Occasionally I get some weird stuff to review. Possibly the strangest item we've looked at is the Sumo Bean Bag, however this comes a close second.

Dirt and grime, it gets into your phone, so most people get a phone cover. Some, like me, don't use a phone cover - especially if you're in an office environment and don't have the need. Buying a cover for the odd occasion when you're out in a wet, dirty or dusty environment may seem like an expensive option. Likewise, if you're intending on going to the beach, riding a bike or going to the pool a standard cover may not do the job.

"Skins" will protect your mobile phone against water, snow, dirt, paint, mud, sweat, blood and much more. Their recent poster and web campaign is both direct and attention grabbing as you can see....

 

See, I told you they were like condoms didn't I? Well, if you open the packet you'll find three envelopers inside which contain.. err.. a condom! :) Strictly speaking it's almost like a cross between a condom and a balloon.

The makers state that "the extremely transparent and protectional mobile cover protects your phone under nearly all circumstances. Skins are always tight around your phone thanks to the 75 micron thickness and a maximum stretch of 7 times its own length!" It sure is stretchy and I tested it on a couple of different handsets with different dimensions. First, an Orange SPV C600...

You roll it all the way down to the end and then tie a knot like a balloon. Any excess can be wrapped back up the phone like this..

Right, so we've successfully stuck a condom .... err... sorry.. "phone skin" on our handset. What about a different phone? I picked the Orange SPV M600 and tried the same thing, this time with a new "skin" - a lovely red colour. Ahhh...isn't it pretty? :)

On the handsets I tested the keys, joystick and other controls (apart from the rollers found on the M3100 etc) worked well and I could still make / receive phone calls and get good audio quality too.

OK, so far, so good. However, I was intrigued by this little statement on their website...

"It’s all in the name... Skins protects your mobile phone against water, dirt, mud, paint, sweat, blood, snow and much more! Now you can carry your phone wherever you go and you can make and receive calls anywhere, at the beach, in the shower, even in pouring rain! Skins also protects your phone against dust, sand and cement. Skins helps you avoid even minor damage to your mobile, simply and easily."

Hmm... "Even in the pouring rain"... I like the sound of that. Hmmm.. but wait, I don't have any rain... Hmmm.. Oh, wait.. I tell you what I do have...

A big jug of water! :) Hmmm.. should I ? Should I ?

Well yes, it has to be done. If we're to really see if the mobile skin works then it just has to be done.. :)

Woaha! It still works! Thank gawd, because I didn't wanna trash my SPV M600 ! :) I was impressed, so I decided to do it again. Sure enough, there were no bubbles - this isn't just splash proof! I'm guessing that if you had this mobile skin whilst swimming in the pool or sea it would work extremely well.

I've chucked a video of this "sinking" on YouTube, check it out below..

Surely it couldn't be this good ? I'll try chucking it in a big bowl..

Hmmm.. that worked too. I even turned the tap on! Check out the video of this too...

I was determined at this stage to try and defeat the skin, so I turned the tap on full-blast directly onto it..

Conclusion

For those odd trips or moments when you need to protect your phone properly this is the ideal solution. They're available all over the world and they're cheap too. For the UK you can check woodlandorganics.com for a list of distributors. I purchased from extremedreams.co.uk who were excellent. They cost around £3.49 for a pack of three and they do exactly what they say on the box - once fitted they'll protect you from water, dirt, sand, snow and more. Sure, it looks like a condom, but I'm guessing that's where they got the idea from originally and - if I'm honest - it works damn well.