Recent activities included a trip to the ocean with a bunch of kids and some four-wheeling. My phone spends most of its life in the Speck SmartFlex Card case, but gets moved into the Otterbox Defender when it needs a little more protection.
But sometimes I want a waterproof case*. Bought the Otterbox Armor because, hello, Otterbox. I didn’t like the way it closed and it’s ridiculously bulky. Next up, the Incipio Atlas. The plastic feels cheap, but it has a glass screen cover. I’d tell you if that’s a pro or a con except, by the time I managed to get the case open so I could retrieve the direction sheet that tells you how to open the case, I was so frustrated I threw it in the phone case basket and haven’t used it yet.
So…the Survivor + Catalyst Waterproof case. This is the one I used at the ocean and out on the trails, which were alternately dusty or muddy. Mother Nature thought it would be nice if she alternated 90+ degree temps and swamp-air humidity with holy-deluge-Batman rainstorms. Every. Single. Day.
The Survivor + Catalyst is not what I’d consider an every day case. But it didn’t interfere with the touch screen and the one or two calls I made while I was in ocean mode weren’t too muffled. (There’s no cell at camp, so calls being muffled is a non-factor.) One thing I liked a lot—unlike the other waterproof cases, you don’t need a degree in engineering to install and/or remove the phone. Pop it in, do your thing, then pop it out and put it back in its everyday case. And my phone survived being used as a camera in pouring rain, mud spray, ocean spray and dust.
This is the one I’ll reach for when I think my phone might need some extra protection from the elements.
* Disclaimer: Waterproof to me means I can use it in the rain or it can be splashed or it’ll be a little more resistant to trail dust. There isn’t a case or Ziplock bag made that will ever convince me to actually put my phone underwater. So your mileage may vary.
Comment
Thank you for this post. I’ve been looking for a phone case for vacations, and this looks like it might work for canoeing. Very timely.