Slim, stylish case protects iPhone from water, snow, dust and drops

I love the beach, and I love my iPhone, but the sandy, windy surf and the delicate electronics in my precious handset simply don’t go together.

And while there are plenty of shockproof iPhone cases on the market, only a few are truly waterproof, and those that are come in one of two types: either a massive plastic box that hides the iPhone’s touchscreen, or a glorified (and typically overpriced) Ziploc bag.

Enter LifeProof, a company that made a splash—literally—earlier this year by dunking its sleek new iPhone 4 case into a fish tank, leaving the encased iPhone inside no worse for the wear.

Now available for pre-order, the $69 LifeProof case boasts protection from a quartet of known iPhone killers: water, dirt, snow, and hard knocks, all while adding a mere 1.5mm of extra bulk to the iPhone’s slim profile.

Available in white, black, and pink, the case offers complete access to the iPhone’s 3.5-inch touchscreen while sealing all of its various ports and openings, with LifeProof promising that its case will keep your iPhone high and dry even while submerged in up to two meters of water.

I haven’t had a chance to go splashing around the LifeProof myself yet, but TekBeat TV gave it a spin last month and yes, LifeProof’s lofty claims so indeed seem to … well, hold water.

LifeProof says it also has a version of its water-, dust-, snow-, and shockproof case on tap for the iPad, although the company hasn’t settled on a release date or price tag yet.

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