OtterBox and LifeProof Smart Phone Cases

March 26, 2015
It's a rare cop today - if one can be found at all - who doesn't carry and rely on a cell phone while on duty (and off-duty, of course). They are used for the personal calls we have to make, for conversations with ADAs (or AUSAs), CIs, and other people.

While I don't go back to the days of call boxes and foot beats, I did start in law enforcement before the days of ubiquitous cell phones (they did exist then, but they were the size of a loaf of bread and almost no one had one).  A decade later we all had them, and when I served on my county's drug task force most of our comms were by cell phone rather than the scanner-monitored radios.  It's a rare cop today - if one can be found at all - who doesn't carry and rely on a cell phone while on duty (and off-duty, of course).  They are used for the personal calls we have to make, for conversations with ADAs (or AUSAs), CIs, and other people without access to a police radio, and to avoid the bad guys hearing us over a scanner.  We couldn't get along without them now.

But cell phones - particularly smart phones (which is what most of us carry) are fragile things.  Something as easy-to-do as a drop from a table top can crack the screen or worse.  Plus, cops are notoriously rough on their equipment (I'm sure we are all familiar with the joke about giving a cop two bowling balls).  In addition, most smart phones are slim, slick and hard to hold onto, moreso with sweaty hands or in cold weather.  For both of these reasons almost everyone has put a protective case on their smart phone, and that's a very good idea.  There's also another reason to use a case, and that's the wide variety of colors that they come in.  Yes, the different colors will help you to identify your phone from your colleague's, but more important they will help prevent you from losing it.  The only time I've lost my wallet, it wouldn't have happened if it had been a bright, easily-seen color (I had set it on top of my car while taking off my hiking boots and pack, and drove off without remembering or seeing it).  Likewise, if you drop your phone inadvertently, a bright color will make it easier to spot (think of a forest floor strewn with Autumn leaves).  In fact, if I could get away with carrying a safety pink phone case, I would (but I'm not quite there yet). 

The high-performance end of the smart phone case market has been largely occupied by OtterBox and LifeProof for years.  With LifeProof joining the Otter Products portfolio in 2013, the two brands are now under one corporate umbrella.  The OtterBox brand now focuses on the mass market, while LifeProof products are focused on more extreme uses, providing protection from water, snow, dirt and drops.

Among the OtterBox brands, the Defender series offers the most rugged protection, with three layers of it: a built-in screen protector, a polycarbonate inner layer, and a synthetic rubber outer layer (that covers the edges and rear of the case). The polycarbonate and rubber layers provide drop protection, sealed ports provide dust protection, and the screen membrane provides scratch protection.   The ever-so-slightly slimmer Commuter series also provides the same four levels of protection, but the screen protection is a user-applied adhesive film, while the inner rubber layer slips into an outer polycarbonate layer (with the edges revealing about 50/50 of each).  Unlike the Defender series, the exterior of the Commuter case back is polycarbonate, making it easier to slip a Commuter-encased phone into and out of a pocket  (An user testimonial on the OtterBox website describes a Commuter-clad iphone dropping down an eight-story elevator shaft and not even cracking the screen!)  Even a little slimmer yet is the Symmetry series, which is a one-piece/integrated inner-rubber/outer-polycarbonate unit, providing drop protection and easy pocketability because of its slimness and polycarbonate exterior.  Screen protection can be added with the Alpha Glass user-applied film, which provides scratch, shatter, and  unwanted side viewing for your screen.

A neat, why-didn't-I-think-of-that idea is the Commuter Wallet case.  It's essentially a Commuter case with a thin compartment on the back with a sliding door.  The compartment can hold a couple credit cards and a few bills.  With all the kit we have to carry -- either in uniform or plain clothes, we need every available pocket.  For this reason I never took my wallet on duty, instead just slipping a $20 bill in my front pocket, which got me through any shift or assignment (it's not like you need your drivers license or car registration while on-duty).  The Commuter Wallet is an even better idea; since you're carrying a phone anyway, why not let it double as a small wallet for almost no premium in size?

If you use a lot of power between charges, the Resurgence Power Case incorporates a 2000 mAh battery to, for example, double the charge capacity of an iphone5.  The Resurgence isn't fragile - it meets Mil-Std 810G-516.6, something made possible by its polycarbonate shell and interior high-density foam.  It incorporates smart charging its charge status LED displays its remaining charge in 25% increments.  The thing that really impressed me about the Resurgence was just how very, very little the battery capability added to the exterior dimensions of the case.  If you just picked the thing up you'd be forgiven for not knowing it incorporated a battery. 

On the LifeProof side of the house, there are two basic models, the Fre and the nudd.  The Fre  completely encases the phone, providing drop, dust, dirt, snow and water protection.  Although the microphone and speaker are enclosed, I can tell you that fidelity for both is still excellent, as is the camera's photo-taking clarity.  The Fre is a slim, hard case, so pocket in-and-out is easy and practical, and it works with Apple's Touch ID.  This is the case that I ordered 2 1/2-years ago for my iphone5 because I really wanted water-resistance.  Cops, particularly patrol cops, really don't have much choice about working out in the rain.  (I had tried to convince my Chief that doing traffic enforcement in foul weather was unsafe, but that argument fell on deaf ears!)  I have used my Fre-encased iphone in downpours and even in the shower, and it has worked as advertised.  The newer version that OtterBox sent me to look at has a completely responsive touch screen; my only (slight) complaint about the older model was that I'd sometimes have to tap extra hard or tap twice to effect a function.   The Fre meets Mil-Std 810G-516.6 for 2-meter drop and shock protection, and the IP-68 standard for ingress protection (circulating talc for 8 hours and water immersion to 2 meters for 1 hour).

The nudd provides essentially the Fre's types and levels of protection except that the screen is left open (there's in internal rubber gasket around it), allowing even more touch responsiveness (although the Fre didn't seem to diminish it).  If the idea of a "naked" screen makes you nervous it comes with a user-applicable adhesive screen protector that you can apply  if you want to.  Note that the Fre and the nudd are typically the winners in water resistent phone case evaluations performed by the serious evaluators out there.  Both OtterBox and LifeProof  offer a range of accessories including belt clips, arm bands, suction-mounted holders, and so on.  LifeProof even offers a flotation collar for its models -- essentially a PFD for your cased phone.

None of these cases are expensive.  I noticed that the price of the LifeProof Fre has even come down since I bought mine a couple years ago.  Even if they were, not using appropriate protection for your phone -- which after all is a vital tool and critical link to the outside world -- would be foolish.  It would be akin to not using a good holster for your gun; yes, you can get away, for (only) a while, with a cheap one, but that really is the very definition of "penny-wise, pound-foolish".  The same logic applies to a phone case: get yourself a really good one!

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