distinctive-looking case, one of these CandyShells should be at the top of your list.

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My first post for 9to5Mac is on a topic near and dear to my heart: best-of-breed Apple products and accessories. Why should you trust me? I’ve been a professional product reviewer for 23 years and an Apple user for 28 years. Last week, I finished an 11-year stint running the editorial side of iLounge, the leading Apple product review site, where I tested literally thousands of Apple accessories from every major company on the planet. Readers have praised my reviews as accurate and insightful, and I always put my readers’ needs first when testing new products.

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