Product Review: Otterbox Commuter Case

Ignore the smudginess, paint from the Nerd Cave.

We’ve been over my klutzy tendencies again and again. So when I switched back to Android with the Samsung Galaxy S4, I knew I needed to make sure I had a good case. So I went with the g0-to for solidly built cases, Otterbox. But I’m also incredibly girly and didn’t want to buy a massive case (aka the Defender). This is where the Otterbox Commuter Series Case comes in.

The Otterbox Commuter is the middle ground as far as case ruggedness goes. It’s not as lightweight as the Reflex, and not as heavy duty as the Defender. It certainaly adds some bulk to your phone, but not as much as you would think. My non-klutz husband picked one up for his Galaxy S5 since it didn’t look or feel as bulky as he expected. My favorite part about the Commuter though, is that you can can combine any colors available to make it into the case you want. And if you break part of the case, you can replace just that part since Otterbox sells the inner soft layer separately from the hard shell. I bought a pink inner layer with a white shell, Pure Geekery colors naturally.

I’ve had my Otterbox for about three months now, and while I haven’t quite put it through it’s paces (no crazy drops or anything), I have had some short drops (2-3 feet) with no issues.  I also haven’t had any problems with the flaps that cover the charging port or headphone jack, although admittedly I don’t use the headphone jack a ton. The only issue I have had with the case is the pink inner layer is getting a bit dingy. But I think that’s more the dye from my dark jeans rubbing off more than anything else.

You can see the color difference on the pink inner layer here.

So far, I’m happy with my Otterbox commuter. You can pick one up from Otterbox directly for $39.90 if you want a custom color, or from Amazon for a little less ($25-$35 depending on color). If you do choose to buy one on Amazon make sure it’s sold by Amazon and not a third party. There are a lot of fake cases out there, and you don’t want to get stuck with one.