Otterbox Defender: Making case for protection

The Otterbox Defender gives three-layered protection with an inner lining, followed by a polycarbonate shell and finally covered by soft silicone on the outside.

Otterbox has been making the Defender series for a while now and for multiple devices.

Its cases are built with only one thing in mind – ruggedness – so it’s supposed to be able to handle drops, bumps and other mishaps.

All-round protection

The Defender, being the most ­rugged casing in the Otterbox range, offers triple layer protection – an inner foam layer, a middle hard plastic and a thick silicon outer sheet.

Strangely enough, what hasn’t changed is that the Defender doesn’t protect your smartphone from water ingress as it has unprotected cutouts for the camera, speakers and microphone.

This isn’t as big an issue nowadays if you’re using the iPhone 7/7 Plus or Samsung Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge since these phones are water resistant.

Although its not waterproof, the Otterbox Defender does have soft doors covering the Lightning port and the Mute slider to keep dust and other debris from getting into these areas.

The casing also comes with a ­built-in screen protector – the iPhone 7/7 Plus review cases came with a ­little membrane over the Home ­button so that TouchID will still work through the case.

As with all Defender cases, ­installation is a little fiddly due to the triple protection – you need to peel off the outer silicon layer then detach the two halves of the inner plastic shell before inserting the phone inside.

The casing is pretty okay to use – even with the screen protector on, touch sensitivity is not really ­affected.

The sync port and the mute switch are protected by silicon flaps but the casing is so thick that the mute switch is deeply recessed, making it quite difficult for your finger to reach the button.

The extreme protection offered by the Otterbox Defender means that the iPhone Mute slider is recessed pretty deep in the case.

Also, the Defender comes with a belt holster and clip that can be ­converted into a kickstand for propping up the iPhone when reading books and watching videos.

Conclusion

If you’ve used the Defender before, you’ll be familiar with this model, as it’s pretty much the same except that it’s customised for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

It’s really targeted at people who lead an active lifestyle (or perhaps have butterfingers).

If you’re always accidentally ­dropping your iPhone, then this ­casing is one of the most rugged you can buy.

Pros: It’s built like a tank; built-in screen protector; includes belt holster.
Cons: No protection from water.

Get the Otterbox Defender right now at Lazada.

To download the Lazada App and start shopping on your mobile devices, click here.

Defender
(Otterbox)
iPhone 7/7 Plus protective case
SPECIFICATIONS: Silicone outer layer, polycarbonate inner layer, built-in screen protector
OTHER FEATURES: Belt clip holster included
DIMENSIONS (W x D x H): 135.12 69.9 x 16.18mm
WEIGHT: 114g
WEBSITE: www.otterbox.asia
PRICE: RM219 for Samsung S7/S7 Edge/ iPhone 7, RM259 for iPhone 7 Plus
RATING: Four stars
Review unit courtesy of Otterbox Asia