I don’t like phone cases. They’re bulky, ugly, can scratch my phone, and most of all, I just don’t need one. Well, most days I don’t need one, but I do like to have one when I go camping, walking, fishing or anything where my phone can’t safely exist in my pocket.
My requirements for a case are:
- Good shock protection. Think thick silicone!
- Minimal bulk.
- Reasonably easy to fit and take off. (I won’t be leaving it on all the time.)
- Simple, clean, no frills design.
- A stupid cut out on the back just for the sake of seeing an Apple logo is NOT necessary.
After some brief on-line research, I bought an OtterBox Prefix for my iPhone 5, and I really dig it! It was about $30. It is a big improvement over the Impact series, which I had for my iPhone 4S. The Impact series is not available for the iPhone 5, so I guess the Prefix series may be its replacement.
The case is reasonably chunky, imparting a sense of robustness, but not ridiculously bulky. The outer silicone material is not “grippy”, so it is easy to slide in and out of your pocket; the Impact series was quite “grippy”, which also provided it with an annoying pocket lint collecting capability.
The structure of the case is quite rigid, again, unlike the Impact series. The rigidity comes from an “Inner polycarbonate backbone”. This makes it a little harder to fit and remove the case, compared to the Impact series, but its still easy enough.
It is good that the case doesn’t cover the home button; there is no need for that, and it would reduce the button’s tactile feedback, making it squishy to use.
Unlike all the other OtterBox cases, there is no stupid integrity diminishing hole to see the Apple logo on the back of the case, great!
If your requirements and use cases match mine, then this case is highly recommended.