Review: Speck Products’ ActiveSport Clip-on and ActiveSport Armband Cases

Speck Products has come out with a line of ActiveSports cases for iPod Nanos and Video as well as the Motorola SLVR cellphones too. All are available in your choice of an armband version or a clip-on version with a removable caribiner.

The case’s mesh and rubber detail design is distinctive and sporty without being superfluous or affected—they look nice without being too ‘blingy’. Functionally stylish I like to think of them. I wouldn’t wear one of these with a suit, but then again I don’t jog in a suit most days

The highly reflective outer material of these cases flashes back very noticeably at cars as they approach you in low light conditions, making you all the more visible. A definite plus for evening exercisers. And the soft-lined device pouch and built in screen protector of these cases go a long way towards protecting your electronics while you’re actively out and about.

The clip-on carabiner version is probably best for attaching to a belt loop or some other part of your pack or person while hiking or biking. Runners or other seriously moving about folk will definitely want to get the armband version.

Speck’s glory here is that they have come up with a sportsband that fits well, stays in place, and breaths enough with the mesh lining that when you do break up a sweat it won’t slip and slide everywhere. Unless you’re bungie-jumping or something, the ActionSport armband stays put. A very good thing indeed.

So, if you’ve been looking for something to wear while running, you don’t have to look any further. Unless you’ve got arms built like a sasquatch—greater than 18-inches in girth—the ActiveSports armband will do quite nicely.

Rating-wise, these earn a comfortable 75% in my books. They do what they say they will well better than many other products I’ve tried in this class, and are, like all the other Speck products I’ve tried, a good value for the price.

Speck Products’ SeeThru RAZR cases:

And since not every electronic device we own is an iPod, I want to make a quick pitch for Speck Product’s See-thru polycarbonate RAZR cases (they fit the RAZR and RAZRv3 phones, but unfortunately not the larger RAZRv3c’s).

Unlike some cases where you have to wrestle with clasps or ties to answer your phone, the sleek SeeThru’s leave all the screen and buttons and camera bits easily accessible for instant use while amply protecting your cell phone. After you snap on and fit the front half and then the back half of one of these two shell cases onto your phone, you can toss your RAZR into your pocket or purse with confidence that you’re not going to scratch the heck out of it.

At $24.95 for a three pack of red, white and black shells, they’re an amazing value and a must buy for everyone with a RAZR phone who likes to keep their cell in their purse or pocket. I’d give these an easy 90%. They do exactly what they say they do, are better than anything else in this range I’ve seen and I cannot imagine not using these now that I have been introduced to them. Furthermore, they are good enough for that ultimate endorsement: I gave a set to my Mother.