Hi all, just just got my Speck CandyShell Satin in and it's pretty nice.
I purchased a Body Glove snap-on case with my iPhone 4 when I got it and it was OK, but the bulk drove me crazy. It also had a soft rubber coating, and while it felt more secure in my hands it was a pain in the ass to take it out of my pockets. I ended up near an Apple Store one day and decided to stop in to see what other types of cases they had and I purchased a bumper. I really liked that it made the phone a little more grippy while not doubling the actual size of the phone, and I have been only using the bumper since then.
Unfortunately, after five months the bumper had started to stretch out near the top of the phone, and I had only removed it three or four times. It was driving me nuts so I decided to do a little research on new cases (paying $30 plus tax for a bumper every few months seemed like a waste, and I wanted to get some extra protection for the phone). I finally settled on the CandyShell Satin from Speck.
It's actually pretty sleek, and doesn't add that much bulk to the phone. It fits very snugly, and it doesn't appear that dust will be able to work its way under the rubber lip on the front of the case. My guess is that that is how the regular CandyShells fit as well. I purchased the dark grey/light grey one.
As far as the finish goes, it is definitely still a hard case, but it feels soft; it's kind of hard to describe. It does provide a little grip, but I don't have any problem pulling the phone out of my jeans pocket. If anyone already has a CandyShell, I can tell you that setting the phone down on its face provides much more grip than when you set it down with its face up. There is a little resistance face up when you try to slide the phone across a glass table, but it will still slide.
On the corners there are a couple of areas with rough edges, basically right where the soft rubber that surrounds the face of the phone meets with the hard outer shell. It's not sharp enough to cut you or anything, but it is somewhat noticeable. I haven't decided if I will mess around with sanding it down, since I'm not sure how the satin finish will react yet to sandpaper or a nail file. I'll probably be able to live with it.
One thing to mention is that the Satin finish definitely seems to attract dust. If you set it down on a dusty surface or put it in your pocket the dust or lint will stick to the back a little; however, I haven't had any problems wiping it clean. The finish also doesn't seem to pick up fingerprints, which is a plus. I would guess that the dust/lint issue is probably only a problem with the black case, and I wouldn't anticipate a problem with a lighter color.
So anyway, on day one I can say that I like the CandyShell Satin quite a bit, and I don't anticipate going back to a bumper. I may try a hard CandyShell or a CandyShell flip to change it up once in a while, but I have a feeling I'll be using this case for a while.
I'll take some pics later and add them to this post in case anyone is interested to see how it really looks. Unfortunately, since I got my iPhone it's the only camera I've been using, so my digital camera's battery is dead. Once I charge it up I'll snap some photos and try to attach them.
EDIT: Here are a few pics.