The E-Case eSeries 9 smartphone case kept out a Pennine stream

E-Case
eSeries 9
Price: £22.99
Weight: 41g
Colour: blue, grey, green, orange
Country of manufacture: USA
Compartment length: 15.5 cm
Compartment width: 9cm

Few of us now venture into the great outdoors without some electronic gizmos and many of us will carry a smartphone on to the hills.

These expensive pieces of high-tech hardware don’t take kindly to getting wet and, whether it’s rain and water splashes or perspiration, that iPhone or MP3 player isn’t going to function well if it gets wet.

E-Case is a new brand whose items were formerly marketed under the SealLine label which is now used solely for drysacks and urban cases for bigger items such as laptops.

The company makes cases for all sorts of electronic gadgets, from the large-sized tablets, down through e-readers, smartphones and small MP3 players.

New for this year are four different colours and an expanded range to take the iPhone 5 and the iPad mini.

The cases, made in Seattle, use PVC-free material and, importantly, allow both touch screens and ear- and mouthpieces to be used when phoning, for instance.

Obviously, since the case relies on three interlocking zip ridges to close the case, you can’t have earphone leads in use if you want to keep the water out. However, some of the iSeries cases, designed to fit Apple phones, do have headphone jacks, so maybe in the future the eSeries might benefit from this feature.

The material feels tough and its seams are sealed using RF welding. The E-Case brand comes from Cascade Designs, makers of Platypus hydration systems and Therm-a-Rest sleeping mats among other things, so comes with an established reputation for toughness.

It seems almost too simple just to press the open edges of the case together to seal – think freezer bags but much firmer and with deeper ridges.

But the case works. I tentatively held my phone, encased in the eSeries 9, in a hillside beck and crossed my fingers. Thankfully, the phone came out dry – the only problem of course was that putting it in my pocket then was a no-no as the case was still dripping water.

The touch-screen won’t work so well actually underwater as it relies on its capacitive nature to sense static electricity on the finger, something the water affects.

But unless you’re planning to take lots of underwater pictures, the eSeries 9 works well.

Each case manufactured is individually tested for airtightness, and the case complies with the IPX7 standard, which means it should withstand 30 minutes’ submersion in up to a metre of water and still keep the wet out.

The case has two cut loops for attaching a lanyard or even slotting a carabiner through.

Getting the smartphone in the case the right way just needs a little forethought.

A panel bearing a reflective E-Case logo intrudes a centimetre or so into the clear screen. Solution: turn it over of course, and use the side where there is no logo. Also, the blind side of the case, opposite to the opening zip isn’t flat but has about a centimetre’s depth. So place the long side of the phone where any important control buttons are along that edge so they are still usable.

The eSeries 9 accommodates larger smartphones but other models will fit different phones.

The case keeps out water, dirt, and sand and fits within most chest pockets on waterproof jackets.

The outside dimensions are 18.5cm x 11.5cm.

Cash spent by outdoor fans on an E-Case could save a considerable amount replacing a soaking wet smartphone.

grough rating:

Performance 28/30
Quality 18/20
Ease of use 17/20
Style 5/10
Value for money 16/20
Total score: 84/100

More details are on the E-Case website.

Find a stockist through the First Ascent site.