It seems almost absurd when you think about it “ Apple produces a stunning device with elegant lines and gorgeous craftsmanship, and we buy them and immediately hide them away in cases, never again to see the light of day. I ‘ve never been a fan of enclosing cases; I prefer to put my iPhone in a belt pouch case and take it out in all its lovely, albeit unprotected form. That all changed abruptly, however, when I accepted a job in Iraq. Suddenly, having my iPhone subjected to the infamous dust and rock-laden environment seemed downright foolhardy. I considered simply keeping the iPhone in my pocket “ perhaps in a microfiber bag “ but that was fraught with danger as well. A simple drop would now most likely be onto rock or concrete, not carpet or wood. Something stronger was required; something that would resist the worst that Iraq could dish out. And when you think tough, you naturally think Otterbox.
So we contacted the folks at Otterbox and laid down the challenge: Send us a review unit, and we ‘ll give it the ‘mother of all torture tests ‘ in Saddam ‘s backyard. They agreed, and shortly before I flew out, the Otterbox arrived.
SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED
The Otterbox Defender Series Case ($49.95 from Otterbox) comes in four parts “ a plastic shell (in two halves), a silicone outer cover, and a holster. The iPhone is inserted into the front part of the shell, then the back part of the shell is slipped in and snapped together. Finally, the silicone case is stretched over and around the plastic shell. The process is easy and quick once you have done it a few times.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
The Otterbox screams ‘tough ‘ at you from the start. The plastic shell that encases the iPhone (other models are available for the full line of iPhone, iPod, and other devices) leaves little doubt that significant force would be required to damage the iPhone, and the silicone outer case offers the same feeling of assurance for impact resistance while providing a much surer grip than an unprotected iPhone, even for wet hands. The case comes with a belt holster into which the iPhone and case snap. I had a feeling from the beginning that the holster did not secure the iPhone enough and said as much to my wife “ and I would shortly be proven correct. The belt portion of the holster rotates (with positive indentations) so that you can wear the phone horizontally or vertically, or nearly any angle in between. It also handily snaps open to provide a base, converting the holster into a stand.
The cover over the screen works so well with the iPhone that you can easily forget that it ‘s there “ except for its tendency to adhere too closely to the screen itself “ resulting in an oil spill-like discoloration on the screen that ranged from small and hardly noticeable to large and annoyingly visible. Despite suggestions from Otterbox and other users of the product, I never did find a solution that worked one hundred percent of the time.
The case rises and bevels out from the screen “ obviously intended to mitigate possible screen damage “ but with the effect of making the sides and corners of the screen difficult to tap at times. I quickly adjusted my taps in those areas to be more top-down than from the side “ a small price to pay for the sturdy design of the case.
I should note that the earlier 3G version did not permit the iPhone speaker to play properly “ this has been corrected in the current version of the case.
YOU LOST WHAT?!
I arrived in Iraq late on a Saturday afternoon and began settling in. The next morning, after snapping a picture of my living quarters to share with my Facebook friends and running a quick errand, I went to get my iPhone and discovered that it was MISSING. Apparently, it had fallen out of the holster without my knowledge. A frantic search proved fruitless, and I was left to inform my wife that my recently-purchased iPhone had been lost on my first full day in Iraq, thanks to the holster that I so recently mentioned to her seemed too unsecure to completely trust.
Fortunately, a week later, a kind soul returned the iPhone after I posted ‘lost ‘ signs around the area. I immediately threw the holster in a box and have been carrying the iPhone with the case (which is several times thicker than the iPhone alone) in my pocket ever since. I should note that despite at least one drop into rock/gravel, there ‘s not a scratch on the iPhone itself.
In talking with the folks from Otterbox about this, they asked if I had placed the iPhone into the holster with the screen towards the inside “ I had “ noting that when placed in backwards (screen out), the side arms of the holster have much less grip on the case. Regardless, even placed in properly, too little force is required to remove the case (you can see one of the two dimples that secures the case into the holster in the picture below) “ and the silicone apparently cushioned the impact to the point that I never noticed it fall. This says wonders for the case, but very little for the holster “ which, barring any redesign, I cannot recommend. I would like to see a retaining clip on the top of the holster that requires you to push it up and back to release the case and that prevents the iPhone from being released otherwise.
THE LITTLE THINGS
Otterbox clearly gave the Defender case a lot of thought in its design. Rubber grommets cover the headphone, silent mode switch, and power/data port, but even here there are little annoyances that require you to adapt. The grommet that covers the power/data port originally reseated itself quite easily, but of late has become almost a chore to put back cleanly into place. The opening for the charge/sync cable works for Apple branded cables, but hardly any third-party ones “ and you can forget docks or docking radios and the like. It is hard to fault the designers, who after all had the safety of the device in mind “ but when you realize that the aftermarket cables you bought do not fit, it does give you pause. After 2 months, I noticed that the screen protector was itself somewhat scratched; of course, I am glad that it wasn ‘t the iPhone ‘s screen itself! No function of the iPhone is impaired; there are windows for the camera and Apple logo, raised buttons for the power and volume switches, and an indented button for the home switch. Openings in the bottom allow the speaker and microphone to function normally. About the only thing you cannot do without removing the iPhone is remove the SIM card; but if by some chance you need to do so, the case can be removed quickly and without tools, and put back on just as easily.
THE TORTURE TEST
Otterbox promotes the Defender Series Case as offering ‘a tough safeguard against drops, bumps, scratches, dust and shocks ‘. As the phone had already been dropped and emerged completely unscathed, I turned my attention to something everyone in Iraq is familiar with “ dust.
The dust here in Iraq is finer than powder and gets into everything “ and I mean EVERYTHING. One of the things I was most interested to see was how well the Otterbox would perform in keeping out the dust. After several dust storms and daily exposure to the elements, I am pleased to say that it has kept the iPhone virtually dust free, even when covered in dust itself. I cannot imagine NOT using this case for that reason alone. After a recent sandstorm in which I used the iPhone a lot outdoors, I checked both the outside and the inside of the Otterbox and was pleased to note that while the outside required extensive cleaning and had dust everywhere, the inside was 99% dust free. Every time I removed the iPhone from the case, the results were the same.
The case performed so well, in fact, that I decided to see how well it would defend against a more common iPhone enemy “ water. Most iPhone owners know that exposing the iPhone to water will void the warranty “ and that there are sensors in the headphone and charge/sync jacks to detect it. Would the Otterbox Defender protect the unfortunate iPhone owner who is unavoidably caught in a downpour, or is the victim of a waitress with an errant water glass? To find out, I poured a liter of water onto the top of the case, dried the outside with a tissue, then took it apart to see if any moisture was present inside. Somewhat to my surprise, there was.
(click on an image to see a larger version)
Realizing that not many people were likely to be subjected to such a large quantity of water, I attempted a more realistic experiment. I tossed a very small glass of water at the case, simulating the ‘waitress ‘ example above. The results, again, were surprising “ there was nearly as much water present.
Of course, not much should be read into this, given that Otterbox does not claim to safeguard the iPhone from water “ but given the seemingly water resistant nature of the design, I was very confident that it would pass this test. Obviously, and unfortunately, I was wrong. Obviously and fortunately, I removed my iPhone prior to the tests.
REVIEW PART DEUX
After I relayed my concern about the holster and screen to Otterbox, they asked if they could provide another case and holster to see if it would fare better in keeping the iPhone secure. The replacement holster is measurably tighter than the first, but I still feel that the case can be too easily knocked loose. While I did wear it in the holster for a few days, I never did get past the level of paranoia that kept me checking my belt every few minutes to ensure that I hadn ‘t lost my iPhone again. Ultimately, I elected to once again put the iPhone in my pocket versus using the belt holster. If I were in the US (and near an Apple Store or two) and had Mobile Me so I could find my iPhone, I might be more willing to take a chance, but the reality is that if I lose my phone here (and it doesn ‘t get returned by another Good Samaritan), than I will likely have to do without until I get home. I simply couldn ‘t bring myself to chance it.
CONCLUSION
If your job or recreational lifestyle could potentially spell disaster for your iPhone, then the Otterbox Defender should be a virtual no-brainer. It lives up to its promise of a rough-and-tough protector; and despite a few minor shortcomings (and even considering the less-than-secure holster), I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Otterbox provided two samples of the Otterbox Defender Series Case for the iPhone 3G/3GS to Just Another iPhone Blog for review purposes. For further information regarding our site’s review policies, please see the "About" page.
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