LifeProof Frē for iPad Mini Lets You Take Your Tablet For a Swim

LifeProof wants you to be able to take your iPad mini with you everywhere, even under water. And with the new Fr for iPad Mini case, you can do exactly that. Strap your iPad mini into the Fr, and you can submerge the slate without issue. Not only that, but you can also listen to music while it's under water and even watch video.

Of course, the Fr isn't just water proof, it's also dirt proof, snow proof and shock proof, as well. And to ensure you never have to take your iPad mini out of the Fr, LifeProof also offers port covers for the mini's Lighting connector and headphone jack. We wanted to see how well the Fr performed in a real-world test, so the folks at LifeProof let us take a new Fr out of a retail case, stick in a functioning iPad mini and drop it in a fish tank.

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Before we dunked the Fr into the tank, however, we started playing a movie on the iPad. And true to LifeProof's word, the Fr kept the iPad mini dry as a bone and the video continued to run without issue. Of course, the iPad mini's display is unusable while underwater, as it has difficulty distinguishing between the water and your inputs.

In addition to the the Fr case, LifeProof also offers an orange life preserver for the iPad mini called the LifeJackey that you can slip the Fr into to keep the whole thing above water. LifeProof says the LifeJacket is also useful for boaters who bring their iPad mini with them and don't want to risk losing it if they drop it into the water.

The Fr for iPad mini is expected to hit the market in June for $99.99. The LifeJacket will be available later this summer for $59.99.

Daniel P. Howley
LAPTOP Senior Writer
A newspaper man at heart, Dan Howley wrote for Greater Media Newspapers before joining Laptopmag.com. He also served as a news editor with ALM Media’s Law Technology News, and he holds a B.A. in English from The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.