“What on earth is that? It looks like you’ve run over a squid and put it on your phone.” My sickened friend was referring to my tricked out Incipio Dotties iPhone 3GS case, complete with customizable ‘dottie’ inserts.

Ostensibly there to improve grip, these inserts offer little more than to horrify friends and provide cynical cross-selling opportunities to Tweens, who want to mix and match them in various ‘dazzling’ colour schemes. Being in the grumpy 30-40 demographic, this largely goes over my head. Frankly, something that’s bobbly, looking like you squished a tray of smarties onto the back of your phone isn’t my cup of tea.

However, bypassing aesthetics for one moment, the Dotties is a superb case. Excellent grip and sturdy moulding make it feel secure in the hand. Incipio have made it robust enough to not flounce out in the average male pocket, something that can’t be said for some of the cheapo silicon affairs.

While the included screen protectors are a nice added bonus to keep your keys from scratching the screen, the case protrudes along the front edge of the screen enough to keep it off the deck when flat on a table. All in all, thickish rubber with coloured dotties isn’t the most attractive design, but as far as flexible cases go, its iPhone protection is excellent. It’s available in eight different colour combinations and can be had for around £25.