LifeProof Case Review for iPhone 4S: The Only Case You Need
The number of iPhone 4S sold over the holiday period continue to astound and this can only mean that the numbers of people carrying an iPhone 4S with them continues to skyrocket.
There is of course an inherent risk in carrying around such an expensive investment with you everywhere you go and that’s in damaging it by dropping it, getting it wet, dirty or scratching it with a million and one things that it comes into contact everyday. And this increases if you take part in any activity in which you want to have your phone with you or if you are simply clumsy!
For as many ways that there are to damage your iPhone there are as many cases to protect it and I’ve had many of them. However, whichever case I’ve had I always felt that I’ve still had to protect my iPhone 4S especially from the inherent fear of water damage. This is no longer the case though as my iPhone is now wrapped in in a LifeProof case.
The LifeProof case is like nothing I have ever had, a case that protects your iPhone from drops, dirt, extreme temperatures and most importantly for me water, yes water. I’ve lost a couple of devices via water, one a simple drop out of a shirt pocket into a bowl of water and another via a trip through a washing machine. I also always have my iPhone with me in the bathroom, in the kitchen, by the pool, in fact it never leaves my side so having it in a case that protects it from any potential exposure to water has to be a good thing.
One thing that has put me off of other full protection cases have been the bulk of the cases, this is not the situation with the LifeProof case though as while it inevitably adds bulk it’s the minimum amount required considering the protection it offers.
The LifeProof comes beautifully packaged in a box that both shows off the case itself and all of the protection it offers. The total package contains the LifeProof case, a cleaning cloth and an adapter for the headphone socket which enables you to use your LifeProof with headphones and keep it waterproof and a spare headphone socket plug.
Putting the case on your phone correctly is key to ensuring that it stays water tight and this is covered by a range of videos that are made available to you to watch via the LifeProof website. All the videos are iPhone compatible of course and aren’t very long but are definitely worthy of a little of your time to ensure you do things correctly.
One of the steps that is highly recommended is the thorough cleaning of your iPhone to ensure that it remains both water tight and free from dust inside the case that could scratch the device. This is easily done with the supplied cleaning cloth and then you are ready to fit the case. To be fair putting your iPhone into the case is no different than any other similar full cover case, the only differance is that you need to ensure that not only is the seal around the top, bottom and sides of the case is free from dust, hairs or any other debris but is also fully snapped shut.
The final steps are to insert waterproof headphone plug and the door that allows access to the charging port at the bottom of the case. These two items enable you to fully use the case with the LifeProof case on, removing the headphone plug allows you to fit most headphone jacks while opening the charge port door enables you to charge your phone. Obviously opening both of the access points will deem the case not watertight any more, however LifeProof have thought of that too and that’s where the included headphone adapter comes in.
The headphone adapter screws into the case provides a watertight seal and still enables you to plug in your headphones while the dock extender that can be purchased seperately will allow any 3rd party adapter to connect to your iPhone while keeping your phone LifeProof’d too.
I’ve been using the case for about 3 weeks now and I’ve found no urge to remove my iPhone from my case, in fact the confidence that the case provides allowing me to enjoy my iPhone even more than I used to, if that’s possible! All the buttons are accessible and the built in screen protector works very well, in fact as a former user of an InvisibleScreen I’m impressed with the touch control and feel that I get with the LifeProof screen protector that’s not stuck to the iPhones screen.
In the time that I was using the LifeProof case I have been debating testing the waterproof feature of this case. At first I was reluctant, however after using the device with wet hands in the kitchen and bathroom and also while out in the rain with no detremental affects I decided to take the plunge as I had no reason to doubt the authenticity of LifeProof’s claims.
The videos that LifeProof providers demonstrate the case’s attributes are impressive, however due to my vicinity to a beach I decided that I would have to go a little lower in the production value department, the results can be seen below but are equally as impressive and I look forward to putting my LifeProof to the test further the next time I go on vacation.
Whether you are an outdoor enthusiast, sports person, have young children or are quite simple prone to clumsiness LifeProof is your only option when it comes to iPhone cases, in fact as soon as you wrap you iPhone in one the only question you’ll be asking yourself is why you didn’t do it earlier.
What we like:
- It really is waterproof!
- Slim form
- Maximum protection
- Looks great
- Produces great underwater videos!
What to know:
- May need extender to fit docks
4 Comments on “LifeProof Case Review – iPhone 4S Accessory”
I just got the lifeproof case for me and my wife and we both love it and it also protects our phone fr our 2yr old…LOL
Agreed, I can rest easy when my 2 year old is playing with my iPhone now.