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Amy at Speck kindly sent me one of these cases for review purposes, and my impression is a bit mixed - probably because of the way in which I use my BB.

1. "Assembly" and fit: As other reviewers have mentioned, there seems to be a minor fit problem with this case. The rubber bulges on either side of the screen, implying that the case is just barely too narrow. Similarly, the cutout for the speaker above the screen seems to be a bit too high and doesn't align well with the three silver slots (ie. the cutout reveals blue plastic where I don't think it intended to). I usually use a bluetooth headset so this isn't a big deal for me, but I think it would make it a bit harder to hear if you held the bb to your ear during a phone call.

I agree with DavidE that the lip around the keyboard is too close, but this wasn't hard to get used to.

2. Grip and handling: Although the case makes the bb more bulky, it definitely achieves its objectives of fitting nicely and securely in the hand. I also liked the black case because it gives the unit a more "professional" look than the standard blueberry blue.

3. Screen visibility: Under regular indoor light, the plastic cover protecting the screen was fine, but I found that it reflected too much light outdoors in the sun and made it hard to see the screen. Is there such a thing as anti-reflective plastic? I eventually removed the plastic cover to improve visibility, but this made the rubber bulges more noticeable from an aesthetic point of view.

4. Desk stand (a minor point): I use the desk stand from my old 7280 when I'm charging the BB at my desk and, not surprisingly, this doesn't fit the encased 7290.

5. Holster (a major point): I am used to pulling my bb in and out of its original holster with one hand and without much thought or effort. This is not the case with the new holster, especially when sitting down. It can be somewhat tricky to get the bb out of the holster, and even more difficult to get it into the holster because it has to be perfectly aligned in order to fit. I suppose this is somewhat to be expected because the rubber is not supposed to slide anywhere (that's the point of the case). But this was a real frustration for me.

6. Power management (not sure how major this is): Related to point 4 above, I noticed a few instances where the bb was holstered (perhaps a bit crookedly) but the screen was not shut off! From a power consumption point of view, this could be a huge problem. I can't reproduce the problem now, though, so this may be something that goes away after a few days when the case has been slightly worked in.


Overall impressions: If I worked outside a lot or in situations where I was concerned about wear and tear or physical damage to the unit, I would go for this case in a second. I didn't actually do a bounce test, but I have no doubt that the protection offered by the case is significant.

However, in an office environment where physical damage is not so much of a concern, I think the difficulties in taking the unit out of the holster and putting in back in again outweigh the benefits of the extra protection.

In other words, right product, but wrong user.