By comparison with the company’s Street Skin, Hard Candy Cases’ Sleek Skin ($40, aka Smooth Skin) is different from virtually every iPod and iPhone case design we’ve seen before: it’s a semi-hardened TPU rubber in one of five translucent colors, just thick enough on each side to retain its shape, somewhat like the clear plastic folders that become popular for presentations some time ago. Like Street Skin, it features a snap-on integrated screen protector that can open like a flap on any iPad orientation by using four corner pegs, or be attached to the rear of the case when not in use.
All of the iPad’s ports and controls are completely open, save for the flap-covered screen and Home button.
On May 13, 2010, iLounge published The Complete Guide to iPad Cases and Protection, a multi-page comparison of over 70 different iPad cases and film protectors, sorted by genre. The following details were added to this piece by that comparison article; please click on the link above for additional comparative discussion of similar protective options.
We really, really wanted to like the two play-through cases from Hard Candy, but they really needed some extra time in the lab.
Sleek Skin is translucent and shiny, with a detachable front flap that we like in concept, but getting the iPad into the case feels like a wrestling match, it bulges a little thereafter, and there’s no button protection for the top or side. On a positive note, the iPad Camera Connection Kit can just barely make a connection when inside Sleek Skin.
