iPod Touch Air Jacket - Installation and Final Thoughts

Installation:

The Crystal Air Jacket and screen protectors should install in a couple of minutes if you are slow, and the main Air Jacket is installed by simply snapping your iPod Touch into place.  It has a nice firm fit and the Touch doesn't rattle around in the jacket at all.  The Jacket is pretty much clear, but it does have some tint to it as indicated in the picture above.  Overall, it does add a nice smoky finish to the back of the iPod.

Connector Plug

Back Installed

Before installing the screen protectors, make sure that the iPod is clean and completely free of dust, fingerprints and another other foreign particles.  If you prepare the surface with a gentle glass or plastic cleaner (I use the same cleaner as I do for LCD monitors), you will be much happier with the result of your screen protector.  I installed the crystal protector for the screen and left the anti-glare unit for another day.  This took about two minutes to apply straight and squeegee the air bubbles from under the film.  When it was done, the screen protector was virtually unnoticeable.

Crystal Air Jacket Final Thoughts:

The Crystal Air Jacket for the iPod Touch really isn't all that innovative or ground breaking.  It's a basic protection kit for your iPod touch that does a decent job of keeping it free of scratches on both the body and the screen without adding a lot of bulk.  PowerSupport claims that it adds no weight or bulk, but I can actually feel that this is thicker when I have it in my pocket.  As far as weight goes, I'd have to agree - I can't feel the extra 4 grams of weight this adds to the Touch.

It seems like it does a good job and installation is pretty simple, but at $30 it's a little pricey.  Granted an 8GB iPod Touch will set you back close to $300 and the 16GB close to $400 so this protection costs somewhere around 10% or less to help protect your investment and I guess that's not a bad deal.  I do feel that it is a bit overpriced for a couple of screen protectors and a plastic shell for the back.

That being said, I love the rubber grommet for the connector and wish that kits from other companies would include one of these as well.  However if you want one of these $30 Crystal Air Jacket kits for you iPod in Canada, you're going to have to spend over $20 on shipping making this ridiculously expensive.  Even shipping within the US is over $10 making this at least $40 for one iPod Touch.

Pros:

• Includes two different screen protectors for anti-glare or crystal clear viewing
  
• Appears quite durable and holds iPod secure.
• Keeps your iPod Touch Scratch-Free
• Includes protection for your dock connector
  

Cons:

• Limited availability and expensive international shipping from powersupportusa.com

I'd like to thank PowerSupportUSA for sending out their Crystal Air Jacket for us to try.  If they could offer free shipping for readers of this review, I'd say definitely check it out - but for $40+ shipped for USA residents or $50+ shipped for us Canadians, there are cheaper alternatives that can be found locally that work just as good.

Please post your comments, questions and general feedback regarding this review in our forum at the "Comments" link below.  Enjoy!