No one would have predicted last year that Incipio would become one of the most aggressive case developers for an Apple product, but that’s what’s happened: the company continues to release iPhone covers at a surprisingly robust pace. Though its latest designs, Executive OVRMLD ($30) and the SILICRYLIC Case for Apple iPhone ($30), continue to exhibit the same oversights in protection and polish we’ve seen in its earlier releases, they’re interesting enough in design that some users may like them anyway.
Executive OVRMLD is the more impressive case concept. Incipio has, for the first time we can recall, used a two-piece plastic inner shell as a surface to mount a stitched leather exterior in your choice of six different colors.
Red, burnt orange, white, chocolate, black, and pink versions are available, each with a black inner shell, a matching non-detachable rear belt clip nub, and a detachable rear belt clip. The company describes this design as a “leather hard case,” which is appropriate given how comparatively solid the case feels.
As with most iPhone cases we’ve tested, OVRMLD leaves holes for all of iPhone’s top, bottom, side, and front features, as well as its rear-mounted camera, and the case doesn’t interfere with proper performance of any of iPhone’s functions. While the holes are all fine, Incipio’s stitching work leaves a lot to be desired; the thread is always a nice contrasting color with the leather, but also always uneven and a bit cheap-looking.
Once again, OVRMLD doesn’t include any sort of face protection, which also puts it a step behind the top cases we’ve tested for the iPhone.
Executive OVRMLD’s rear belt clip is pretty good. Though it only ratchets in 45-degree increments, it rotates through a full 360 degrees, and does a fine job of locking into horizontal or vertical mounting positions. Consequently, you can mount your iPhone with OVRMLD on a belt as you prefer; our only wish is that the nub was removable, and thereby capable of making the case thinner for those of us who prefer to pocket or bag our iPhones rather than wearing them.
To the extent that there’s nothing exactly like OVRMLD out there, and that its $30 asking price is reasonable for a quality, novel case design, we felt that it merited a rating in our B range, but we also struggled with where it belonged on the strength of its execution.
