Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Our favorite phone accessories from CES 2017

best phone accessories ces 2017 olloclip pivot 08
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends
The annual CES technology event may be best known for important product announcements and the excitement surrounding the latest big-name gadgets, but there are lots of other things to discover out on the show floor, too. We always enjoy looking around the phone accessory halls, and picked out five of our favorite new products launched in Las Vegas.

Evutec Aer

These cool cases come from a materials specialist, and we liked the mature styling and versatility. The Aer has a soft polyurethane shell edge to it, but the back is covered in Kevlar or real wood, giving a unique look to each case. The cases are super-thin, avoiding bulk and weight, but the cases provide just as much protection as other, less finely tuned ones. Hidden inside the case is a metal plate for attaching the case to a magnetic dashboard mount in your car.

The Evutec Aer costs $35 for the iPhone 7 version, or $40 with the car mount. If you have an iPhone 7 Plus, it’s $40 for the case and $45 with the mount.

Amazon

Catalyst Case for the Apple Watch Series 2

Apple made the right decision to add water resistance to the Apple Watch Series 2, but while you’re OK to go swimming, getting it wet in salt water or exposing it to sand, dust, or anything else that may ruin the beautiful finish is a definite no-no. That’s where the Catalyst case comes in. It adds an IP68 rated case to the Watch, so it’s suitable for depths up to 100 meters, including in sea water. It also covers the body in a housing that provides military-grade protection.

The Watch retains all its functions, such as heart rate sensor and charging, so you can leave the Catalyst case on all the time or only when the need arises. It comes in two colors, but it only fits the 42mm version for now. A 38mm version will be out before the end of March.

Catalyst

Olloclip Pivot

Live streaming video is only getting more popular, but it requires expert control and a good grip to keep your phone in exactly the right angle and position while shooting. Get it wrong, and you may miss a unique moment. The Olloclip Pivot is an articulated, universal grip for your phone, providing plenty more control over your video, photography, or selfies.

It comes with a grip, a mount for phones up to 5.5-inches in size, a GoPro camera mount, and a cold shoe to add a light or microphone to the set up. Use it with Olloclip’s new lens kits for the iPhone 7 Plus, with lenses that are compatible with the phone’s dual-lens camera and can be swapped around for use on the selfie cam, for the best results.

The Pivot costs $50, while the Core Lens kit with a macro, fish-eye, and super-wide lens is $100.

Amazon

iFace First Class

Best known in Japan, iFace is a case brand to look out for in the U.S. and elsewhere, due to its classy, well thought-out design, and ability to quickly attach to an in-car mount. Made from polycarbonate and polyurethane, the First Class case feels great in the hand, thanks to subtle curves down the sides, so it fits better in your palm. The body meets military-grade protection standards, and has a cutout for a lanyard. A metal plate is hidden inside the body, ready to fix your phone and case to a magnetic in-car mount.

iFace’s cases come in many colors, and are produced for the iPhone, plus various Samsung Galaxy and LG phones. We liked the finish of these cases because each color is seemingly polished to a subtle, cool shine.

Amazon

Whoosh

Give your phone the love it deserves with Whoosh, a spray screen cleaner and anti-microbial  microfiber cloth combination that made our smartphones look like new. The cleaner is completely odorless and non-toxic, so you can use it on any screen. Polish your phone off with the special cloth, and it looks like new, while the towel is proven to remove dirt and germs.

Whoosh introduced a cute new series of high quality microfiber cloths, each with clever little phrases or a poop emoji, because our phones aren’t always the cleanest things around. A regular pack of cleaner and a standard cloth is just $13, and it’s worth every cent.

Amazon

Editors' Recommendations

Andy Boxall
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
The Google Pixel 8a is official. Here’s everything that’s new
Someone taking a phone call on the aloe Google Pixel 8a.

A week ahead of its annual developers' conference, Google has dropped a new budget phone in its Pixel-A series. The Google Pixel 8a retains the line’s signature look with a horizontal camera island at the back, but serves it in a package that embraces rounded corners and also happens to be fractionally smaller and lighter

The most meaningful changes are reserved for the display, silicon, and battery. The OLED screen’s size remains the same at 6.1 inches with a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels. However, the refresh rate has been increased to 120Hz, up from the Google Pixel 7a's 90Hz display. This HDR-ready panel offers a peak brightness of up to 2,000 nits and also features a fingerprint sensor underneath.

Read more
Apple has quietly killed its cheapest iPad
Three 2021 iPads are stacked on a table.

The iPad lineup has received a price bump after Apple quietly killed its cheapest iPad model. Apple’s 9th-generation iPad used to cost $329, but has been discontinued. At the same time, the company has reduced the 10th-gen iPad’s starting price by $100, which means it’s now priced at $349. As a result, getting the cheapest iPad means you'll now spend $20 more than before.

The 9th-gen Apple iPad was launched in 2021 with the A13 chipset and Apple's Center Stage featur,e but retained the same old design with the already-old Lightning port and home button. With Apple moving to a USB-C port on all devices to comply with EU laws, it was inevitable that Apple would discontinue the 9th-gen iPad this year. The iPhone SE remains the only Apple product with a home button and a Lightning port that's still available in the company's lineup.

Read more
Best iPhone 15 deals: How to get Apple’s latest iPhone for free
The display on a green iPhone 15.

The Apple iPhone lineup isn’t often a place to turn for a discount, as Apple deals can be somewhat difficult to come by. The best phone deals often turn up discounts on less premium brands, but there are some ways to save on the iPhone 15, which is Apple’s most recent iPhone release. You’ll find some of the best iPhone 15 deals scattered across retailers, which is why we’ve done some of the heavy lifting and organized them all below. Among the best iPhone deals you’ll find below are some impressive savings even if you don’t have an old device to trade-in.

You can also shop the best refurbished iPhone deals if you’re looking for ultimate savings, and there are plenty of iPhone 14 deals to shop if having the most recent iPhone release isn’t of importance to you.
Today's best iPhone 15 deals

Read more