10 Of The Best iPhone 4 Accessories

It’s still early days for the iPhone 4, but that doesn’t mean that there is only a limited range of iPhone 4 accessories. The latest generation of Apple’s iPhone uses the same 30 pin dock connector as previous models and runs on an updated version of the same software. This is great news – especially for those upgrading from an iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS, as it means that most iPhone 3G accessories will also work with iPhone 4. There are a few exceptions – anything that uses a moulded holder, moulded dock or form fitting case won’t fit as the phone is now slimmer and has a square profile. To help all you early iPhone 4 adopters keep your new device looking it’s best and working to it’s full potential, here are 10 of the best iPhone 4 accessories. Best iPhone 4 Skin: InvisibleSHIELD Full Body Protector for iPhone 4 Over the coming weeks and months, we’re going to get inundated with skins for iPhone 4, but one of the best ones will always be the InvisibleShield by Zagg. They’re perfect for iPhone 4 as they’re thin, incredibly tough and easy to fit – especially now that the iPhone is flat. The Full Body Shield includes film to cover the front and back of your phone, as well as the antenna band that wraps around the phone. As the InvisibleShield covers the stainless steel sides of the phone, it prevents you from touching the antenna. This should cure any signal loss that you get as a result of the so called ‘Death Grip’. Best iPhone 4 Car Charger: Monster In Car Charger 800 for iPhone 4 iPhone 4 has a better battery than my previous iPhone, but it’s still not fantastic. Use your iPhone 4 in the car for Sat Nav and you’re going to be running low on power pretty quickly. A car charger is an obvious solution, but beware – not all car chargers are created equal! Using GPS on your iPhone drains the battery quickly, so quickly in fact, that some cheap car chargers can’t get the power back into the phone fast enough for the phone to charge. I found this out the hard way after driving to Brighton, my iPhone 3G was plugged into a car charger and I was using Sat Nav and listening to music. I didn’t even make it half way before the phone died. The solution is a more powerful car charger, and that’s exactly what this is from Monster. It’s powerful enough to charge 2 high drain devices at the same time – an iPhone and any other device that you’ve got a USB charging cable for. Best iPhone 4 Car Holder: Brodit Holder with Pass Through for iPhone 4 OK, I’m jumping the gun a little on this one as it’s not even been released yet, but if their iPhone 3G version is anything to go by, this is without doubt the best in car holder you can get for your iPhone. They are moulded to fit the phone perfectly and have a soft felt coating to prevent scratches. The best bit about them is the pass through connection on the bottom. This is basically just a dock connector built into the cradle, so that you can leave your car charger or FM transmitter plugged into it all the time. This way, you only have to slide your phone in and out of the cradle to connect/disconnect your phone – no messing around with cables. The slight downside is that they’re not cheap and they’re designed to be screwed onto your dash. You can get round this by using a Brodit ProClip, a damage free bracket that clips onto your dashboard. Best iPhone 4 Armband If you enjoy working out, cycling or running and like to listen to your tuns or podcasts you’ll know how tricky it can be to find somewhere sensible to put your iPhone. The simplest and easiest option is an armband. They have velcro fastening for quick and easy removal and are made from a waterproof, breathable material. You can still use your iPhone’s touch screen while it’s in the case and this armband even has a handy storage pocket for your earphones. Some of the iPhone 3G armbands will work with iPhone 4, but they might be a little on the large side. Best iPhone 4 FM Transmitter: Belkin TuneCast Auto Live FM Transmitter One of the most frequently asked questions we get from iPhone users is “how do I listen to my music in the car?” There are a few ways of doing it, but the easiest way, with the least amount of effort or cash is with an FM transmitter. You can get cheap battery operated ones for about a fiver, but they’re a waste of time. If an FM transmitter is your only way to listen to tunes in the car, it’s worth paying the money for a decent one. The Belkin TuneCast Auto Live is the smartest FM transmitter available. It works in conjunction with a GPS powered app on your phone to determine the clearest frequency for where you are using the phone. If you move into an area where the frequency you’re using is used by other stations, the transmitter will automatically select another frequency for you – all you need to do then is re-tune your stereo and continue to listen to your tunes. Best iPhone 4 Speaker Dock: Altec inMotion Max iPod iPhone Speaker A speaker dock is another wildly popular accessory for iPhone owners. The Altec inMotion Max speaker dock not only fills the room with your music, they also charge your iPhone, have a built in FM Radio and can be connected to any audio device with a 3.5mm headphone socket. The dock on the front of the speakers uses a similar inlay system to the universal Apple Dock – this means that you can use it with any iPod or iPhone. 4 inlays are included with an iPhone 4 one promised shortly, but just because the insert isn’t included, it doesn’t mean you can’t use it. I always find that the inserts are a bit of a fiddle and prevent you from using several devices with the speakers, so I don’t use them. The dock works just as well without them fitted and means you can switch from an iPod classic to an iPhone 4 without any messing around. Best iPhone 4 Bluetooth Headphones: Sony Ericsson MW600 Stereo Bluetooth Headset Like listening to your music, but hate the trademark white headphones that tell the world you’ve got an expensive bit of kit in your pocket? Me too. You can of course change the headphones to black ones, but why not lose the cable connection to your phone completely? The Sony Ericsson MW600 Stereo Bluetooth Headset works brilliantly with iPhone 4 and is currently my favourite set of Bluetooth Headphones. They’re not completely wireless as there are still cables running from the Bluetooth receiver to the ear pieces, but that’s not a bad thing. The earphones have a standard 3.5mm jack plug on them and can easily be replaced with headphones of your choice. The Bluetooth receiver is small – about the same size as an AA battery – and for such a small device they’ve crammed a lot into it. As well as being able to play your music in stereo, the MW600 allows you to make and receive calls handsfree and has a built in FM radio – something that some iPhone users have been requesting be added to the phone for years. It’s multipoint too, so if you wanted, you could use this with your PC/Mac or a second phone at the same time. Best iPhone 4 Screen Protector: Case-Mate Anti-Glare / Anti-Finger Print Screen Protector – iPhone 4 Apple are saying that the screen on iPhone 4 is almost indestructible. I’m not convinced. Stick it in your pocket or bag with keys & coins and it’ll scratch. You can’t use scratch removal tools to repair scratches on touchscreen phones, so your best bet is to look after your screen by fitting a screen protector. There are so many screen protectors out there though it can be a bit overwhelming, after all, they are all supposed to do the same job, but they don’t. Cheaper screen protectors can start to peel or lift at the edges, allowing dust and dirt underneath them. Others are that shiny, they make it almost impossible to see the screen of your phone. The Case Mate protector does neither of these things. It stays attached to your iPhone 4 and has a matte finish that actually improves visibility of the screen in bright light. Best iPhone 4 Car Kit When it comes to using your iPhone 4 in the car there are a number of options available to you. Generally speaking these different kits will fall into one of two categories, fully fitted car kits or portable car kits. Best Portable Car Kit: Jabra SP700 / Jabra Cruiser I can never decide between these two kits. Both perform really well and have the same basic features. The idea behind them is simple. They clip onto the sun visor in your car and connect to your iPhone using Bluetooth. They can both be used as a loud speaker for handsfree calling and music play back, but what makes these two stand out is that they both have a built in FM Transmitter so that you can play your calls and music through your car stereo for improved audio quality. What sets the two apart though is the quality of the microphones and music control. The Jabra Cruiser has 2 microphones for noise cancellation and play, pause, rewind and fast forward buttons, where as the SP700 doesn’t. Dual Microphones is an obvious benefit, but as the iPhone doesn’t fully support remote music control over bluetooth, only the play/pause button will work (at the moment – this could change with the next update from Apple) If you’re not too fussed on being able to play/pause your music without touching your phone go for the SP700. If you want better audio and music control, go for the Cruiser. Best Fully Fitted Car Kit: Parrot MKi9000 If you can afford it, and are planning on keeping your car for a while, then getting a fully fitted kit is well worth it. As well as being able to route all audio from your phone through your car stereo, you’ll also be able to charge your phone and the whole kit will be out of sight and hidden behind your dashboard. I’ve chosen the Parrot MKi9000 as the best fitted car kit for the iPhone 4 as it does everything you’d need a kit to do. If you want a screen on your car kit, you can opt for the MKi9100 or MKi9200, but as the iPhone has a 3.5mm colour display of it’s own, I can’t really see the point of having another one just for the car kit. The MKi9000 lets you play music from your iPhone through the MKi9000 either by connecting the Apple Dock Connector cable or you can stream your music to it using Bluetooth. The Mki9000 will synchronise with your phone book, and supports voice dialling – although it won’t activate voice control on iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4. The Mki9000 comes with a small remote that you can attach to your dash or steering wheel to fully control your music when your iPhone is connected using the Dock Cable (Play/Pause & volume only when using bluetooth). When you use Sat Nav on your phone, voice instructions come through your car stereo clearly – in fact, audio from any app on your phone will be routed through the car kit and will be heard through your car stereo speakers.