Click To View Slideshow» I spotted sparkles and pretty patterns, but a number of cases do double duty.
Did you get a new phone for the holidays? You need a new case.
To help you out, I walked around the show floor at CES to find the coolest cases of the moment. As usual, case makers this year brought a huge assortment of designs, sure to please every eye and suit every need. If you're one of those people who picks a phone case based primarily on aesthetics, there are no shortage of options: I spotted sparkly cases, animal skins, and tons of cool and pretty patterns.
But many of the phone cases on the CES show floor this year go beyond aesthetics. Some do double-duty, protecting your phone while adding handy features like a kickstand or pocket for your credit cards. Speck showed me the Presidio Wallet case for the iPhone 7, for instance, which has a slot that can hold up to three credit cards or cash. The wallet part has a neat spring-like design that will hold even a single card tightly, so you won't have to worry about your AmEx falling out.
Speaking of the iPhone 7, Incipio and its newly acquired Griffin brand have solved a major pain point of the handset: its lack of a headset jack. The Ox case includes a built-in headphone jack and Lightning port, so you can charge your phone and listen to music or a YouTube video privately at the same time. Griffin, meanwhile, had on display an iPhone 7 case it plans to release later this quarter or next that has a headphone jack and Lightning port, plus an extra battery pack. Griffin's case is a little bulkier than the Incipio Ox, but you'd expect that, given the fact that it also has a battery pack.
If you like to spend a lot of time on the water, and have tried waterproof cases in the past and weren't too thrilled, you might be pleasantly surprised with the latest designs. A spokesman at LifeProof told me the company's latest models offer better acoustics than their predecessors. Rival Catalyst told me its waterproof cases offer even better acoustics than LifeProof (a claim I haven't verified), plus a greater depth rating (33 feet vs. LifeProof's 6.6 feet) at a lower price point, so they're definitely worth checking out.
Click through the slideshow for a look at all the coolest cases at CES 2017.
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