Let’s just get this out of the way: do not drop your iPhone intentionally unless you have the funds to buy a new one. If you don’t, good news, because a case maker has done that testing for you and produced a solid case in the process.
Apple may have reinforced its new Phone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus with some higher grade and more solid aluminium backing, but there’s one thing this more dense material won’t help, and that’s a phone being dropped.
Sorry people, but when you’re talking about a phone landing on its sides or corners, there’s a very real chance that the phone is going to try and flex that glass, snapping and cracking in the process.
Land flat and it’ll probably be fine — a scratch or two — but drop it on the sides or corners and there’s a good chance your iPhone will be coated in tears in the process. Your tears, that is.
Fortunately OtterBox has been doing some testing of its own and has come up with a few ranges of smartphone cases to stop you phone from suffering the fate of its test phones, which are being used for drop tests of all sorts.
OtterBox even sends words that 24 tests are done throughout 238 hours of testing, comprising of over 1000 drops and 2000 scratches to help make sure that a case — and the phone inside — can survive.
Beyond the basic drop and scratch tests, OtterBox’s “Drop+” protection in its cases are also tested for extreme temperature and fluctuation, abrasion, ultraviolet light exposure, and how they survive your jeans, something we’ve certainly performed our own testing on with phones (not cases).
All of this apparently helps to produce cases designed to survive, with options like the Symmetry series which includes an extra edge to stop the phone from being scratched, or the Defender series which makes that less likely thanks to a built-in screen protector.
Smaller and slimmer options are available, too, in the Commuter series, while the Strada takes a case we saw earlier in the year and adds a flip cover to let you protect the phone using a leather fold, while also packing in a card of some sort. Opal anyone?
“iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are designed to seamlessly integrate into your day, and our cases are the same: built for you and your lifestyle,” said Steve Nisbet, Managing Director of OtterBox in the Asia Pacific region.
“We rigorously test each of our cases to really put them through their paces so you can take your brand new iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus and hand it to a toddler or go out 4-wheeling, without pause and without worry.”
Pricing of OtterBox’s line starts at at $34.95 for the basic MySymmetry series, but if you’re after something capable at stopping cracks after falls, the Commuter series starts at $49.95 before hitting $69.95 for the Defender series.
