First Look: Substrata Wood Cases for iPhone 3G/3GS

By Jeremy HorwitzMay 15, 2021 9:01 am UTC

Oh, how we wish we’d seen Substrata’s Wood Cases for iPhone 3G/3GS ($95+) sooner — maybe a year ago, before both models were facing the threat of imminent discontinuation. Why care about yet another iPhone case? These are some seriously beautiful little designs: the model at top is the officially released case in wenge and maple ($120), while the others are unreleased: one is an “Asymmetrical” model made from padauk, wenge, and maple, while the other has a mix of walnut, wenge, and figured maple. Each case uses the same solid, carved wood design with a front panel that slides downwards to let the iPhone in, then back upwards to lock closed, providing full button, camera speaker, and microphone access, with somewhat limited headphone and Dock Connector port access due to small holes and deeply recessed ports. Completely hand made, the cases are pretty amazing even by the standards of prior wood designs we’ve seen from Europe — the beveling is extremely handsome, and we loved the fact that the cases arrived with wood shavings rather than styrofoam or bubble wrap as packing material. We’re looking forward to seeing what Substrata does for the iPad.