Just found this thread today while reviewing the current choices for and old 'disposable' iphone 6+. For me, the basic concept of a phone housing is very appealing and better in some ways that a Gopro - as good as a Gopro is as a 'second', or backup - it is not as intuitive an interface as your familiar phone, so when I give my Gopro to my wife for some context shots, she always struggles. Also as we always travel with a phone each, a phone housing as a backup could work well - as I could back up my data to a disposable iphone for travel and backup camera, and my wife can keep her iphone unaltered - so no disaster if one phone floods. Also great that they can be attached to a tray - but I am not sure how a strobe optic can be added. I will still carry a Gopro though.
My observations,
1, I love the Moisture Muncher pocket in the SeaLife case (nice looking construction too) - why oh why has this feature taken soooo long for moisture reduction device retention to be integrated? fanfare applause go here.
2, If choosing - better to use a '+' series camera underwater for the huge advantage in battery life. (sure would have been nice for a battery bank pocket beside the Moisure Muncer pocket)
3, Meikon used to make nice simple housings that were Not Bluetooth. The current crop are, and are getting a lot more expensive - so now, if I get a flood, I loose an expensive camera AND an expensive housing (?) or can I swap out the electronics in the housing for a few bucks? And why are the electronics getting so complicated - why do I need a depth sensor etc. in my camera???? should I need a depth sensor... should I not be using a camera?
4, the Seafrogs vacuum pump alone is over $100 - need to cost that in. Do the others include that? Would be nice if I could use my Nauticam - could I (?)
5, How secure are these 'universal' fittings? I see some models have 'sleeves' (which seem on the face of it, good) others use springs and / or magnets - how good is that going to work in a dive boat scenario? The last thing I want to do before my back-roll is to open a camera case to re-position a lens.
Another solution - a TG6 with the built in phone option.