Dome8 iphone case: review and giveaway!

Recently I was given the opportunity to review the new dome8 iPhone case - the idea behind the case is to not only protect your phone if you drop it (has rounded corners, extra rubber to absorb impact, a raised front edge to protect your screen if (when!) you drop your phone etc) but also to act as a clever case for your headphones so you never again have to hunt round the bottom of your bag to eventually find a tangled mess of leads with fluff in the earpieces... Instead your headphones can be coiled neatly round the back of your phone, discretely out of sight but right at hand when needed. And when you're using your headphones the outside of the case flips inside out to act as an iPhone stand! 

(Image from dome8 website)

For anyone who is a bit kak-handed (like me!) the shape of the cover is great. It takes a few minutes to get used to but then you realise you have this awesome anchor to hold your phone with - I haven't dropped it once since!! 

Does it work?

Yes. It was very easy to use - even my 2 year old can do it - and it was great always knowing I had headphones with me. You do have to use the apple headphones (they fit in the holes) but that's not really a problem as you get a free pair with your iPhone anyway. We've got Amazon Prime subscription and so I often watch something downloaded on my iPhone during my commute but I actually found this case even more useful for those "unexpected" times when doing trips with the kids and suddenly wanted to entertain them quickly with an episode of Peppa or Dora... 

Child's play to access and unwind the headphones

I'm not quite sure why he watching Umizoomis upside down...

Even my 2 year old could re-wind the headphones back up :)

When I first took this case to work I was amazed at the reaction I got. I use my phone at least once an hour for calculating drug doses/infusions etc and every time I took it out of my pocket someone commented on the case. Everyone was fascinated and wanted one for themselves - no one had seen anything like it. And ironically on that first day a locum colleague left work, forgot his headphones in his locker and had to come back adding an hour to his journey home to get them,,, if only he'd been using a dome8 case!! Well I guess he might have left his whole phone but hopefully not :)

Any problems?

I only have 2 very small gripes with this cover - and both are very personal to me. Firstly the cover I had before this one had a hidden compartment where you could store your credit card and an emergency note - I loved that I never had to take an extra wallet out with me and did miss that function. And secondly I take a lot of photos in selfie mode (mainly of the kids so they can see themselves and then hopefully smile more nicely!) and usually use the volume button to take the picture (did you know you could do that? Amazingly useful tip!). However this cover made it slightly harder for me to click that button. Not a problem if you use the button on the screen to take pictures but I rarely use that one. But neither are exactly deal-breakers.

Edit - just found out that they actually rectified the button problem with the iPhone 6 cases (I have the 5 version) and there is now a complete cut-out for the buttons so you can selfie yourself senseless!)

Overall impression:

This is a snazzy looking case that will definitely get noticed and is a clever way to keep your headphones safe - ideal if you watch TV/listen to music when out and about. 

Note: I was sent one free to test but everything above is my honest opinion :)

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Dome8 cases cost £14.95 and come in a variety of colours and designs. They fit iPhones 5/5s/SE and 6/6s and the lovely guys at Dome8 have offered to give a case away to one lucky reader of my blog - yay giveway time! So if any of the above sounds good to you, then to be in with a chance to win your own dome8 case just enter the competition below...

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COMPETITION TIME!!

Look at https://www.dome8.com/ and leave a comment below detailing which colour and style case you'd like if you win - along with a way you can be contacted (Facebook page, twitter name, email address etc). Also follow "dome8" on Facebook (search for @dome8cases if you have any problems finding the page) - that's where they'll be announcing the winner first!

To increase your chances of winning you can also:

- Share this blog post on Facebook and leave one EXTRA comment here to say you've done so (with your Facebook name)

- Follow both me (@mum1stdoctor2nd) and dome8 (@dome8cases) on Twitter and leave one EXTRA comment here with your Twitter name

- Tweet about the competition using the following sentence (and leave ANOTHER comment to say you have):

"I've entered a competition with @mum1stdoctor2nd & @dome8cases to win a dome8 iphone case at http://tinyurl.com/zt6be85 Why don't you?"

GOOD LUCK!!

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Competition rules:

1. The only step you MUST do is the first one. All others are optional so you can do as many or as few as you like

2. You must live in mainland UK and be over 18 to enter

3. The competition will close at 1am on Monday 31st October

4. The winner will be picked on the morning of Tuesday 1st November via Random.org and their name will be posted on dome8's facebook page later that day

5. All efforts will be made to contact the winner by the contact details left in their comment(s). If there has been no response after 2 weeks a new winner will be drawn.

6. The prize will be dispatched directly from dome8