As Jenny mentioned earlier this week, we’re the proud new owners of iPhones. We didn’t even have the shiny new things in our hands before we started worrying about dropping them or our kids breaking them – we needed cases and we needed them fast!
Since we’ve worked with Otterbox in the past, we reached out to them to see if we could review the new cases for the iPhone 4S, and they kindly agreed.
Jenny knew right away that she wanted the absolute best protection for her phone that she could get, so she picked out the Otterbox Defender Series.
From their website:
This rugged iPhone 4S case provides heavy duty protection from rough treatment in the worst environments. Our Defender Series iPhone 4S Case defends against drops, dust and damage without taking away from the interaction of the iPhone’s features. The iPhone 4S Defender Series Case offers triple-layer protection and is built from a high-impact polycarbonate shell, durable silicone and a built-in screen protector, making it one of the toughest iPhone 4S Cases out there.
Jenny’s not exactly using her phone in a war zone, but let’s face it – life with kids ensures “rough treatment in the worst environments.” The case has protected her new phone well, which is good because I’m pretty sure she’d off herself if her phone broke.
I also wanted great protection for my phone, but it was important to me to find a case that offered that but that also fit in my pocket easily. I picked the Otterbox Commuter Series case.
From their website:
This sleek and tough iPhone 4S case protects from scratches, bumps and shocks. The new camera rivals point-and-shoot cameras on the market and deserves the level of protection only OtterBox delivers. The Commuter Series iPhone 4S Case has two layers of protection that work together to divert any impact force away from the device, keeping you and your new iPhone 4S ready for anything.
I really like the case a lot, and I feel very comfortable knowing my phone is protected. I’ve dropped it a couple times, and it’s no worse for the wear. I picked the color shown above, and if I had it to do over again I would have picked a different one because the white silicone has gotten a little dingy. Other than that, though, it’s perfect.
Both of us got the black iPhone 4S, but I’ve heard that the white version is slightly larger than the black phone and that finding cases to fit it is not easy. I did some research on the Otterbox site, though, and according to the FAQs, all of their cases work with the white iPhone 4s as well.
We’ve been quite happy with all the Otterbox cases we’ve tried, and we highly recommend them!
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This post is linked to Things I Love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries.
I’ve had an otterbox for every “nice” expensive device I didn’t want to get broken, and I’ve loved them all. GREAT cases!! At Sophie’s gymnastics lesson the other day there was another mom who had the exact same pink & gray Defender that I have. We were talking about how much we love it!
I loved my iPhone 3GS Otterbox case. I had it for at least 2 years with no problem, so when I bought my iPhone 4S, in October, it’s the case I automatically turned to. To my dismay the case did not hold up as expected. I loved it, at first, but after about a month and a half the silicone part of the case started to tear, mostly at the flaps. The charger port flap finally tore completely off, I’d only had the case for 2 months.
I called Otterbox and let them know what happened. They were very helpful and sent me a replacement silicone part for my case. From what I was told they had not had any issues, so I’m hoping it was just a fluke with the case I had. The silicone piece was back-ordered, but as soon as I get it I will give it another try.
My only complaint with the 4S cases is that they don’t seem as sturdy as the older model cases. To me they seem more flimsy.
Otterbox does have amazing customer service!!
I am glad you had good customer service! My 4S case seems super, super super sturdy! Before that I had a Droid Incredible, the Otterbox Defender case for that was also extremely sturdy (way better than the phone was!)
I upgraded to a 4S from a 3gs just 3 weeks ago and have the pink/grey defender case. My charger flap has stopped closing and I only charge it once a day. In the past for our other 3 iPhones (which included the 4 and 3gs models) we used incase cases but when I got my upgrade I bought myself this new Otterbox case since I liked the color. This flap has bothered me since day 1. First I was irked at not being able to easily close it and have it flush, now it’s stopped closing all together. I LOVE everything else about it and am at odds over whether to return it or just cut the flap off.