The Cellet Jelly ($8) is one of the most inexpensive cases we’ve seen yet for the iPhone 4, and while not particularly spectacular in any area, it features solid design (its only flaw being a loose fit) and doesn’t get in the way of using the iPhone, making the case a good value.

Our only complaint about the Cellet Jelly is a semi-loose fit that occasionally allows a corner of the case to slip off when removing from pockets. It’s not the worst fit we’ve seen, and the case will stay on the iPhone in normal use, but it’s nevertheless a minor annoyance. The loose fit also causes the case’s frame around the iPhone’s screen to take on a slightly bent or warped look at times.

But that’s about the only fault we could find with the case. Its most standout feature is not any one design element, but rather that, overall, the case doesn’t get in the way of using the iPhone on an everyday basis. If that seems like a no-brainer design wise, it’s telling that so many case manufacturers get it wrong.
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The Minisuit Smoke Skin Circle for iPhone 4 ($15) is a transparent plastic case that suffers from bad design and bad looks. There’s little about this case that should interest an iPhone owner other than its affordable price.

The Minisuit Smoke Skin is made out of a rugged material called thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). The material is slightly pliable but has more in common with hard-shell plastic than it does with the more common silicone rubber. The case is transparent and decorated with a semi-transparent pattern of concentric cicles, which come in 6 different colors (pink, blue, black, green, orange, red, and whitish clear).

The main reason we can’t recommend the Smoke Skin Circle is that it makes the iPhone’s sleep button very difficult to press. The case covers up both the sleep and volume buttons with its own raised areas of plastic. The problem is that the material is so inflexible, it takes too much pressure to push and activate the iPhone’s sleep button through the case. It hurt our fingers to do so. While the volume buttons are not affected quite as much, they still are much more difficutlt to press with the case on.

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A glimpse at the extra thick silicone of the Gumdrop MotoSkin ($30) is enough to know it offers excellent shock absorption for accidental drops. Unfortunately, at least one major design flaw ruins the usability of the case, making it an also ran in the growing pantheon of iPhone 4 cases.

Our main problem with the MotoSkin is that it makes the iPhone’s sleep button difficult to press. The sleep button is probably the iPhone’s second most-used button, and to interfere with its functionality is unacceptable. The case fails to leave enough room for your fingertip to access the button, so when you press down, you’re pressing the silicone of the case. Extra force is required to press down both silicone and button. While it’s not impossible to press the button, it’s much too difficult.

The Case-Mate Vroom ($15) for iPhone 4 is an affordable silicone rubber case that sports a masculine tire-tread pattern on its back. While we weren’t impressed with the previous version of the Vroom for the 3G thanks to a loose fit, the iPhone 4 version has improved enough for us to drastically change our opinion. We love the Vroom’s excellent protection at a cheap price, the improved grip, and as a remedy for the iPhone 4′s antenna attenuation problem.

As mentioned, our biggest issue with the previous Vroom was a loose fit that would cause the iPhone to slip out of the case during everyday use. It was so bad, we couldn’t give the case a recommendation. The issue has now been mostly fixed, as the corners fit much tighter, helping to prevent the case from slipping off easily, although there is still a little bit of looseness we’d like to see corrected.