Windows Phone Accessory Review: Ballistic Shell Gel Case

Ballistic Shell Gel Case for the Nokia Lumia 900

We've cover a handful of two piece, shell cases for the Nokia Lumia 900 from the Otterbox Defender to the CaseMate Tough Case. Now we can add the Ballistic Shell Gel case to the mix.

The Ballistic Shell Gel is your typical two piece design with a rubber case that wraps around your Nokia Lumia 900 and a harder shell that wraps around the rubber portion. The Ballistic Shell Gel case does offer a decent amount of protection but also adds a bit of bulk to the Lumia 900. The trade off may not appeal to everyone but all in all, the Ballistic Shell Gel is not too shabby of a case.

Ballistic Shell Gel Case

The inner layer of the Ballistic case is soft silicone that wraps around your Lumia 900. The camera, headphone jack, camera, speaker on the Lumia 900 are exposed. The side buttons on the Windows Phone are covered by rubber extensions. The buttons remain functional and responsive.

Ballistic Shell Gel side view

The outer shell wraps around the silicone inner layer and is made of impact resistant polycarbonate. The shell leaves the corners of the rubber sleeve exposed to help protected the phone from drops. Speaking of which, the rubber corners are built up a bit and when you lay the Lumia 900 face down, the beefy corners prevent the screen from touching the surface.

Ballistic Shell Gel back

As far as fit and feel is concerned, the Ballistic Shell Gel does add a bit of heft to your Lumia 900. Compared to the Otterbox series, the Ballistic case falls somewhere between the Commuter and Defender. With the Ballistic Shell Gel, the Lumia looses a good bit of its pocketability (unless you're talking jacket pocket or maybe a large back pocket) but you've got a decent amount of protection.  The only downside with construction is that the rubber can be a bit of a dust and lint magnet.

The Ballistic Shell Gel case is a well made, durable, skin case that does offer a decent amount of protection to your Lumia 900. The outer shell is solid and the rubber interior layer had a bit of bounce to it. The trade off is that while the Ballistic Shell Gel does offer protection from drops, scrapes and dings it adds a bit of bulk to the Windows Phone.

You can find the Ballistic Shell Gel at Ballistic's website for $34.99.

George Ponder

George is the Reviews Editor at Windows Central, concentrating on Windows 10 PC and Mobile apps. He's been a supporter of the platform since the days of Windows CE and uses his current Windows 10 Mobile phone daily to keep up with life and enjoy a game during down time.