A card compartment that doubles as a stand makes the the Incipio Stowaway a convenient travel case for your iPhone.
When I first saw the Incipio Stowaway case for iPhone I thought it was ingenious. Sometimes I'm out traveling or just shopping and don't want to carry my whole bag with me, so the idea of just having a place to store a few credit cards, IDs, and or some cash is very appealing. Whether you're a lady with a purse or a guy with a wallet, you know what I mean. Sometimes less is just less!
Back to the Incipio Stowaway case. It fits both the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 4 and comes in black on black, blue on gray, orange on gray, and two tones of purple. It also comes in two parts -- a soft silicone core and a hard polycarbonate outer shell. That provides extra protection... but I'm not a huge fan of it in general. It almost always ends up being like a prophylactic that takes way too much time to put on perfectly. You have to literally go around all the edges and make sure they're properly positioned around and over the buttons, ports, and sides. If you don't, it just doesn't look right. I personally prefer cases where the two parts are fuzed together, they're faster and easier to take on and off.
Once you have the Incipio Stowaway case properly put on, the fun begins. The entire back is a hatch (yes, like in Lost) that opens up to reveal a small area that can fit some business cards, credit cards, ID cards, or a few bills. And I have to admit, the thought of a secret hiding place does bring a smile to my inner spy girl.
The hatch also doubles as a stand which works in both horizontal and vertical modes. (Of course, you have to take your cards out first or they'll fall out when you open the door to stand it on.)
The good
- Stowaway hatch is ingenious
- Hatch doubles as a stand
- Dual layers provide good protection
The bad
- Dual layers are fiddly to put on and take off
- Bulkier than a skin case
The bottom line
With a convenient compartment that not only lets you stash some cards or cash but doubles as a stand for movie watching, the Incipio Stowaway is an excellent travel case for your iPhone. While I'm not thrilled about every element of its execution, for those who like the extra protection of a dual layers design, it's a great alternative to more traditional, wallet-style cases.
Reader comments
Incipio Stowaway case for iPhone review
theres just something about how Georgia talks and her mannerisms in the video that I find funny.
Nice review. Independent of this review, I received mine yesterday. I currently use (and love) my Speck Wallet case, but thought I'd like the style of the Stowaway better. Everything about it is fine but the silicon liner is either too thick around the camera or the orange(went orange & grey) isn't opaque enough. Regardless, photos without a flash have a slight orange halo...and with flash are absolutely horrible. I tried wiggling things around to adjust the fit but it seems that's just the way it is. I don't have this problem with the Speck. So I guess I'll return the Incipio back to Amazon and "love the one I'm with"...
Agree with the problem with the camera which is the reason I returned mine as well. Surprised this wasn't included in the review.
I carry my phone in a pouch that has a magnetic flap. I like the idea of storing my cards on my phone, but I am too afraid that the magnet from my pouch will wipe the data on my cards. This happened to me once when I put my wallet on top of my phone(and pouch) on my nightstand for the night. I had no idea until I tried to pay for my dinner the next evening and NONE of my cards would read. It was pretty embarrassing. Anyway, does anyone know if this case offers any protection against that?
If that happens again just make the retailer get verbal authorization or manually type in the numbers, All merchants have the ability to get verbal approval from Visa/MC etc.
One thing I don't like about incipio is how dirty the cases get under normal use, and there is no way to clean them
Do you have the white one?
I have the white one, and it is so hard to clean, actually, the dirt didn't come off, used everything.. I even e-mailed them but no reply.
Do anyone know what I can use to get the White back to White? Mines turned Yellow! =(((((
I had this, and didn't like it.