It might be unattainable to nail down simply what number of selfies folks tackle any given day around the globe. Much more so, what number of come from a telephone’s rear cameras over the entrance cameras, although we will guess a overwhelming majority come from the latter. Whatever the system, rear cameras will usually result in higher outcomes, however seeing a reside preview has lengthy been the benefit of entrance cameras.
The Dockcase Selfix affords a intelligent workaround by embedding a round rear show in a case for the iPhone 17 Professional and 17 Professional Max. Utilizing this for weeks now, it has its perks and reveals it will probably maintain up in apply, nevertheless it’s additionally up in opposition to actual competitors that tackle this idea in numerous methods. It’s additionally a crowdfunded system, including one other aspect to the combination.
Making a case to cease utilizing the entrance digital camera
Merely being a telephone case makes the Selfix distinctive on this regard, although it additionally pulls off one thing uncommon in that it features a microSD card slot. Increasing iPhone storage with a reminiscence card hasn’t actually been a factor earlier than — and it comes with caveats right here — nevertheless it makes issues attention-grabbing all the identical. Personally, the Morganite Pink variant Dockcase despatched me isn’t the one I might have picked (Onyx Black or Satin White would’ve been higher), and I believe it clashes with the orange of the most recent iPhone Professional fashions, however at the very least there are just a few choices.
As famous, this primary model solely suits both the iPhone 17 Professional or 17 Professional Max. Regardless of its thickness, it’s not a case with a built-in battery pack. As an alternative, the 1.6-inch AMOLED (480 x 480) rear round touchscreen will get its energy from the telephone’s USB-C port if you slot it inside. A USB-C passthrough port on the underside handles charging, so that you by no means have to drag the telephone out of the case to prime it up.
The principle promoting level is that capturing selfies with the rear cameras, which have higher glass and larger sensors, results in superior outcomes. Furthermore, protecting it in a case signifies that capacity is all the time on the prepared if you need it. It’s a design philosophy that separates it from opponents just like the Okay&F Idea Selfie Monitor Display and Insta360 Snap Selfie, each of that are separate models that both want to stay to the iPhone by way of MagSafe or clamp on, wrapping across the telephone. To not point out all the opposite copycat gadgets like them on Amazon.
The Selfix case is made with thicker silicone to accommodate the round show that’s positioned straight over the iPhone’s MagSafe coils. Whereas the magnets stay robust sufficient to carry MagSafe equipment, the added distance between the coils kills that charging technique completely. Even moveable MagSafe chargers will do nothing, leaving you with wired charging as the one choice.
The microSD slot helps UHS-I playing cards as much as 2TB and behaves like plugging in an exterior SSD. The catch is that iOS locations agency limits on what exterior storage can do as a result of solely ProRes video can file on to the cardboard. Pictures and commonplace movies all the time land on inside storage first, requiring a guide switch afterward by means of the Recordsdata or Pictures apps.
The Selfix for selfies
The Selfix has its personal button under the amount buttons that principally controls it. Maintain it down, and the display screen lights up. No app obtain or firmware replace required, although it’s worthwhile to dig by means of some iOS settings first in the beginning clicks into place. Enabling AssistiveTouch underneath Settings > Accessibility > Contact, after which including it to the Management Heart, unlocks the rear show’s full digital camera controls.
From there, the rear display screen mirrors the iPhone’s show and offers entry to a lot of the Digicam app’s capabilities, albeit with some mandatory memorization. Tapping the small numbers alongside the underside edge switches between the three rear cameras. Swiping left or proper adjusts zoom. Swiping down locks it. The shutter fires by way of both the amount button or the in-app button. Switching taking pictures modes nonetheless requires flipping over to the principle display screen.
These visible settings don’t completely optimize for the display screen, that means menu choices and numbers will look tiny by comparability to the telephone’s personal show. Nonetheless, solo selfies work effectively inside these constraints. It’s simple to border your self as a single topic with out a lot fuss, and you may allow mirroring by simply urgent the facility button to flip the orientation horizontally. It will get just a little trickier with group photographs, the place becoming multiple or two folks into body means stretching your arm additional, or switching to the ultra-wide lens to compensate.
Panorama mode introduces its personal quirks. Tilt the telephone instantly after opening the Digicam app, and the show rotates cleanly. Urgent the case’s personal energy button flips it the other way up as a substitute of sideways, like in portrait orientation. Go away the app idle for a stretch, and panorama tilts cease working altogether, with the rear display screen locking to portrait.
Dockcase reps acknowledged the limitation once I requested them about it, suggesting that I allow rotation lock on the iPhone first earlier than making the swap. It largely works besides the upside-down button flip nonetheless occurs anyway. Sadly, Apple’s Heart Stage function solely works for the entrance digital camera and never the rear cameras on these explicit iPhones.
The place the nuances are available in
The extra time I spent with the Selfix, the extra the fantastic print got here up. Dockcase constructed the case round Apple’s native Digicam app, leaving third-party apps in a gray space that may shift in unknown methods. They technically work, because the case is barely mirroring the display screen, however not one of the onscreen changes work when touching the rear show. Attempting it with apps like Instagram, Halide, Second and VSCO, I needed to make all of the changes on the telephone’s display screen — from the again, all I might do is press the amount button to snap the shutter.
Thoughts you, that management limitation issues much less in some conditions than others. It’s potential to make use of the rear display screen as a helpful reside monitor when taking pictures from an ungainly angle or composing a extra concerned selfie. It’s additionally fantastic as a video monitoring device regardless of the dearth of devoted optimization. It’s simply {that a} round show isn’t the identical as a extra expansive rectangular display screen such as you get with the Okay&F Idea and Insta360 gadgets.
These two opponents additionally attain a wider viewers. As a result of they’re not circumstances and have totally different software program optimization, they work with Android telephones and help iPhones going again to the iPhone 12. That exclusivity does minimize each methods, although. Not like the Insta360 Snap Selfie, the Selfix doesn’t occupy the iPhone’s USB-C port, and in contrast to the Okay&F Idea Monitor, it doesn’t want its personal battery recharged commonly.
Dockcase bakes some smart energy administration into the case. The display screen dims after a minute of inactivity, sleeps after 5, and shuts off completely after 10. The Selfix generates warmth pretty shortly throughout reasonable use, operating heat and getting hotter over time, so I knew to show it off between testing classes.
On the charging aspect, the Selfix handles PD 3.0 and as much as 45W. Dockcase flags compatibility points with sure Anker chargers and multi-port chargers, attributing the issue to adaptive energy protocol switching. A single-port USB-C charger avoids the problem.
Coming Quickly
The corporate is at the moment operating a Kickstarter marketing campaign to fund the primary manufacturing batch, with shipments concentrating on Might 2026 and broader retail availability to observe. Early backers can lock within the case for US$79 (about C$110), with a retail worth of US$129 (roughly C$179) anticipated as soon as it reaches wider launch.
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