XtremeMac iPhone Sportwrap Review
Admin note: the Quicksilver 50M went almost as well as I could have expected, with one very significant exception that will be obvious once the report is posted. And congrats to Michael for figuring out that I’d do the race in moccasins. The full report will be posted soon - and in the meantime, a somewhat unorthodox product review has been in the hopper for a while, so this is as good a time as any to roll it.
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I was initially contacted back in March by a rep from Mobile Fun, a UK-based vendor of personal electronics accessories, asking if I’d like to test an exercise holster for the iPhone. I was perfectly willing to do it, except for one minor detail: I don’t actually own an iPhone. So we worked out an arrangement where I could designate an associate to test the product and post his review here. (In a related story, I’m now referring to this little enterprise of mine as Running and Rambling Incorporated. Who knows - I might even plan a company Christmas party this year.)
In some ways, I’m surprised I didn’t think of this sooner: after all, my friend Brian has served as my tech support person for as long as I’ve been conducting product reviews. We have whole conversations about things like running shoe construction, the hydrodynamics of moisture-wicking garments, or the weight to performance ratios of all types of gear. I often think of him as the Beaker to my Bunsen Honeydew – although since he’s the one who actually knows how things work, and I’m always the one with some crazy contraption strapped to my body, maybe I’ve got those roles reversed.
Whatever the case, the following review is in his own words, and I have to say he did a pretty nice job.
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I had the opportunity to review the XtremeMac Sportwrap, an armband designed to keep your iPhone or iPod touch safe and secure while active. XtremeMac is a company that has been around since the beginning (in the iPod calendar, that goes all the way back to 2002), offering add-on products for the iPod and iPhone including a number of popular cases, cables and chargers.
The design of the Sportwrap features a pouch on the "inside" of the armband that you slip your iPhone into. A clear plastic cover on the outside allows you to view and operate the touchscreen while the iPhone is in the case. The top of the pouch has two small cutouts that allow access to the iPhone's on/off switch and headphone jack. There is no access to your iPhone's side ringer and volume controls. The case is secured to your arm with a strap that loops though one side of the unit and then folds back and secures with a velcro closure. The armband and pouch are made of a stretchy and comfortable combination of neoprene and Lycra.
The Sportwrap is lightweight - coming in at about 50g (less than 2 ounces) and weighing about 185 grams (6.5 ounces) with my iPhone. It has removable headphone cord wrap that you can use to secure extra headphone wire.
My iPod fit into the pouch easily and an overlapping flap of neoprene covered the opening. The fact that there was no additional padding - besides the neoprene pouch - between the iPhone and my arm had me a bit concerned about how comfortable the case would be. Strapping it on was no problem and I experimented with different locations and orientations. I could feel the firmness of the iPhone in the pouch, but it was not as uncomfortable as I expected. However, I do suspect that the lack of additional padding narrowed my choice of comfortable positions. I also noticed that some size adjustments did not feel secure. The size of the "hook" part of the velcro, on the end of the strap, seemed too small and the "pile" on the body of the strap was made of four pieces - with gaps between them - rather than a continuous strip. If your preferred strap size happens to fall where the end of the strap (the "hooks") folds back to one of these gaps in the "pile", you don't get a real secure grip.
The most comfortable orientation for me was wrapped low on my biceps, just above the elbow with the pouch iPhone in the back. Unfortunately this gave me poor access to the touchscreen. Still I found this to be a comfortable "set it and forget it " position - especially on long runs. If I needed access to the touchsceen, I preferred to wear the strap on my forearm, with the iPhone facing up. I found this to work quite well for me, but it was on very edge the adjustment range for the strap (it would not go any smaller). I really liked wearing it in this position when I was using the one of the GPS or Track/Time and Distance recoding apps available for the iPhone. If the strap featured a better adjustment range and more secure closure I could have strapped the unit to my handlebars while biking which would have been more comfortable that wearing it on my forearm and given me a better view of the GPS display.
Once I had it secured, the strap worked very well in most situations. Even with the considerable bulk of the iPhone (compared to other mp3 players) strapped to my arm, I found that after a few miles, I had no real awareness of the case at all. The only significant problem I had with the case surfaced during a hard track workout on a warm day. After about an hour I noticed that the the screen was fogging up. A lot of moisture had built up inside the case - enough to have me concerned about the health of my iPhone. I wiped down my phone and let the case dry out. Up to that point I had only used the Sportwrap on early morning runs when the outside temperature was low and I was often wearing a long sleeve shirt. I do continue to use the Sportwrap, but only on easy training days when I know that moisture should not be an issue.
What I like most about the Sportwrap was the construction and materials. I look like it rugged and high quality - from the choice of materials to the stitching. Everything was soft, rounded, stretchy and comfortable. The display was clear and allowed the touch screen to function flawlessly. The removable headphone wire wrap was a nice touch. The biggest shortcoming to the design was the level of moisture protection. The inside-positioned neoprene pouch and flap were just not enough keep the iPhone dry and did not provide enough padding. I also felt that the design of the strap velcro closure system could be improved to create a more secure fit and greater range of adjustment.
The XtremeMac Sportwrap and additional iPhone accessories are available from MobileFun.co.uk (UK outlet - the first link above is a US outlet) and other online vendors.
*Product provided by MobileFun.co.uk
**See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you'd like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.
