Everybody’s whoops and hollers rang out from Mount Shuksan’s peak like church bells. We’d summited, and while I’m not one for taking a lot of photos when I’m out in nature, it felt proper. But when I reached into my pocket for the obligatory photo, my phone bit me.
What I pulled out was a crumbled mess of glass and a cut-up hand. I hadn’t even fallen that day. My guess was that I leaned against a rock as I was pulling myself upward, and the force crushed my phone. That was the last time I did anything outdoorsy without a phone case.
Not just any phone case, but the toughest one I knew of. While it’s too bulky for me to use every day—I use a Mujjo leather case for that—the OtterBox Defender series has been my phone case of choice when I need maximum protection.
bulky, not puny
Each Defender-series case features what OtterBox calls a “multi-layer defense” shell that combines an outer rubber shell for being grippy enough not to drop the phone in the first place, combined with a rigid inner shell.
There’s a lip that surrounds the screen so that if you drop the phone and it lands face down, the case lips will contact the ground and not the screen. Likewise, there’s a prominent lip surrounding the rear camera to protect the lenses from impacts, too.
It’d be reasonable to worry whether such a thick, burly case would interfere with wireless charging, but the OtterBox Defender works with both Qi and MagSafe charging.
The Defender is available for a wide range of Apple, Google, Samsung, and Motorola phones, including older devices. The iPhone 17 Defender case says “coming soon” and is listed only on OtterBox’s own website. Once it launches for sale, it should be available at other retailers.
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