We’ve recently received a number of cases from Skech for the iPhone 6, including Crystal ($20), Hard Rubber ($30), and Ice ($30), plus Crystal for iPhone 6 Plus, which is the same price as the iPhone 6 edition. Crystal is a thin, transparent case with flexible sides and a hard back. Hard Rubber is a hard shell slider case with a soft touch feel, and Ice is a co-molded one-piece rubber and plastic case somewhat similar to Skech’s Glow, winner of our award for Best iPhone 5/5s case of 2014.
Crystal is similar to a few iPhone 6 cases we’ve already seen. It’s an inexpensive plastic shell back with a rubber bumper. As the name suggests, Crystal is transparent to show off the phone.
The design is simple, but effective. Button coverage on the volume controls and Sleep/Wake button is nice and responsive. We didn’t see any difference in performance for the iPhone 6 Plus version of the case.
Hard Rubber is a rarity these days: a slider case. Unlike many slider cases, Hard Rubber only has a small piece that comes off the bottom of the case. The hard shell case has a microfiber lining, as well as a plastic strip inside which makes it easier to remove an iPhone 6.
Interestingly enough, Skech chose to forgo button coverage on Hard Rubber. While Hard Rubber has the welcome ability to work with docking accessories—including Apple’s Lightning to 30-Pin Adapters and some other Lightning docks—we’d generally prefer a case with more protection.
Ice is only slightly more expensive than last year’s Glow, and instead of using a hard glossy back panel as seen in that case, Skech has opted for a fully soft touch feel with Ice. The button coverage is well done, and protection is solid, all for a good price. Like Hard Rubber, Ice comes in a number of different colors.
Skech’s Ice is one of the better iPhone 6 cases we’ve seen so far. As with the company’s Glow, we consider Ice a worthy alternative to Speck’s CandyShell — the design isn’t quite as polished, but the price is slightly better.