Otterbox has always been a household name for chunky mobile phone cases that will protect your device against nothing short of an apocalypse and with its latest offering, your Samsung Galaxy S5 can now rest easy even in your clumsy hands. We managed to get one of the guys in the office with a spanking new S5 to be a guinea pig for this review and hopefully for his sake the Otterbox makes good on its reputation.
The Otterbox for the S5 functions a little differently than say the defender for the iPhone 5S, opting for a inner plastic case that is snap together by regular snap contacts covered by a rubber bumper of sorts. The inner plastic case also has a grippy rubber back which enables your phone to sit snug and not move around too much after much jostling. The screen is protected by a plastic protection piece which looks to be the weak link to the case but in the time of testing, aside from a few small nicks, nothing too catastrophic happened to it.
The plastic inner is then covered like a glove by a rubber bumper that is supposed to cushion shocks to the case as best as it can as well as add a layer of grip to prevent your phone slipping out, even with the original band aid back. The Samsung Galaxy S5 is already IP67 certified so there is not much need to completely waterproof the cover but in certain areas the rubber plug approach is still evident.
After a week of moderate abuse and plenty of “proof of concept” ill-treatment, the case is still going strong, albeit a little chipped on the top port plug where multiple throws on the ceiling or drop kicks may have been a little too much for it to handle. That’s not to say the Defender didn’t do its job however because in all honesty, i’d rather the case be banged up than my smartphone inside.
At the end of the day, the Defender does a great job of protecting the S5 and there was no lasting damage to the phone after a week or so of use. However on the flip side, it does add a considerable heft to the device and may not fit cleanly into the skinniest of jeans. Another downside is that the screen protection, is not optimal for jagged edges like falling face first on stone. Then again, which case really is.
The Otterbox is a niche case which does its job very well, you can get the Otterbox for RM189 and is a pretty decent price compared to the Mil-Spec Armour range. Definitely one to consider if your nickname is butterfingers.
*Article written with thanks to SimTheBoy
