Take your iPhone into the wild.

There are two types of iPhone owners. There are the regular people who take their iPhone to work and pretend to be busy while instead watching episodes of the The Wire and playing SimCity. Then there are those who take their iPhone to the great outdoors and use the myriad of GPS applications to find their way out of the woods, in a rain storm, while battling a bear, and eating bark to survive. You know, rugged types. The OtterBox Defender Series iPhone 3G Case is definitely for the latter.

The Defender Case wraps your precious iPhone in a polycarbonate shell, complete with a clear screen cover, and then further protects it with an additonal layer of silicone. Putting the case on the iPhone is simple--you can hear it snap in place as you encase your iPhone in its new armor. The silicon wrap covers the iPhone ports with tabs that can be opened easily to plug in headphones, access the ringer switch, and plug in your favorite dock accessory. Well, not all of your favorite dock accessories. The slim opening works with most charger cables and some dongles, but we were unable to connect some of our favorite remotes to the iPhone.

The clear screen is responsive to finger gestures and loss of screen brightness and clarity is minimal. The Defender’s clear screen cover still suffers from “bubbles” when being placed on the iPhone if you don’t follow OtterBox’s simple fix. Put some finger or face grease on the iPhone before placing the case on your phone. Yes, it sounds kinda gross, but it removes all of those annoying bubbles.
 
OtterBox claims the Defender Case will protect the iPhone from a 3-foot drop on concrete. We’re happy--and a little embarrassed--to admit that we’ve dropped our iPhone from even higher without any damage to it in real-world environments.

OtterBox is adamant that the Defender Case is not waterproof. We felt OK using our iPhones in light rain and while snowboarding during a powder day thanks to the silicone outer layer--but if you drop it into a puddle during a rainstorm, well…you’re on your own.

The Otterbox Defender is great weekend case for most of your extreme activities and good for areas with high c averages. The inability to attach some of our favorite dock accessories was a bummer, but didn’t deter us from keeping our iPhone safe while training for next year’s X Games.

iPhone 3G Defender Case
COMPANY: OtterBox
CONTACT: www.otterbox.com
PRICE: $49.95
REQUIREMENTS: iPhone 3G; models available for other iPhones and iPods
Keeps iPhone safe during activities that are usually iPhone-free.
Small dock opening stops some accessories from connecting. Bulky.