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The Defender also offers protection against sand at the beach or gritty and dusty environments, the elements, and is a buffer and protector from impacts and scratches.
The Defender consists of four components each offering a level of protection for your iPhone.
First, there's a thin, transparent membrane that covers your touchscreen, camera port, and Apple logo, protecting them from dirt, moisture, and scratches. The Defender's front panel is crystal-clear and thin enough that it allows interaction with the volume control, camera, touch-screen, silent switch and phone functions of the iPhone's touchscreen so long as good contact is maintained. All control buttons can be easily manipulated except for the Home button, whose access membrane for some reason only reveals the top of the circle.
Secondly, there's a tough, rigid, polycarbonate shell case that helps shield the iPhone from damage caused by drops, abrasions, or impact.
The third layer is a flexible and shock-absorbent silicone skin partial membrane that keeps dust and dirt out of ports and plug apertures, and as I discovered, does a decent, albeit not 100 percent job of keeping water out as well, although that's not an advertised feature. The silicone sheath provides a comfortable "high-traction" gripping surface as well, making it less likely that the iPhone will get dropped in the first place.
The OtterBox folks specifically and emphatically disclaim that the Defender Series are not designed or intended to protect against water intrusion. But I couldn't resist checking that aspect out anyway out of curiosity, about which more in a moment.
There's actually a fourth element to the OtterBox Defender case — a plastic ClipStand holster cradle that holds the case assembly, offering yet another layer of protection and equipped with a handy belt clip that rotates 360 degrees, and oh, yes; there is a membrane thin membrane of tightly-woven fabric covering the speaker aperture.
The various silicone aperture plugs are flexible enough to open and close easily, but sufficiently snug to prevent dirt, grit, sand, snow, and moisture from getting in.
As I mentioned above, out of curiosity, I tried splashing water on the Otterbox Defender and even immersed it completely for a brief period of time - I hasten to add - WITHOUT AN ACTUAL IPHONE IN SITU.
[UPDATE: My contact at Otterbox has expressed concern that someone reading this review less than carefully might mistakenly get the notion that the Defender Case is intended for such treatment, with ensuing disastrous consequences for their iPhone, so I want to doubly reemphasize that the Otterbox Defender is NOT INTENDED TO BE WATERPROOF and this is one of those "don't try this at home, kids" experiments that is absolutely NOT RECOMMENDED by Otterbox, or by me, (with a real iPhone aboard), and the probability of damage to the iPhone is high if the case is immersed. CM]
I determined two things from this exercise: first, they are not kidding that this case is not meant for immersion., but secondly, it allowed a relatively small amount of of water in during the several seconds it was submerged, which of course doesn't ensure survival if worse comes to worse and you were to accidentally drop your iPhone inside the Defender case into a puddle, but might give it a fighting chance so long as you pull it out of the water quickly and remove and dry the phone carefully. The case should be effective for deflecting splashes and light to moderate rain. This is, I repeat, not recommended service or treatment, and Otterbox makes no undertaking about prevention of damage if you do dunk the Defender with an iPhone inside or even get the case wet.
However, gritty, dusty, dirty, or sandy environments, along with bumps and shocks, are what the Defender is intended to defend your iPhone against, and it should do an excellent job at that.
Getting the iPhone into and out of the Otterbox Defender is not the most effortless or intuitive process, but the payoff is that once ensconced, it's pretty secure. The front and back halves of the ABS plastic case clamshell fit together with two locator tabs at the bottom; three overlapping lugs on either side, and another with a snap fastener at the top. To open the two halves of the clamshell, you pull out on that top lug with a fingernail until the snap catch disengages and the two halves easily pull apart.
Closing is the reverse, after which you stretch the silicone outer sheath over the inner hard case, and secure it with tabs that fit into slots on the inner case's locator lugs, then push the port aperture closure flaps home in their respective openings.
It probably sounds more complicated then it is, and it's actually not difficult once you figure out what to do, but a criticism would be that there are no instructions on the how to do it included with the packaging.
The Ottterbox Defender is very solidly engineered, with the look and feel of quality materials and workmanship and the various components fitting together nicely. You should expect that with an iPhone case costing 50 bucks, but if you are wont to take your iPhone into semi-harsh environments, protecting it with a Defender case could end up being cheap at the price.
The Otterbox Defender comes in black as with our test unit, or yellow/black, white or pink
Note also that this case will not fit the 1st Generation iPhone. For information on the iPhone First Generation Defender Case, visit:
http://www.otterbox.com/iphone-cases/iphone-defender-case/
Price: $49.95
For more information, visit:
http://www.otterbox.com/iphone-3g-3gs-defender-case/
or
http://www.otterbox.com
Charles W. Moore
Tags: Hot Topics ď iPhone ď iPhone Reviews ď
