Product: OtterBox BlackBerry Bold Impact Series Case
Available Colors: Black only
Manufacturer: OtterBox
Overall Rating: 6.5/10
Price: $19.95
Purchase Link: OtterBox.com
Image gallery at the bottom.
Overview/Description:
Alright I am back with another OtterBox product, this time we have the OtterBox BlackBerry Bold Impact Series case. Unlike the awesome Defender Series case, this does not offer a full 360 degrees of protection. This case is made from silicone and offers protection for basically everything but the face of the phone, excluding a small portion at the top and bottom of the face. Yes, you may say, well I have a rubberized case for my Bold and it only cost me 5 bucks. Well this is no run of the mill silicone skin cover. When you think of OtterBox, I want you to always assume that it offers you more than meets the eye.
First off, this case is an everyday case and is not meant to be thrashed and thrown like a Defender case (not "meant" to me thrown either). The Impact series case is thicker than most rubber cases that I have used or seen. OtterBox has also taken their protection expertise and applied it where it is needed; the case has thicker reinforced silicone in various areas where it is most needed. For example, in a smooth elongated x shape, from corner to corner, the back is double the thickness of the rest of the case. It also wraps around to the front corners for added protection there too. This makes sure that there is extra protection around the camera area and the corners of the phone where it has a tendency to hit if dropped.
To further the corner protection, OtterBox has added some impact absorbing features. If you notice in the picture above, that weird webbing on the inside corners of the case; that is called coring. What the coring does is absorbs some of the initial impact energy along the webbing support, so there is less impact energy that directly comes in contact with the device.
The rest of the device is pretty standard for a silicone case. It has cut outs for the charging and headphone inputs as well as cut outs for the speaker hole, LED indicator light, ear speaker, and microphone. It also has covering over the volume, the standby/mute key and both convenience buttons. One thing you may notice, is the interesting design of the case. The fact that it is only thicker on some parts. I believe that this is so eliminate excess weight as well as volume. If the whole case were as thick as the reinforcements, then it would be a lot bulkier and then people would just rather get a cheap case.
Pros:
The things that impressed me the most about this case are the design aspects. I like that fact that actual R&D went into the design and production aspects of the Impact series. OtterBox could have just as easily created a really thick case just like every other accessory company. The coring on the inside corners shows that they are still here to bring us products that function, as well as the reinforcing of only certain parts shows that ergonomics matters. This is an important part of OtterBox's goal and should be for any company.
Cons:
I do like this case; however, there are some problems with it. First, the most important part of a skin case is fitment. If the case does not fit right, it can compromise the rest of the case. I don't know if it is the case that I receive or if it is all the Impact cases, but the one that is on my Bold does not fit correctly. If you look at the images in the gallery or above, you will notice that it seems as if the sides are not all the way on or falling off. There is also a bowing effect at the top. As I said before fitment issues can compromise the rest of the case. Due to this, none of the cut outs match up how they should. The case should have been made to wrap around the face on the rail sides more. Also I am disappointed with the molding of the device. The casting lines are way too visible and cheapen up the product.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, I do ultimately like this case. The manufacturing and fitment design could have been better, but maybe I did in fact just get a bad case. If this is the case, then I would fully recommend the OtterBox BlackBerry Bold IMpact Series case for Bold owners. It doesn't look that bad on the phone and it will provide you with more protection than a $5 rubber case.
