Otterbox is a Fort Collins Colorado based company that designs and builds cases for mobile electronic devices.

The defender series case is probably the most rugged smartphone case available. It is made of high impact polycarbonate with a screen protector that resists scratches. The whole case is designed to protect your smart phone against drops bumps and shocks.

The defender has two major components. The outer cover is made from silicon and is designed to protect the user from the sharp edges of the hard plastic case and allow for ease of use.

The hard case consists of two parts that snap together over your phone

Some of the best features of the Otterbox defender series case

• A separate aperture and clear plastic window for the Apple logo

• A rotatable belt clip with a clasp with U shaped edge feature to prevent slip of your belt.

• A screen protector feature.

• (2) layers of protection: one for shock absorption and one for righty & strength.

• Openings for often needed functions and flaps for less often used ports.

• Online videos to support assembly instructions.

• Inspection in a retail store is easy due to the open packaging.

• The case complements and enhances the design of your iPhone

• Good workmanship – the parts fit together well

• Competitively priced.

Weak points

• A little bulky

• Bit cumbersome to assemble

• Lint can accumulate on the small camera and sensory ports

• Silicon will look distressed in short period of time

• Difficult to get in and out of your pocket

The available color options

The following color combos: (Inner Polycarbonate with Silicone Cover) are available for the iPhone.

• Black with Black

• Gunmetal Grey with Envy Green

• Sun Yellow with Gunmetal Grey

• Ocean with Night Blue

• Light Teal with Deep Teal

• Peony Pink with Deep Plum

There are many stories of the Otterbox defender protected IPhones being dropped several stories, from a moving vehicles, or involved skiing or snowboarding crashes with the phone still looking brand new and working perfectly.

At around $50 for a defender case, one might think this is a little pricy considering that you may have only paid around $99 or $199 for the cell phone it is protecting. But if your think about not having the use of your phone because it was dropped on a hard concert floor and it will not work again - the $50 is good insurance to ensure the functionality of your iPhone.

This case does everything well and is a good design, well crafted, looks great and provides solid protection with no downside – I feel it is the best case for iPhone protection available.