Remember a few weeks ago I did a post about great apps for vacation?

Well, I went.

I went on a vacation, and you know what I brought with me? My iPhone. I never, ever put it down. My hand is now permanently stuck in phone holding position. It’s completely true. My wife replaced my phone with a box of Altoids once when I was sleeping. I woke up and, still groggy, I tried to check my email before I realized what was going on.

It was…embarrassing.

But, ultimately, hilarious.

And since I never put my iPhone down, that means I take it in the water with me, so you know what else I brought on my vacation? I brought waterproof cases to test out for you iPhone Life-ers because even when I’m on vacation, I’m thinking about others.

I’m a giver, obviously.

So today I have two great products for you—just in time to start hitting the beach or the pool or the lake or the lawn sprinkler. Whatever floats your boat!  (See what I did there?)

Anyway, I have the Aqua Box and the LifeProof everyday case for you today.

The Aqua Box is pretty cool. It has a fully interactive silicone membrane that allows for full functionality of your phone (except of course you cannot plug things into it. It’s not a miracle box…). So, you can totally sit in the pool, margarita in hand, and use your phone without a care in the world about getting it wet.

Below, you will find a list of its other virtues:

• It’s easy to open and close
• It’s pretty tough, so it can be dropped and not crack
• It’s easy to carry around because it’s light and small
• It has a floating lanyard that keeps it from sinking to the bottom if you drop it in the water
• If you have an iPhone, there’s space to store your room key and/or credit cards using the extra space inside the box. The roomy box was actually a selling point for me.
• Everyone stopped to ask me what it was and if it worked. I was a popular guy!
• The box doesn’t obstruct the camera lens at all. I took some pretty kick butt underwater shots of my feet in the pool to prove it. I have really good-looking feet, right?

And of course nothing is perfect, so there are some cons:

• It’s supposed to fit a number of different phones, so that’s both a pro and a con. My iPhone 4S rattles around in it a little bit, but again this can actually be considered a good thing because it does provide extra storage space, but also will fit the iPhone 5 when it comes out.  This is the price you pay for such versatility.
• When your hands are dry, the thin silicone membrane is a little bit sticky, so it’s a bit tough to scroll around on your phone because your finger sticks to it. Get wet and your problem is solved.
• An iPhone 4S must be naked in order to fit in the case. They enjoy skinny dipping, apparently.

Next up is the LifeProof case. This case is meant to stay on the phone and not be removed often. It seemed like it would be absolutely perfect for me, but it’s not because I really need a battery case. If they could add that functionality, this would be the ultimate. Anyway, that issue aside, I like the LifeProof case a lot.

• It’s not a big bulky monster and it only adds 1.5 mm to the size of the phone.
• It protects against every day hazards like water, dust, and droppage. Heck, it’s even designed to military specifications. There’s nothing I’m going to do to this thing that’s going to kill it.
• It does allow you to use the headphone jack so that just in case you’re into underwater music listening, you’re good. And truly, if you’re into music, this is the case for you!  The bass and mid-frequency speaker response is improved as the back of the case acts as a sub-woofer for a richer, fuller sound.

While both cases are great, I pick the Aqua Box as my favorite just because it fits my lifestyle a little better. If you’re not a super-ultra-mega-power user, the LifeProof might be the thing for you.

Now if you’ll excuse me, my phone and I are going for a dip.