Windows Phone Thoughts: Boxwave Armor Case Reviewed

Armored and Ready
There is no shortage of aluminum cases available for various Windows Mobile handhelds. For me, the Boxwave Armor Case stands out because of its solid construction, light weight, finished feel, and overall build quality.

Keep Your Baby Safe
When I first got into the "community" and started buying Pocket PCs, I always preferred having a naked handheld. The idea of sticking my Pocket PC into a case killed me because I liked the natural curvy lines of the handhelds I was buying. That was until I dropped my Axim X5, popped the battery off, and lost everything. Lesson learned: Buy a case.

Boxwave's Armor Case is a fine example of how to put together a solid protective case. My handheld is an Axim X51v and it fit into the case snugly and securely.


Figure 1: Side view of the Boxwave Armor case. The raised grips provide enough resistance to keep the case from sliding out of your hands when in use.

The outside of the case is a slightly textured aluminum with small raised grips toward the bottom of each side. All the requisite cutouts are lined up for each individual device. Mine had perfectly aligned holes for both status lights, the reset hole, the recording, wireless, and device lock switch, and an open-top for access to the infrared receiver, and a cut-out on the bottom for connecting a sync cable.


Figure 2: Back side of the case showing the mounting hole for the clip attachment.

On the back is a threaded hole for attaching the connector for the belt clip, which I don't really recommend to be honest. As nice as this case is, the belt clip feels cheap, and doesn't stay put very well on your belt. I carry a gear bag, so even though I don't trust the clip, it doesn't come into play for me.

I'd recommend a great deal of caution if you're looking for a belt-mounted carrying case.


Figure 3: A look inside the Armor Case.

The inside of the case is lined with neoprene which holds everything in place by friction and acts as a shock absorber for the inevitable times you'll drop your Pocket PC (usually on concrete or some other inappropriate and unfortunate surface)! The inside also features a single SD card holder (a bit of a gripe for me; there's more than enough room for two).

Another weird design choice is the completely closed front side of the case. On the Axim X51v, the speaker is on the d-pad, meaning if you close the case, you can barely hear the speaker. Again, this is a minor concern, but one you should be aware of if you have a habit of throwing your handheld into the case with music playing.