iPhone 4 bumper review and loose case fix

After carrying around my iPhone 4 for a few days I was starting to get pretty paranoid, not about the dropped calls, but about physically dropping or scratching it up. The bumper case, while not the most protective piece of plastic in the world, looked like a good fit and offered enough protection for me to feel better about setting it on a table or desk.

First, the bumper for the most part is a great little case. It’s hard to emphasize, but having external buttons on the side really make the whole thing feel like it’s a part of the phone. Unlike other cases I’ve used where you have to pinch your fingers into a hole to reach the buttons. Notice in the picture below how the volume buttons are actually on top of the bumper case, not wedged into a small carved out spot.

Okay, so the case for the most part is a nice addition to the phone. The “for the most part” is because of a few small issues. First, the headphone jack is a bit tight with the case, if you’re planning on plugging in a large headphone jack plug it’s not going to fit. Take a look at the default iPhone earbuds, if the plug is more than a few millimeters larger it won’t fit. Second, if you use 3rd party charging cord or car plugs you might not be able to plug into the bottom of the phone with the bumper on. I noticed this on older iPod plugs that have the two side pinchers. See image below:

Last, when I first got my bumper it felt a tiny bit loose. To be fair, I’m pretty picky and it’s possible others aren’t bugged by this. The fact is that the bumper, while fairly snug had a little bit of give on the sides (IE :I could slide it up and down slightly, maybe a few millimeters) and same with the top. After some reading I found information suggesting that heat might shrink the rubber and plastic just a bit. I briefly considered boiling my bumper, but decided against that. The second option was leaving it in my hot car for a few hours. So, the next day I took off the bumper and left it on my dashboard for four hours, it was about 90 degrees out. Low and behold when placed back on my phone the bumper was snug. Problem solved.

Now that bumpers are going to be given out for free I think this trick could come in handy for others. Let me know your results if you give it a shot.