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It's hard to resist toying around with an iPhone case with a conceit as brotastic as the Headcase Bottle Opener Phone Case for iPhone 4/iPhone 4S ($19.99). Headcase has been making bottle opener cases for various phones for some time, but there's something about handling the protruding stainless steel mouth of the opener to really drive home the wackiness of a product that is, by turns, useful and completely cumbersome.
See, the Headcase shell is quite nice on its own: hard and durable, with a smooth finish that easily withstands my nail scratches. My review unit was custom-decorated with the University of Miami logo, but you can choose another alma mater, a different design (like the American flag), or a solid color. Peering closely, I detected some rubbing away on one or two of the case's edges and corners. The two pieces of the housing snap together so securely, it took two people to pry it off.
Then there's the bottle opener mount, which starts just below the camera lens, sticks out almost half an inch, and contains two fins that stick straight up to the top of the case and are intended to open aluminum cans.
The effect is a bulky and ungainly case, but I realize I may not be Headcase's target demographic. So I handed the case around to several colleagues, including some men who dropped it into their front jeans pockets in various configurations and declared it so unobstructive, they didn't even notice it.
I toted it with me to work, on errands, on the bus, in my purse, and to an appointment. My hands adjusted to the hump of the opener, even using it as a ledge to balance against my finger while operating the phone, yet my fingers kept finding and worrying the sharper twin fins.
