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While at the CTIA Wireless convention, I was able to get my hands on a product I’ve talked about a few times in the past. It’s the OtterBox Defender case for the BlackBerry 8800 series. It’s billed as the the most protective case in the business, offering three levels of protection. I’ve spent a week with the case now, and here’s my take:
Clearly, it’s a bit bulky. That’s going to happen when you put a hardshell plastic case around a BlackBerry. This isn’t something I’d recommend shoving in your pocket — though I certainly have over the past few days. It’s this prejudice I have against wearing my BlackBerry — or any cell phone, for that matter — on my hip. I did at CTIA, though, because, well, everyone else was.
What it is
There are three pieces to the OtterBox case. First is a plastic film, which covers your screen and keyboard. There’s a hole cut out for the trackball, and the film is designed to fit perfectly around your keys. It’s not totally water proof, but it will stave off water damage for a bit.
Next is the hardshell plastic case. These two pieces simply snap over your BlackBerry. After that, there’s a rubber piece — a membrane, I believe the OtterBox folks were calling it — which wraps around the outside of the plastic.
The experience
While on my hip, the device was completely protected. The screen faces in, so it’s not exposed. If I happen to bump into something or someone, the only thing hit was the plastic or rubber on the back of the case. There were no problems getting it in and out of the case, and because the screen and keypad face my hip, there’s no need to lock the keyboard.
I have to say, it wasn’t all that bad in my pocket, either. Yeah, it creates a bit of a bulge — I wouldn’t go giving a presentation with it there. But even with jeans I don’t find much trouble pulling the case out of my pocket. This is actually where the case came in really handy. See, I’m a bit clumsy. I’ll pull my phone out of my pocket, fumble it, and it will hit the floor. But with the OtterBox case, there are no worries. I’ve dropped it no fewer than three times this week, and each time I picked it up like it’s no big deal.
At first, I didn’t like the way the plastic edges constricted keypad and trackball movement. It took me a day or so to get used to hitting the Q, A, and Alt buttons a bit differently, as well as the space bar. The access to the trackball becomes a bit more limited, too. However, none of these are deal breakers for me.
I’m actually loving the part of the membrane that covers my data and headphone ports. There had been a bit of dust building up in there, and I’m just too lazy to get a can of compressed air to clean it out every once in a while. Same for the speaker on the top of the BlackBerry. Even more dust was building up in there. But because of the case, less dust gets in there now.
To wrap up
Every time someone sees my case, I’m either asked, “What’s that?” or, “Did you get a new phone?” Everyone seems pretty impressed with it. One of my friends noted, though, that it “looks like you’re going to scan packages.” Yeah, I get it, it’s big.
But it does supply excellent protection. The screen and keys cover is something I’ve been wanting for a while, and the folks at OtterBox have created a great one. I told myself at first that I’d switch back to my old rubber case when I was going to put my BlackBerry in my pocket, but the awesomeness of the OtterBox has changed my mind.
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38 Comments ↓
Thanks for the post Joe! Glad you are enjoying the case!
-Kristin Golliher
PR Executive
[...] have narrowed my choices down to two solutions. The first is the OtterBox casing which promises to protect my device from the fall and impact that is inevitable once I ditch [...]
I’m getting complaints from callers that my voice sounds muffled or that I’m talking in a barrel. Out of the otterbox, I get no complaints.
Great review! I’ve used basic OtterBox cases for cameras for years, but this thing is pretty amazing. Super tight fit.
[...] made no secret of our admiration for OtterBox Defender Series cases. They might be a bit bulky, but they’re brutally awesome. You could drop your Berry down a [...]
I got mad one day (related to a bad call) and threw my 8800 agains the floor. Picked it up and to my suprise with the otterbox cover it still funcitoned flawless. Not a scratch on internal problem at all. Very very impressed. Now just to work on my temper.
[...] cell phones, meaning it creates a bulge on my hip. (It was a ton worse when I carried an 8830 encased with an OtterBox in my pocket.) It doesn’t bother me, but I know it bothers plenty of [...]
I love the OtterBox for the 8830. I have dropped it half a dozen times in the last 3 weeks and no problems at all. I have even caught it on seatbelts when the plastic was cold and it still stays together… I think I have finally found a smart phone and case that will be hard to kill.
these otterbox cases for the 8350i suckssssss bad!!! they will render your phone useless due to the servre echooooooooooooooooing !!!! called otterbox and finally talked to mr brian thomas and hes a nasty bastard and i call him a a*****e and hung up !!! what if u or one of your loved ones gets this otterbox case and they get to where they need it to call 911 and the 911 operator cant understand u ? i called rim and sue at rim said that theres nottttttttttttt a update coming and that they dont endorse and or approve of as third parties product on any of thier rim phones !! if anyone would like to call me about this matter please feel free to contact me at 352 812 2514 or 352 857 0214 my name is chris gilbert !!! ! stay away from otterbox products !!! they suck and are not worth the money cause they will make your phone not work !!! shame shame shame on you and your company mr richardson at otterbox for allowing a product to still be put out in the market when you and your company knows about this and wont do a shitty thing about it !!! this company will have its day of reckoning and when it goes down i will have a party at my house !!! i lost a 50,000.00 job cause of this otterbox case so i think i know what im talking about huh ?
Chris, while you have a right to your opinion, your means of expression leaves much to be desired. You didn’t even describe the problem beyond an echo. How does it affect your service? Do you see in the design why this happens?
A much more constructive comment would have laid out the exact issues. Instead, you resorted to name calling and immature rants. Please, in the future, leave comments that can actually help people, instead of fulfilling your cathartic need to rant.
Chris Gilbert is right. The people in otterbox have the belief that they are above reproach and have made no errors. They like to act as if they rely on customer feedback but in reality they don’t care. What is hilarious is their constant press to tell you how well they are doing financially. We all know the truth, when you have to tell everyone how well everything is, we all know it isn’t. You can’t wait until 8 weeks after a major product is released to make the case, and then try to convince us that you have partnerships and agreements with said company.
Whatever floats their boat I guess. In 6 months when they are belly up maybe they can hire Bernie Madoff to explain to us their amazing financial acumen.
hey joe, in regards to my comments about sprintnextels 8350i phones and the junkkkk otterbox cases !!! first and foremost, i had bought over 800 of the 8350i sprintnextel phones and got the otterbox cases that fits said phones ~! what a nightmare this whole ordeal has become for me and with these cases!!! when u put these cases on your brand new 8350i phones they echoooooooooooo soooooooo bad that you couldnt even use these phones !!! i called otterbox numberous of times and alllllllll you get is finger pointing that ohhhhhhhhhhhh its sprintnextels problem and its a bs update issue!!!! when i finally yalked to mr doughboy brian thomas the next in charge of otterbox he said what the hell u want me to do about it and told me dont call him even though if u google otterbox complaints, they at otterbox was and is aware of this problem but the old mighty dollar more important than a good and safe product!!! i then called rim and they said they do not recomend or endorse any otterbox cases on their products !!!! ive got alot of money invested in these phones and these otterbox cases !!!! i had lost a 50,000.00 job on 3 2 2009 cause the contractor that was trying to get ahold of me couldnt even understand me or visaversa!!! guess otterbox will help me with that matter huh???? i tell u what joe, i cant wait till otterbox fails cause im sure they will when they say their product made in the usa and its made in china !!!! doesnt made in china cost alot less than american made products ???? well i tell u i will invite you joe to my farm for the biggest party everrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr when i hear and find out otterboxs gone for false advertising and bad customer service relations!!!! they are nasty bastards and i wouldnt piss on any of them at otterbox if they were on fire !!!!!! when u call and ask wheres these otterboxs are made see what they tell you !!!! i bet you will get they merrygo round bullshit story !!!!! ive sent a certified letter to the ceo of this company spelling out that they have a deffective product !!!! ohhhhhhhhh why should i be the one to tell you whats wrong with their product joe????? isnt that a liitle bit ass backwards!!!! want me to be thier parrot to turn their tv on and off for them ??? i bet you one thing mr joe, this company wont be in business long !!! i employ over 800 men full time as i am a direct contractor for fema doing storm damage during hurricanes, ice storms, floods etc…..!!! if u wasnt happy with me and my company joe, atleast id try to make it right and if i couldnt, id refund your money and allllllllll of your money !!! ‘ wait till otterboxs products get in the hands of someones loved one and they try to call 911 and the 911 operator cant understand them !!!! ohhhhhhhh and otterbox doesnt have any relationship with rim or sprintnextel as they say they do !! you know why i kmow this joe, i had these companies on 3 way and had each company listening to what they was saying and each companies higher ups put otterbox in the spot!!! ask mr doughboy brian thomas !!! he hung up on us !!! hey a company must record our conversations for quaility control but when e give them their own medicine they dont like that !!!! ohhhhhhhh joe if you or anybody needs any brand new 8350i otterbox cases i will sell them for half of what i paid for them !!! hell i might even send them to you as long as your willing to pay shipping !!! ive contacted the fcc about this matter and sent some otterbox cases to consumer reprort company !!! ive also be in contact with a mr ellis with the states attorney about fraudlent claims that otterbox and how thier products made in usa!! otterbox is by far the biggestttttttt liars and frauds ive ever met and joe by the way ive own my own companies since 1981 and when you start losing jobs for 50,000 a shot then i think youd be upset too!!!! by the way joe why dont you go try to put a otterbox in a 8350i blackberry and let me know how it works for you when alllllllll you and the other party hears is echoooooooooooooooo!!!!!! to bad otterbox company isnt brought to the limelight for the fraud they are and they knew before they sent this product out that it was a issue but otterbox will stillllllll sell these cases and then blame everybody but themselves!!!!!!! how shockinggggggggggg!!! ohhhhhhhhhh i wonder how much longer otterbox can and will be able to keeeep doing this??? i bet your grandmas sweet apple pie joe it wont be longgggggggggggg!!!!!!!! i am a man with great resources and im on a mission with this company !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i wonder if joe works for otterbox????? there must be a connection for him to be sooo concern about my ranting on a piece of shit otterbox cases!!!! ohhhhhhhhhhhh the design of this product ummmmmmmmm lets see how about they have covered with their made in china plastic the speaker phone !! #2 they have put the mic hole on their junk cases in the wrong hole!!! they must of been thinking of some other hole when they did that huh joe???#3 they put that magnet on their cases in the wrong place to allow the phones to go in a sleeper or what some call a stand by mode so it wont eat the batteries up way faster than it should !! ohhhhhhhhh can i stop there yet mr joe ??????????? let me know if thats enough for you on the issues of craftmanship ok joe??? ohhhhhhhhh just one more thing!!! heres the icing on the cake for you joe !!!! how about they say on their boxes and advertising that these otterbox cases are made in the usa!!!!! wrong how about china!!! i wonder if this is one of them sweat shops we all hear about on tv!!!???? i bet sooo!! have you ever seen their place in the usa where they say there made yet??? i bet you havent cause theres noooooo such place!!!! this company willllllllll be brought and called out for the fraud they are !!! till then joe………………..
Chris is obviously beyond repair. Anyone who gets that upset about cases is taking it a little personally. Why don’t you just get your money back, get off the caffeine, and take a Prozac?
Well said Shamus….I’ve had my problems with products before but Chris has taken it to a whole new level…I work in customer service, not for Otterbox…but a completely unrelated field, and if I had a customer like that, I’d offer him Seido’s phone number…by the way…I had to modify my Bold Otterbox and it works fine ever since…and fixed it in less time that Chris has spent ranting about nothing…I’ve owned three other Otterboxes…pearl…curve..now Bold…love them and wouldn’t trust my phone with any other case…God Bless Otterbox…now here lemme pass out the Prozac, Xanax, and Lithium…Peace to All…War to None.
mitch the kid!! when u spent 60.00 each on these cases and have over 800 phones and find out that otterbox junk cases wont work on them and the company wont refund your money, i think youd be taking some of your own meds !! it seems really percurliar to me that you know all the name sto these meds and their purposes!!! do u worj for otterbox junk company??? do u also know that theses cases are advertised as made in usa but when u get them out of boxes as new they on the back of these cases say made in china !! probaly some subpar sweat shop that little kids work in i assume??????????? ohhhhhhhhh by the way mitchy you might want to check the 1st amendment law as far as my ranting !!!!!!
Chris…you are adorable, I wish they made little stuffed versions of you that I could take home and sleep next to in my comfy bed…I love your ranting…I really do, I have no need to check out any Contitutional or State guidelines, for your said rights, to said ranting…I have ranted and raved at many companys myself, no issue there…your situation really offers no one a resolution…what should have been done is a thorough testing of ONE phone with ONE case to make sure they would properly pair up and be the essential soulution you were looking for in the first place…would you send 6 astronauts into space without checking their airtanks first? No. YOU basically sent 800 astronauts into space with 800 BAD airtanks…Chris I wish you the best of luck in joining the rest of us over here in Competentville, please let me know when there is a stuffed version of you available, even if it is made in a Chinese sweat shop…oh yeah…have fun working with FEMA we all know how well they can handle a disaster by being as calm, cool, collected, and in charge…just…like…you?
Don’t know why I’m helping but…
April 10, 2009 at 2:33 PM
i don’t know if this makes any difference, but Sprint/Nextel have admitted to the echo problem being on the device-side (the phone echoes, supposedly, no matter what case you put on it). here is a link to the software patch–and it even states that ‘the device echo issues have been resolved.’
http://www.nextel.com/en/software_downloads/pda_smartphone/blackberry_8350i.shtml
i tried it and it works. no more echo with the otter box case on (for curve push-to-talk). i hope everyone has a blessed day.
-john
Reply
So what you’re saying, Mitch, is that Chris wasted hundreds, possibly thousands of words and a good portion of his time to complain about a company which was not at fault for his issue.
Chris, if you’re a man at all you’ll offer an apology for your irrational outburst.
Yes, Joe. That is exactly what I’m saying…and the funniest thing is the solution up there is a copy and paste from a response to one of Chris’s MANY other complaint posts on different sites…by the way….Brilliant review…Go Otterbox!!!
Chris Gilbert,
…………..YOU ARE A WASTE OF TIME…….
Mitchy, I am looking into getting the Ottorbox, and the only concern seems to be the echo, as we all know is an issue with Chris. What I want to know is this, on your link there are two software updates listed, my phone currently has the 4.6.1.204 version (new to BB, lovin it so far), am I covered on the echo problem? I am an electrician and the Ottorbox seems to be my best bet for protection. As far as credibility goes, eloquence far outweighs ignorant misspelled rants!!!
Hey Mio! I am not the original poster of the link, I just copied and pasted it, but I did do a little digging around, and I found this info…
Handheld Software Version 4.6.1.204 (316) for BlackBerry Curve 8350i Smartphone
Installs BlackBerry Handheld Software Version 4.6.1.204 (316) for the BlackBerry Curve 8350i Smartphone.
This update provides the following fixes:
-Device Echo issues have been improved.
-Master Radio Reset issues have been resolved.
-Push to Talk Calls will no longer play through speakerphone when device is set to Quiet Mode.
-MMS messages will no longer attach the previous message and will display the cursor in the correct location when you select reply.
-NOTE: You must have the latest version of BlackBerry Desktop Software version 3.6 or later on your computer before installing this update.
Technical Specifications:
Dated: 4/2/2009
Software Version: 4.6.1.204 (316)
———————————————–
So, if you have the .204 version it sounds like you should be fine…hope this helps! Have fun with your Otterbox!
[...] have a blog and a place to upload pictures. Speaking of OtterBox, if you want a good laugh, read this comment thread, in which a user rants and rants and rants (and rants some more) about OtterBox, blaming them for [...]
I have a Curve 8330 and wouldn’t leave the house without my Otter Box! I run with my phone in my hand; GPS by AllSport and my Slacker Radio to listen to!
I never worry about dropping the phone while running. I also work in construction and my Blackberry is safe!
Thanks Otter Box,
Chris
I also have an Otter Box cigar case it kept my cigars safe for a year in Iraq!
Hey mitchy, how did you modify your bold otterbox. The echo and feedback are driving me nuts
Hey Kevin! Well, I’m gonna start off by saying the feedback problem is version specific, but the echo can happen because of a couple of things…1.) Being the clear membrane, it has a little flap that covers the second mic hole, all I did for that was cut a little bit of it away…then…2.) I had to drill a hole in the case for the mic(yikes!! I know…)but it turned out really well, then all I had to do was take one of those single handheld paper hole punchers, and punch out a hole exactly where I drilled the hole in the case…echo problem over. Now getting to the feedback squeel…I actually took the hole puncher and punched a hole in between the volume up down on the rubber piece…and yes I still had to open the flap covering the charging port/headphone jack…this is still a semi issue…however, I have been doing a lot of case changes lately and I did a OS upgrade to 4.6.0.266…as of right now I have my otterbox on my phone without the clear membrane, and I have no squeel or echo…what I haven’t done yet is put the clear membrane back on to see if it went away with the version upgrade…if you really dont want to modify your case you can always run 4.6.0.168 that version has no squeel or echo going on but you would be missing out on some sweet OS upgrades…let me know if I can help with anything else, I would be more than happy to send pictures of these mods…let me know how you make out…
MHK
All,
Just learned that Otterbox has a new version of case for the bold with the second mic hole in the case…just an fyi…
I’ve been following this problem for a while too. People I’m talking to hear themselves echoing back if the Otterbox is on. I was told there was only one microphone (the little round hole on the bottom), so where is the 2nd microphone? I don’t have a problem drilling a hole if that will fix this problem. I’m driving my friends and loved ones crazy with the echo. I tried to troubleshoot, case no case, membrane no membrane, etc and could never figure out the echoing.
Brian,
For the BlackBerry Bold the second microphone is on the bottom side near the current microphone, just on the other side…it is bigger than the little mic hole that the hole in the case is there for…also…what version software are you running?
mhk
[...] It’s nice-looking and functional, but many cases can interfere with both of those. Even the OtterBox case, which I enjoy very much, inhibits much of the form and function of the [...]
Well that’s 15 minutes of my life I’ll never get back ;-)
(reading Gilbert’s rants)
I hate to wear cell phones, I prefer to carry them in my pocket. Is the Curve fairly svelt without the case, or is it still bulky enough to be annoying?
the otterbox did the opposite of protect my phone, it cracked my screen >:(
[...] to my feed or subscribe to us on Twitter!When I think OtterBox, it’s usually of their Defender series cases. These behemoths can protect your BlackBerry like no other case, but it’s not without a cost. [...]
[...] Imperial series review You guys know how much we love the OtterBox Defender series cases. Now they’ve got an Imperial series, which is a bit less bulky. It’s a silicone [...]
[...] on it (plus you look like a futuristic sheriff with that thing on your belt). There is also the OtterBox option. A big bulky case that offers maximum protection for your BlackBery certainly sounds like it [...]
[...] one isn’t exactly essential, and it won’t make you any more mobile. In fact, the OtterBox is so bulky that it might even slow you down a tick. But for someone on the go, device protection [...]
Chris Gilbert, you have the social skills of a doorhandle. Its one thing to get your point across, but do it in the proper manner. and no, i dont work for otterbox.funny, my bberry 8350i, with the otterbox cover works just fine. Ive had it since March 09.
As for everyone else, mine works fine, not sure what to tell you.
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