Review: Vakaadoo’s iVak Soft Feel 1G Nano case

I saw a BBC documentary once, Adam Hart-Davis’ “What the Chinese Did for Us,” where they showed just how darned tough lacquerware is. Blow torches, acid, boiling water, all were splashed on Chinese lacquerware bowls and the bowls came out unscathed. At the time when lacquer was first developed, 9000 years ago, it was THE miracle substance, and it wasn’t until some plastics of the late 20th century that similarly tough coatings were developed.

Now, I don’t suggest you rush out and buy some 20 Molar HCL or a new tank for your soldering torch, but Vakaadoo’s iVak cases ARE made of lacquer-finished hard plastic with a “soft feel” rubber coating.

It has an odd, almost oily touch. Not unpleasant, sort of like snake scales without the snake underneath (snake-free always being a good thing in my books). That’s the soft feel I guess.

Vakaadoo calls it a “liquid–rubber coating for an easy-grip finish” and I suppose it’s not really boiled-down beetle wings or whatever anymore, but it does have the same eery touch of authentic lacquerware and is far more scratch resistant than any of the polycarbonate cases I have ever used. And it doesn’t seem to grab or stick to cloth as readily as the cheaper silicone rubber cases do.

Available in a wide variety of colours (Turquoise, Silver, Yellow, Black, Green, White, AND Pink), for the 1G Nano as well as the 5G Videos and the 2G Nano soon soon soon (sometime in March), if you’re looking for a very different but not unfamiliar sort of case, this would be it. You can mix and match colours too!

Someone spending a couple hundred dollars on a Nano isn’t going to be as prone to armour it as someone spending $500 on a Video iPod, though they really should. At $20 now during a buy one get one free special, price-wise, it kicks the shorts off a lot of cases that are not so well produced.

Overall, this is a good alternative to the vast majority of the scratch-prone polycarbonate hard cases out there and most of the cheaper lint-grabbing and clothes-snagging silicone rubber cases. The included neck lanyard and cable wrap are great finishing touches.

I give the Vakaadoo iVak Soft Feel 1G Nano case a 75%.