Now that Jason’s graduated elementary school, we bought him a new phone. Well, technically, we didn’t buy it, since I was due for a free upgrade in our plan, so I just gave it to him. But the point is, he now has an iPhone 4S just like Allie and myself. Ryan actually has one too (it’s Allie’s old one), except we don’t have it activated; he just uses it as a really cool iTouch for now.
Before I gave Jason his graduation present, though, I wanted to make sure we had a really good case for it. No way am I trusting The Dropsie King with an unprotected iPhone. So I started looking into cases, and then remember hearing some really sweet things about Otterbox.
So I did what any fast-thinking blogger would do these days… I contacted Otterbox to see if they had any cases for me to review. Not only were they quick to reply (and super nice in the process) but they provided me with four different Otterbox cases to test drive on all of our phones! I’ve had them on for a little over a week now and we’re all real happy with them!
Allie and I both received a case from the Commuter Series line. I really like these because they’re sturdy and protective without being super bulky at all. Each case comes with a screen protector, a Silicone inner layer and a Polycarbonate outer layer for extra protection.
I’ll show you the basic way these Otterbox cases work. Forgive the poor lighting in here. Trust me, the colors are SO much more fun and vibrant in person.
After applying the screen protector to my phone (a few air bubbles remained, but after 24 hours or so, I was able to flatten them all out.), I placed my phone in the electric blue Silicone layer.
The Silicone layer is a nice, flexible rubbery layer that easily slips on to your iPhone. It has all the right buttons and openings to let you still use all the features of your iPhone. There’s even a nice protective covering over the slot on the bottom where you connect your iPhone to a charger. Same with the small covering on the top where you plug in your headphones. These covers help keep out dust, while still giving you pretty easy access to the functionality.
Finally, I slipped the iPhone into the Polycarbonate outer layer. This one’s a firm, hard plastic, so you know if (make that, when) you drop your phone, it’ll be protected!
From the back, you can see the large opening for the camera and, of course, the big honkin’ Apple logo. you can also see the way the two different protective layers mesh together in a cool colorful pattern. You can also see the two side buttons for volume, as well as the switch above it to go from sound to vibrate settings.
Here’s a quick shot of the bottom of my case, with the protective covering over the charging port. That little blue plastic cover snaps shut nicely. I just had it open here for the photo so you can see inside.
Here’s a quick vid from the Otterbox crew showing off this super slim protector of the universe!
As for the boys, they each got a slick Defender Series case. This one also consists of three key pieces but it’s a bit more armor-like than the Commuter Series, which is good, because with the kids, it’s all about super-duper protection, and not how easy it is to carry around.
The Defender Series is kind of the reverse of the Commuter, in that you surround your iPhone with a hard Polycarbonate layer, and then wrap that in a rubbery Silicone layer. What I love most is that you don’t need to put a thin screen protector on the phone, because it’s built in to the Screen Protector Layer. Here’s a look at Ryan’s phone and bright orange case.
I put the phone in the Screen protector layer, which fits in easily with a little notch at the bottom.
Then you put the Polycarbonate layer on the back and it snaps closed. Finally, I easily wrapped the Silicone Layer around the whole shebang and we have one cool-looking iPhone case!
And here’s a quick shot of Jason loving his black and blue Defender case!
There are loads more types of cases for all types of phones tablets, including some water-proof kinds.
I just love the way my phone looks and feels, and knowing it’s an Otterbox gives me that added security I need just about every morning when I somehow accidentally drop my phone on the floor. Yeah, these things should totally come with a warning: “Do not attempt to use or even hold a cell phone prior to having your first cup of coffee.”
Follow Otterbox: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest
Now, remember how I said how insanely nice and helpful the fine folks over at Otterbox were? Well, they’re not just nice to me, they’re nice to YOU too! Yep, they want to offer up a gorgeous Otterbox case from their new Symmetry Series to one of my lucky readers! It’s the same great Otterbox protection for your phone, only now with some super stylish looks!
Symmetry Series
- Sleek, stylish, pocket-friendly design
- Wraparound colors and graphics add seamless style
- Dual-material construction absorbs shock and withstands drops
- Raised beveled edge keeps your touchscreen safe
- Easy installation protects and stylizes your phone in a flash
Have you entered my other giveaways yet?
Giveaway ends on July 21, 2014 at 11:59 p.m. The 1 winner will be chosen at random and announced on this site. Giveaway is open only to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States (including District of Columbia) and Canada, who are at least eighteen (18) years old at the time of entry. The 1 Winner will be notified by email and has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.
More Contests & Giveaways
Online-Sweepstakes
Sweepstakes
Infinite Sweepstakes
Contest Bee
As seen on Hypersweep.com
The Sweepstakes Wire™
Sweepstakes Fanatics – Share Your Giveaways for Free
Blog Giveaway Directory
Contests, Sweepstakes, Giveaways
Super-Sweeps
BearableDeals
About.com Contests
Sweepstakes Crazy– Your Source for free online sweepstakes, contests, games, and free stuff on the Web.
ContestCanada.net
One word… Toilet 🙁
I dropped it on the treadmill while working out.
The worst thing thing that I have done is drop it. It took a little chip out of the corner.
I let my son hold it and he dropped it in his Orange Juice.
i have had the smart phone in my pocket when it fell out and then i mowed over it
The worst thing I’ve done is to take a selfie
It fell from a second story balcony
I accidentally dropped it off my third floor balcony. It landed face down and completely shattered.
Dropped it in a mud run
I am very careful with my phone but have 3 young daughters that always want to play with it but are always dropping it. My phones take quite a beating!
I neglected to put a screen protector on it.
I brought it canoeing and we tipped, so of course it fell in the water.
Dropped it in my driveway without realizing it, then drove over it! Destroyed!
i dropped it in the tub a few times (blackberry, may it RIP)
i have yet to break a smarphonte.. fingers crossed
I think I might be the only person in the world who doesn’t have a smartphone horror story. I did have to send my first iPad to the great tablet graveyard when it fell out of my work bag and smashed on the sidewalk, though.
I’m really good with my phone, but I have dropped it on asphalt a few times. I’ve always used Otterboxes, and I feel that’s the reason I’ve never cracked it.
… is there a pattern here?….
Remind me to NEVER lend you my phone. 🙂
Well… 2 days before our wedding we went out on the lake for ‘canoe wars’. Rowing canoes fast at each other then splashing as much as possible with the paddles. Heck of a lot of fun until…. Getting out of our canoe I didn’t drop my phone into the lake but may as well have with all the water in the bottom of the boat. There was no Verizon wireless back in my home state so I had to transfer my number to my husband’s (then fiancee’s) phone or risk not having a way for the caterer, florist, wedding party, salon, etc., to contact me. Totally face-palm worthy! 🙂
… then there are the not one but TWO phone I broke in half….
… or the one I dropped in the toilet….
I have had mine accidentally slip out of my hand and fall into a large glass of my husbands Mountain Dew.
jweezie43[at]gmail[dot]com
With all that caffeine, I bet your phone worked even faster, though!
I dropped it in the toilet.
I dropped it on the pavement. Put a crack in the screen.
I’ve dropped my phone in a glass of soda.
I dropped mine when I got out of the car. It hit the curb and the screen shattered. Thankfully, I had insurance but I still had to pay a deductible 🙁
ugh…I drop my phone all the time and get dings and scratches on the corners!
i have dropped my new iphone 5c in the swimming pool a few weeks ago
Dropped my phone in the snow and my husband ran over it with the snowblower
The worst thing I have done to a smartphone was to drop it in the toilet 🙁
I have dropped mine in the pool before
dropped it face first on the ground at a theme park… where people kicked it around. it was bad.
My Fiance needs one of these! He left his phone on top of the car and drove off. When we found it, it had already gotten run over 🙁 LOL
I put it in the washing machine.
I bet it came out sparkling clean! (Also, my wife did that to a previous phone. Personally, I think she did it on purpose to get a new one…)
The worst thing I’ve done is drop my phone from my lap when I got out of the car. My phones always end up with tons of dents and wear!
I’ve dropped it on the hard cement. Thankfully it didn’t break or crack.
cracked the screen!! 🙁
I have dropped my phone on the sidewalk!
I haven’t done anything to mine yet, but I always have a fear of dropping it or leaving it someplace.
I dropped it in the toilet (it was in my back pocket)! I put it in rice right away and I still use it, it works fine now!
Uh, I hope you didn’t cook the rice after that?!??
guess the worse I have done is dropped in on the floor but that was a carpeted floor so not damage done. I am pretty careful with my phone
I dropped it in a public bathroom on the floor. Gross!
I’ve accidentally dropped it in the parking lot. 🙁
I have cracked my screen before.
dropped it on the side f the pool and it fell in it
i dropped my phone from a catwalk to a cement floor at work
Dropped it in the sink!
Smashed the screen!
dropped my phone in a full bathtub once…whoops!!
Dropped it off my lap when I left the car and didn’t realize until I came back to my car after shopping (it was on the ground)
My daughter’s phone fell out of her pocket, hit the ground and shattered. It was so bad that the whole inside of the phone eventually fell out of the casing. Thank you!
Dropped it on the ground. . Thanks for the awesomeness, the contest, & generosity
drop it while on the treadmill
I was standing on the second floor of the Nursing Health Wing and I was showing my friend how sticky my case was on my iPhone.. and I was showing her this by having it stick to the glass wall of the railing. Well didn’t I drop it and it fell right through the crack down to the first floor about a 50 foot drop. Oops. But the phone somehow survived! It was an old school huge Otterbox case (RIP – it did not survive)
Worst thing I’ve ever done with a smartphone? Definitely would be the time I accidentally dropped it into the toilet… oops…
I dropped it on a parking lot and the screen shattered.
I haven’t done anything awful with it yet. I’m pretty careful.
I have left it on the stairs, convenient place for the kids to step on!
listening to Stuff You Should Know by Howstuffworks.com while cooking and apparently josh’s voice was very alluring to my cat who jumped up on the counter to nuzzle the talking phone and knocked it onto the tile floor in the kitchen shattering the screen into a million pieces.
Dropped it in a toilet
I’ve been pretty lucky (knock on wood) to not damage my phone but I do drop it a lot.
The worst thing was losing my phone at the library. I had it in my jacket, it fell out and was stolen while I was sitting there.
The worst thing I have done is lost it in a restaurant but i did retrieve it. It fell out of my purse when I placed my purse under the table.
i am constantly dropping it, and so do my kids
Dropped it on a cement floor.
Stepped on it after dropping it – big OOPS!
my wife drops hers all the time.
Dropped it in a toilet once!
I was moving boxes from my trunk of my car, and I placed my phone down on the car so I could pick up the boxes, I brought the boxes in the house and went to go close the trunk of my car. it wasn’t shutting so I kept trying to slam it shut, lo and behold, I was slamming the trunk on my phone!
I dropped it on ground.
i have dropped mine so many times I dropped it in the shower before too, don’t ask lol….
Cracked the screen
I’ve dropped mine several times without damage
I dropped it on pavement…
Forgot to get it out of my shorts
I have dropped a few times but luckily it had no damage.
Not my phone, but an iphone I bought for my son, had a shot put dropped on it only a few weeks after he got it. He was devastated! It still worked, but the screen was totally shattered.
Definitely had one end up in the toilet :(.
I dropped mine several times
I am continuously dropping mine. everyday 2-3 times a day, It is shocking that I haven’t broke the screen yet
The worst thing I have done was get it wet on a ride at Six Flags!
I once dropped my phone in a plate of spaghetti 🙂
I’ve sat on my phone a couple of times. 🙁
Decided on soup in bed and dropped smack in the middle of a bowl of chicken noodle.
I put mine through the washing machine.
I gave it to my toddler and she killed my phone with her baby drool 🙂
I drop mine all the time.
The worst thing I’ve done with a smartphone is drop it in my friend’s driveway…just before her hubby was coming home from work. He drove in and ran right over it. Flat as a pancake!
I once was stupid enough to drop my phone in my dog’s water dish!
Have honestly never done anything awful. I have dropped it but it ended up being o.k. Thanks for the giveaway!
The worst thing I done to a phone was slam it in a car door which broke the display completely.
I slept as my baby gave mine a bath in cold coffee.
I accidentally picked up my phone with a load of laundry and washed and dried my phone. Needless to say, it still worked as long as I put it in a bag of rice every night.
I’ve dropped mine getting into the car and unknowingly drove away and it had snapped apart and scattered so when I realized what happened and went back I couldn’t find the battery and the back cover was in pieces.
Two weeks after getting a new phone I dropped in on concrete, screen first and the whole screen cracked.
Dropped it in toilet