XGear Fortress

Today i'm going to review a product by Xgear called the Fortress.  The Fortress is an aluminum style bumper that is 2 piece but connected by a hinge with a latching closure.  

  
The case is CNC machined out of 6061 aluminum and is very light weight.  This case differs from most aluminum bumper cases because it does not use screws to install it.  The problem with those cases is that if you need to remove it, you must have an allen wrench or you're stuck with it.  This one unlatches easily and can be quickly removed/installed.  I am a big fan of this as I don't want to carry the allen wrench with me on the go. 

The top of the case features a slim cutout for the headphone jack and secondary mic and a round button for the sleep/awake button which is a first for me.  The bottom of the case has a very large cutout for the 30 pin connector, speaker and microphone.  The left side of the case features a large cutout for the silent switch and volume buttons which will fit all versions of the iPhone 4 and 4S. 

The inside of the bumper frame has soft padding at all 4 corners and also just below the volume buttons to ensure that it does not scratch the metal band on your iPhone.  These are also to ensure a tight fit which brings up a concern of mine.  With the case installed, the fit isn't very snug.  It's not going to fall off or anything but it's also not tight.  When using the phone with the case installed, at times, I could feel the bumper moving up and down.  I feel that it could be tighter, even if some effort had to be made to squeeze it all together to latch it.  

Overall, I really like this case, but it comes with a steep price tag of $79.99.  It comes in gunmetal, blue, black, silver, pink, orange and red