Review: Griffin Elan Form Chrome and Graphite for iPhone 3G

How could Griffin bling up its leather-ish plastic hard case Elan Form, you ask? Elan Form Chrome ($35) is the answer, a case that questionably merges the appeal of leather with decidedly plasticy, slightly less than perfectly molded chrome accents on the face, sides, top, bottom, and back. Just like Elan Form, you can slide the bottom off for connection to Apple’s iPhone 3G Dock and any other potentially incompatible accessories, and a screen protector is included alongside a microfiber cleaning cloth. Our gut tells us that this might be a hit with the Harley crowd, but will remain — like the earlier Cork version of this case — mostly confusing for other people. On March 9, Griffin added Elan Form Graphite ($35), a version with artificial carbon fiber and chrome, as an alternative.

Having previously reviewed Elan Form in greater detail, we don’t have much to say about these new versions beyond to point out that they’re virtually identical except in cosmetics, and pricing relative to the $30 original. We weren’t huge fans of the first Form, which looked inexpensive, an issue that these versions remedy and charge for; preserved is the Form’s lack of button, top, and bottom coverage, which cost all versions our high recommendation. That said, the Graphite one is sharper, with mirror black chrome rather than the brighter silver on the standard Chrome case, and the faux carbon leather looks a little more worthy of a premium price. While both of the cases have little imperfections in their plastic chrome surfaces, they’re not terrible, as the leather draws the eye’s attention more than these minor issues. For the prices, we’d go with the Graphite version before either the original Elan Form or Elan Form Chrome, but if one of the other color and plastic combinations appeals to you, you’ll find any version good enough to keep on your iPhone 3G for a while.