Hitcase in the wild: hanging out in sub-zero temperatures. © Cyclocross Magazine
You ride in the woods. You ride alone. You probably want your phone with you at all times. But in the crappy conditions synonymous with fun, ’cross-style riding, you also want your phone to be essentially bomb-proof. Enter the Hitcase Pro for iPhone. We had a chance to test this waterproof and temperature-proof case for the past few months to see if it could possibly keep a phone safe on the gnarliest of bike rides, will still keeping it functioning.
There are plenty of ways to mostly secure your phone on a ride. A plastic baggie will keep it largely waterproof, and sticking it in an inside pocket will keep it fairly warm and reasonably secure from breakage in a crash.
The Hitcase aims to do more than than—in addition to keeping your phone safe, it includes a special lens and mounting system to turn your phone into a GoPro-esque bike toy.
While the Hitcase isn’t something you leave on your phone all the time, it’s easy on and easy off, so you can keep it by your bike stuff and suit up your phone when you head out the door—but the touch screen and the bulkiness prevent it from being a great day-to-day case.
To test waterproof-ness, I not only took it riding in the rain, where it performed just fine, and left it in snow banks (also fine), I took it to the pool for a swim and, crossing my fingers, swam the length of the pool with it. Still fine. Dove to the bottom. Took a picture. Still great. So no matter how muddy the ride is, you know it’ll be secure.
Basically bombproof. The Hitcase can stand up to any weather conditions you can throw at it. © Cyclocross Magazine
As far as durability in the face of a crash, the Hitcase is designed for shock absorption, with their ShockSeal and ShockPad dual protection system. The two components are designed to surround the iPhone’s sides with a solid unbroken wall of silicone and the back with with custom impact absorbing Poron™ to absorb vibration and impact. I crashed quite a few times (not, unfortunately, on purpose) and each time, I panicked, but each time, the phone was still fine.
The GoPro® Compatible Railslide™ Mount works fairly well, though I wouldn’t replace my GoPro anytime soon, in part because I don’t love bombing trails with my cell phone right in front of me. And my only hiccup with the case came after a couple of months of hard use when I went to take pictures on a ride. When I got home and looked at them, they were all a blur, and I realized that the lens on the Hitcase (the wide angle lens that they promote heavily with the Hitcase) had actually scratched so bad just from being in my pocket with my other assorted ride stuff that the lens was no longer workable. My favorite feature—the ability to take rainy day ride photos (or photos in the pool!) was no longer an option.
If you’re looking for a lightweight way to keep your phone somewhat secure, this isn’t it. But if you’re a rough-and-tumble rider who is desperate to stop replacing his or her phone, the Hitcase is worth a look.
Hitcase Pro Specs:
- MSRP: 129.99
- More info: hitcase.com
