If you are looking for a way to protect your Centro around water, your options are kind of limited. Luckily one of the options available offers stellar performance and protection.
Let’s take a look at the Aquapac Waterproof Mini for the Centro.
Design and Usability
When you open the package, you’ll be looking at a clear, sealable pouch connected to a lanyard. It’s ok to have doubts about it at first, I certainly had my fair share of qualms. To think that you will be trusting this thin piece of clear plastic between your beloved Centro and what could surely be a slow watery smartphone death is a bit hard to handle. Slowly, I collected myself and began the sealing process.
Honestly, this was my only complaint about the Aquapac, though I’m not sure how they could have fixed it without affecting the performance or usability. Getting the phone into (and out of) the case proved to be a task. The actual material used to manufacturer the case remains to be a mystery (this reviewer searched tirelessly for the answer to this burning question only to come up empty handed. It IS, however, 100% PVC-free, which is good to know) - but the natural qualities of it resemble plastic cling wrap. This makes ingress and egress of the phone particularly difficult.
Once you have the phone firmly seated in the case (shake it down as far as you can) the only thing left to do is turn the two Aquaclips®, adjust the neckcord and the Centro is ready for a dip. And dip you can.
If there was ever a time that the Aquapac would come in handy, it’s a stay at the lake house. Admittedly, the comments regarding my decision to test it out while swimming in 30 feet of water were numerous & varied, but once I let the Centro float about the lake, the naysayers were quickly silenced.
Here is a short video that I shot with my Centro while the Centro was encased in the Aquapac. You can see that I was able to go under water (dunked her twice!) with the Aquapac completely submerged. And note how well the Centro’s video camera continued to record when I surfaced. This is due to the LENZFLEX window on the back. With the Lenzflex, if you have a camera-phone, you'll be able to take photos right through the case. Or video in this case.
This story goes on, resulting in more interest from people who care as much about gadgets as much as I do about operas (read – not much.) Pictures were taken with the Centro snug in its protective pouch and their curiosity was piqued. When I took underwater videos with the Centro the questions started coming. And when the tunes were cranked (well, as loud as my little Centro speaker could crank), everyone wanted to hang out near my party raft. And all the while, the only thing that killed the party was a dead battery, which is MUCH better than a dead Centro.
You will truly be amazed at how cool you will look floating on the raft and having to take a phone call. Conducting business in the water is something that I never thought feasible, and the sound quality was fantastic. The videos that I took actually rendered the microphone usable, which is amazing because most of the videos I’ve taken without the case, the audio sounds overdriven and unrecognizable.
Conclusion
The Aquapac Waterproof Mini Case for the Centro performed admirably - so much so that I haven’t ever had this much fun reviewing a product. The Centro never once got even the smallest amount of water on it, and having the ability to take underwater pictures and videos was amazing. Aside from the difficulty of getting the phone in and out of the case, this product gets the “Party At The Lake” seal of approval.
Got a bigger Palm smartphone that you'd like to protect when you're going to be doing some water activities? Check out the Aquapac Handheld Case that is compatible with all Treos.
Pros
Protects phone from water
Take pictures and video underwater
Maintain full usability of the phone
Cons
A little difficult to insert and remove
