Otterbox Defender: iPhone 3G Case Review

Click to zoom. Posted by Cyprian on March 6th, 2009 at 09:38pm Comments

iPhone 3G Case Review: Otterbox Defender
Reviewed by: Cyprian Peters
-Official website
Price: $49.95

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Otterbox cases are all about protection, whether it’s the Defender or Impact you’re talking about. If your needs are protection, then look no further, the Otterbox Defender has you covered, and in a big way!

Otterbox sent me their black and yellow Defender Case which I was eager to receive, after hearing so many good things about it. It definitely does not disappoint. The case consists of three layers which combine to provide superior protection.

Underneath is the core of the case, consisting of a hard polycarbonate shell that encapsulates the iPhone. It consists of two pieces which snap together. The phone fits inside nice and snug, it doesn’t jostle around inside which is a good thing!

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Wrapped around this core is a silicone skin that protects from shocks. The skin feels very durable and wrapping it around the case is no problem. Lastly, there is a clear membrane covering the camera hole, apple logo cutout on the back, and most importantly, the screen. Not to worry though, the screen is still useable through the membrane. I found using the touch-screen through the membrane still provided the same responsiveness as without it. My only complaint about that is there seemed to be pockets of air in between the screen and membrane that I could never get rid of. Not terrible visible when the screen is on and it’s a small price to pay for screen protection.

Now, you may be asking if you have to sacrifice access to ports for this protection. The good news is you don’t. The headphone and docking ports, in addition to the vibrate switch are covered by a plugs which are part of the silicon shell. To use any of these, just unplug and when you’re done, you can seal it right back up again. The home, volume, and sleep buttons are also completely covered but very useable. A little extra force is needed to use the sleep button but it’s not a big deal. I also found texting to be a little bit difficult with the built up edges around the screen. Nothing a little practice wouldn’t solve though.

Otterbox also provides a 360 degree ratcheting belt clip. It felt very solid. No need to worry about it coming off or breaking.

If you plan on using your phone with other accessories (like speaker docks, backup batteries, etc), it’s a bit of a hassle to get the phone in and out of the case. This is by far the most protective case I’ve seen. If you work in construction or just want to keep your phone in excellent condition, this case is highly recommended.

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Score:

9/10

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Filed Under: iPhone Reviews

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comments

Shon

I loved the case...at first. after a month or so the rubber-like layer became very loose and no longer fit my phone as snug as it did. I had to exchange the case for another one. I have had this case for a month and it is doing the same thing as the first one. Coould it be from the heat of my phone?

rwolfe

This is a great case. Very durable. Do a you tube search and you can find a guy that threw his out of a 2nd story window and when he retrived it the Iphone was in perfect condition. It really is up for anything.

Three things to be aware of, however.
1) the dreaded oil slick. At first, this didn't bother me greatly but as time wore on I became more and more annoyed. I discovered that if you put an anti-glare screen protector (pack of 2 available at Apple Stores for $15) then the problem is solved. No more oilslick and no more "rubbing the face of the phone on a greasy hand or face" (as recommended on the otterbox website.) Perfect. My $50 case is now $65.

2) you cannot dock this phone while in the case. Solution - buy a dock extender. The only company I have located to date that sells this is Sendstation -- SendStation Dock Extender. They are charging $30 for the extension. Amazon.com sells this product on behalf of an outside seller. Be prepared to modify it, however. As is, the extender does not fit into the slot at the bottom of the case. If you have access to a Dremel or similar tool, the sides of the extended can be ground down so that it will fit. Took all of 5 minutes for me to do this and I have no skills with power tools. Thankfully, the underlying plastic is black as well, so you can't really tell that you modified it unless you look closely at the fact that the modified area is not as glossy as the rest of the part.

3) the covering over the speakers and earpiece will mute sound so much that you will not hear the phone ring unless you are in a quiet environment and you will constantly ask callers to repeat themselves. The only solution I have found for this is to poke a very small hole in the coverings. Obviously, the case is no longer as dust proof or semi-water proof, but at least I can hear the phone ring - which after all is important as my Iphone is first and foremost a phone. Prior to punching the holes I had the ringer volume and settings all set to max levels. Now, they are reasonable at mid way and I can hear the ipod functions and ringers in less than silent enviroments.

So - in sum, my $50 case now cost $105, but it is still WAY cheaper than buying a new phone if (or should I say when) I drop my phone. Worth the cost and the fixes in the long run.

Steve

I bought the Otterbox Defender for iPhone 3G a few days ago. It's great, except for one item they need to list on their website. ONLY the original Apple charger / docking head assembly will fit thru the opening in the bottom of the case. Everything else (well, at least the 4 other brands I have) will not get past the hard plastic shell. They are aware of this limitation, as I was told when I complained. So if you already have $ invested in other charger cables, dock extenders, car charging cables, etc, you might want to rethink this one. Otherwise, you'll be stripping it out of its entire case just to charge / sync. My previous two full coverage cases worked fine - the area around the connection port was clear enough for all my adapters.

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