OtterBox Reflex Series for iPhone 4 Review
OtterBox make some of the most ultimate cases for Apple mobile devices as far as protection goes. One of the huge annoyances many have with the Defender and Commuter Series is that they are quite bulky, but for those that have spoken about this you have been heard. The Reflex Series is a new line from OtterBox, claiming to be very slim but very protective.
The main exterior is designed out of a ultra solid plastic. And then as you can see from the picture the outlines of the case are made out of rubber. The Reflex currently comes in four colour schemes black on black, pink on black, brown on black and blue on black. The black is where the rubber sections are located on each case. The design is very stylish, I particularly like the rubber lines Reflex incorporates.
To enter your iPhone 4 into the case you simply pull the Reflex apart and slide the iPhone in and then slide the case back together again. This is a great design making your iPhone very easy to take out of the case. I have to share that many cases with the sliding mechanism and plastic prices connecting both parts, begin to bend or even snap. I can safely say that the plastic is of a noteworthy quality and no wear or tear has yet appeared.
Access to the ports and buttons is very straight forward. In the OtterBox fashion the buttons for the sleep/wake and volume rockers are commanded via pressing rubber buttons built into the case. They're placed on top of the real physical ones to keep the phone safe, they feel nice and are responsive. The headphone jack and camera cutouts are plenty big and the dock connector cutout is plenty big for the charge cable, but connections with some bigger accessories are going to have a hard time fitting in here. However you can simply snap the case in half and then you'll be able to plug any 30 pin input in.
The protection of the Reflex is staggering for how thin and light the case is. Big drops onto surfaces such as concrete, the Reflex may be slightly challenged with but it will survive along with the iPhone being fine. Knocks, bumps and mild impacts the Reflex will just brush off it's shoulders. The screen is of course totally exposed and if that concerns you at all you can put an included screen protector on your iPhone 4. But that will only protect against scratches, not heavy impact scenarios. The reason the Reflex is rather staggering in the protection department is all down to the design. It's insides are a bit like a bumper of a car, whereby the cases rubber corners are filled with pockets of air and when dropped they'll absorb impact by bouncing.
Overall the Reflex Series is another fantastic series of cases from the folks at OtterBox. A beautifully functional design and a comfortable hold. Topped off with amazing protection for such a thin and light case.