Kinetic Case are a fairly new case company who make american made CNC machined aluminum cases for the iPhone 4. The Kinetic case is one of the roundest aluminum cases I've seen for the iPhone 4 but has it's own style of making business with it's acrylic back plate and optional real carbon fiber back plate. The Kinetic does have a bumper style to it but unlike many other aluminum bumper cases for the iPhone 4, the Kinetic offers a little more back protection with it's back plates. Catch the full review after the cut.

The Kinetic case comes in two parts with one clear acrylic back plate and an optional $10 real carbon fiber plate. You don't have to use these back plates but I would suggest using them for more protection. The insides of the Kinetic case are coated with this clear material so that your iPhone 4's metal band won't come i ncontact with the aluminum of the Kinetic case.

Installing the case can be a little confusing at first. All you have to do in order to install the Kinetic case correctly is to slide the bottom half of the case onto the iPhone 4 and then to slide in the back plate along with the second top half part of the case. The Kinetic case uses four hex screws, two on each side. Kinetic Case doesn't include any extra screws you be careful not to lose yours.

I've had no issues with the back plate moving around at all after tightening the screws. I really love the way the back plate is incorporated into the aluminum bumper case and it makes for better protection over other aluminum bumper cases. I've had no issues using the camera with the LED flash as well.

The Kinetic case has very generous cutouts for the volume buttons, silent switch and power button. These are all very easy to access even though they are deeply recessed. The way Kinetic Case designed this case made accessing the headphone and dock connector ports easy because of the large openings. You will be able to use most third-party accessories with your iPhone 4 except for docks. The front of the iPhone 4 is also protected by the generous lay-on-the-table design and is kept away from getting in contact with a flat surface should you place your iPhone 4 screen side down. On the grip side of things, the Kinetic offers very little grip but does have very tiny marks left on it's sides from the machining that adds to the grip.

I'm not that into the whole rounded design of the kinetic case for some reason. I don't really dig the bubble look it has. Although the Kinetic case might be overly rounded, it does make it very comfortable to hold in the hand. I think it takes away a lot from the iPhone 4's design curves and sort of puts it as a more bulkier version of the iPhone 3G. Using the Kinetic case with the iPhone 4 will reduce your signal by 1-2 bars depending on your signal strength and this is no different from other aluminum cases out there that are entirely made out of aluminum. There are hybrid aluminum cases out there that are just being released that should improve signal strength if that bothers you.

At $65 you're getting a good aluminum bumper case, however it might not look as good as some of the others out there. The look and design of the Kinetic case didn't really interest me all that much and I think Kinetic Case should update their design and invest a little more time in creating something that pops out. The Kinetic case is available in six colors. Price $65.

Update: Kinetic Case are now shipping their case with six screws, two extra ones.

Kineticcase.com