I pre-ordered a Lifeproof case for my iPhone 4 the moment I heard about it. Having killed my previous iphone 3GS, which at the time was in an Otterbox Defender case, by taking it into the ocean with me back in February 2011. So I was looking for a sturdy waterproof case, “Just In Case” I ever did something that stupid again, for my iPhone 4 and Lifeproof sounded like a good fit. To be safe I also ordered a Squaretrade Accidental Damage warranty for $99 so even if it didn’t protect the phone as advertised I would still be ok.
It finally arrived in July 2011. I used this case every day for approximately a year before it became so worn that I was 99% sure it was no where near waterproof anymore (photo). I bought a new ‘blue’ lifeproof case to replace it and used it until I sold the phone in February 2013. So I have a good 20 months of Lifeproof experience to base this review on, for what it’s worth.
Basically, I was pretty happy with this case. I’ve washed to phone off under the faucet or sprayed
Windex on it to clean it off without a problem. I’ve let my kids, as young as 4 when I first got it, play with it, drop it, get various food and other substances all over it. It’s very reassuring to not have to worry about how clean their hands were etc. I got used to being able to drop this in the snow without worry or leave it on the table next to drinks that might spill or even in my pocket with my car keys. At the time I sold my iPhone 4 it had no scratches at all on it, which is much better than the state my previous iPhone 3GS had been in after being in it’s Otterbox Defender case which let sand and dirt get inside and scratched case up..
However, I’m not 100% happy, I did learn a few things that annoy me about the Lifeproof case;
- “Mostly Waterproof” -One of my first experiences with this case & water was in a small pool playing with my kids. We made the typical ‘jaws’ videos and I let the kids handle it, which inevitably meant the phone got dropped to the bottom. We also tried playing music underwater, which was kind of wild in that you couldn’t hear a thing above water, but underwater I could hear it pretty well anywhere in the pool. However after about 15 minutes in the pool I noticed the lens appeared to be ‘fogging’ up so I immediately removed it from the water and opened the case. There was just a little water in the case, nothing that got in any of the ports as far as I can tell. I’m guessing the ‘dropping’ to the bottom of the pool as well as playing music under water must have allowed some water in. Luckily the phone was fine but I never played underwater music again after this. I did notice this ‘fogging’ on my newer case this past summer too but again as far as I can tell very little water got in. So I’m saying this is ‘Mostly Waterproof’ and those of you expecting to use this at the beach/pool you should keep an eye on it to make sure everything looks ok.
Headphone adapter is very annoying – Because the case fits so tightly there isn’t much room to plug in a traditional headphone jack, you need to use the custom adapter which you need to screw in to use. This is relatively small, and of course, black and thus can be easily lost. Lifeproof sells replacements for $19.99 but I’ve found them for $5 on Amazon. I don’t know why they make this with a cable between the two ports since this cable can get twisted and pulled in the process of twisting it in or storing it when not in use. A single solid piece would be a better fit (and you could even just leave it in there if you didn’t mind having a little ‘antenna’ looking piece at the top of your phone instead of the long dangling cable. A few other annoyances with this adapter;
- If you don’t have this adapter handy and you wish to plug something out the headphone port your only other solution is to take the case off, something which is hard to do with only one hand free while driving etc.
When you aren’t using this port, the headphone port is sealed shut with a little plastic screw when you aren’t using headphones. This is so small and easily lost that unless you take great care putting it somewhere safe you are bound to lose it. I never looked for replacements at the local hardware store, I was wondering if a ‘normal’ screw might work for this. Replacement screws (a set of 3 I believe) cost $10(!) on Amazon
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Older iPhone USB cable will get jammed in the case Bottom Port gets jammed with the older thicker iPhone USB cables – As mentioned earlier I used to have an iPhone 3GS so I had a slew of older iphone USB cables which had somewhat bigger connectors on the 30 pin iphone side of the cable. While these would fit into the Lifeproof case, the little flap you’d push back would wedge it self just right so that getting this cable out too a lot of wiggling and force. Newer thinner cables work fine but I didn’t have a ready fleet of these around for the car, office etc so this was an ongoing problem.
It’s also rather expensive, currently $69.99 on Amazon. As I mentioned I wore my first case out
to the point where it was peeling rubber off the edges in about a year (photo). That may be more a testament to how rough I handle my phone but it should be noted that this isn’t indestructible and the longer you use it the less waterproof etc it gets.
But all in all, it kept my phone safe and was ‘mostly’ “Lifeproof”, so really I’m not complaining.
Postscript – I have an iPhone 5 now. I didn’t buy the Lifeproof case for it, based on reviews I read online that their were major audio problems with it (and it’s $79.95). Do I really need a waterproof case? I figured I’d try a few others so I tried an OtterBox Commuter Series Hybrid Case and a  Trident AEGIS Case. However both of these lacked something I took for granted with the lifeproof, a solid screen protector that was attached to the case. I bought an Otterbox Defender for my wife’s iPhone 5 and it’s nice a sturdy, but like my old 3GS one it has an opening for the camera and speaker so dirt can get in it. So .. I was debating whether to get it or not when I read about Otterbox’s new case, Otterbox Armor. This looks to be as sturdy as the Lifeproof cases, if not even better and based on it’s design I don’t expect to have the same problems I had with the Lifeproof case. I’m hoping to get this any day now and promise to write a review of it before I’ve had it for 20 months 🙂