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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

Andy Boxall
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
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