Waterproof iPhone Case Review

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Product Review: LifeProof Waterproof iPhone case.
I have gotten into the habit of always carrying my iPhone with me when out fishing on my kayak. There are several reasons for this. The first is safety. Most of the places along the San Diego coast, where I like to fish, have cell service out to about three miles and sometimes farther. When bad things happen, a cell phone can contact help faster than just about any other communication device.

The other reason I always carry my phone with me is more personal. When I get the chance to go fishing, I am in most cases, still at work. Being self employed, it is very important for me to be able to stay connected, checking phone messages and emails anytime during the workday. I have closed some very significant deals while sitting on a piece of plastic a couple miles off of La Jolla, sometimes even while hooked up.

One day, a couple months ago, I returned from a beautiful day on the water and discovered that the surf at the La Jolla launch had come up quite a bit during the day. I lashed down all my rods and headed in, hoping for the best. Unfortunately, I did not pick the correct time to charge to the beach and was hit from behind by a large wave in about six feet of water. I was tossed from the kayak. Embarrassed, I made my way to shore where my kayak was waiting for me. Fortunately, since I had everything lashed down there was no major loss of gear. I only lost my bait tank net. The good news did not last for very long.

As I sloshed to shore with my waders partly filled with water, I looked down at my iPhone which was hanging around my neck in a, (supposedly), waterproof soft plastic case. I was very upset to see that this case had failed and that my iPhone was washing around in a couple of inches of salt water. Yep, it was dead.

This was an expensive lesson on how electronics and water do not mix very well, so after replacing the phone, I set off on a search for a better waterproof solution. Google searches lead me to a new, San Diego-based company called LifeProof. I learned that this startup had developed a state-of-the-art waterproof case for the iPhone 4. As luck would have it, that is the kind of phone that I have.

Right now, this product is only available online from the company site, (www.lifeproof.com). I have been told that it will soon be sold in some of the major stores that handle electronics products such as Best Buy.
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I picked up one of these cases a couple weeks ago and started to test its capabilities. This product is different from most of the other waterproof phone solutions currently available. Due to its very compact size, it is recommended that this case be used full-time rather than just on those occasions where the phone may be exposed to harmful conditions as is the case for most other waterproof cases. For the last couple of weeks I have been following these recommendations, using my phone in the LifeProof case all the time. This case is so compact and functional that I seldom notice that it is there at all.

Before I get into the review, let me tell you a bit about the product. It is made of a very durable but lightweight plastic. Installing the phone is very easy. The empty case splits in half. The phone sits very snugly inside the case which is then snapped together. The mating edges of the case have some serious gaskets designed to seal out water to a depth of at least six feet. A waterproof screw-in cap covers the headphone jack but an included waterproof jack extension can be installed to allow for headphone use in wet conditions.

The places where sound needs to be easily transferred, such as the microphone and speaker ports are ingeniously covered with Gore-Tex. Gore-Tex allows the sound to escape but keeps moisture from entering. What a great idea.

A unique design feature causes the sound that comes from the phone’s speakers to channel throughout the inside of the case. Through some kind of magic, the case picks up the vibrations from the speakers, amplifies them and turns the entire phone case into a kind of speaker. It is not HI-FI but if you are struggling to hear a phone conversation in a crowd just put any part of the case to your ear and you can hear very clearly.

The front of the LifeProof case has a tough clear covering. This flexible material makes it very easy to use every function on the iPhone touch screen as if the protective layer was not there. This screen cover does not interfere with the iPhone’s proximity sensor the way some of the flexible plastic cases can. While using other waterproof cases, I have experienced this problem which can cause the screen to blank out from time to time. This does not happen with the LifeProof case.

One downside to the screen cover is that this plastic is highly reflective, making it a little hard to see in bright sunlight. Also, it does not appear to me that this clear covering is replicable. After only two week’s use, my unit already has a couple minor scratches. This could become an issue down the road. The folks at LifeProof tell me that replacement front case pieces can be purchased should this ever become a problem.

For those who like to use their phone as a camera, the LifeProof case offers some very good news. The place on the case that covers the camera lense and flash is made of optical quality glass, assuring the best possible images in any weather conditions, even underwater.

One drawback is that the iPhone camera and other touch screen controls will not work while the phone is under water, making it a bit of a challenge to shoot a photo while submerged. This is a limitation of the iPhone itself and has nothing to do with the design of the case. The next version of the iPhone’s operating system, (IOS5) supposedly offers the ability to map one of the volume buttons so that it triggers the camera shutter. There are also some iPhone apps that make it possible to put the camera shutter on a timer. Using these apps you can activate the shutter while above water and then submerge and wait for the shutter to fire. Videos can be also be started while the phone is above water and then continued while the phone is submerged. I have tried this and it works great.

LifeProof markets this case as something that will protect the phone in all environmental conditions. It is supposedly: waterproof, dustproof, snow proof and mud proof. I do not doubt these claims. They also claim that the case will protect the phone from a fall from up to six feet. For those of us who have watched a phone get ruined as it slipped from our hands and shattered on the floor, this is good news.
　
Before putting my new phone at risk, I followed the manufacturer’s recommendations and tested the case to make sure it was waterproof. The recommended procedure is to soak the case for an hour in water. They do not specify how much water so I did the first test in the kitchen sink. It passed with flying colors.

The kitchen sink, however, is not very similar to what we experience out in the ocean so I amped up the testing a bit. For the first test, I took out my phone and added some weights, closed up the case and tossed everything into the shallow end of my pool. The depth there is about four feet. I left the case on the bottom of the pool for three hours.

The LifeProof case easily passed this test. Trying to find the limits of this product, I repeated the test in 7 feet of water for five hours. Even after this much time in the water at a deeper depth than what is specified in the case’s ratings, the inside of the case was bone dry. I tossed the case back in the pool and promptly forgot about it. It was twelve hours later that I went looking for the LifeProof case and discovered it still lying on the bottom of the pool. To my great surprise, the inside of the case was still dry.

I am sure that this case has some time and pressure limits at which point the device will no longer remain water tight. It would be interesting to determine the actual limits of this device. Will it stay waterproof for 30 minutes at 20 feet? I know that many of us would happily grab a mask and fins and dive in to retrieve an expensive phone that was dropped overboard while at a dock or when fishing in shallow water.

For the final test, I wanted to simulate the conditions that we experience when we get tossed into the surf. For this test, I wrapped the case, (without a phone inside) in a sock and threw it in the washing machine for a short, cold water cycle without any detergent. To my surprise, the case survived this test with no damage and no leaks. This thing may be the real deal.

I was recently invited to visit the LifeProof headquarters in San Diego. This is a small but rapidly growing company with a staff of about 18 at the moment. While there I was shown some prototypes of the accessories which will soon be available for this product. Two jumped out at me as things that might be very useful for those of us who spend a lot of time around the water.

They have a rugged floating case in development. This device is a great example of the outside-the-box thinking that apparently goes on at LifeProof. When I was told that they had a floating accessory in the works, I imagined some sort of bulky floating lanyard that would be uncomfortable to wear and get in the way. Their solution was to go a totally different direction. The floating case is basically a highly buoyant foam case that surrounds the LifeProof case. When installed it adds about 1.5 inches to the length and width plus about ½’ to the thickness. The foam offers enough flotation to keep the phone afloat while in the waterproof case. All iPhone functions are still fully accessible. Connection points will be on each corner allowing for a variety of attachment options. Very cool!

They also showed me a type of holder that the LifeProof case snaps into. This holder can be used with several attachments including one for a belt, arm band and the most interesting in my opinion, a bike handle bar mount. While I was there, we discussed another version of this mount that would use a ball and clamp similar to the ones available from Ram or Scotty. Imagine the convenience of having your waterproof iPhone mounted securely to the dashboard of a Jet Ski or in the cockpit of a motor or sailboat.

I have done some field testing of the LifeProof case but will save that report for another day. I want to include my experiences using the iPhone camera under water in the field test report. The release of IOS-5, which will allow the phone’s volume button to be assigned as a camera shutter button, is due any time. I will wait until my phone gains that capability before taking it out on a snorkeling trip.

Suffice it to say that the LifeProof case performed as expected in all the on-the-water testing that I have done so far. I do not expect any problems to pop up as I continue the field testing part of this review.

LifeProof says that their product will protect the phone from just about everything life can throw at it. In a word, the case makes the phone "LifeProof". I don’t know about that, but so far I can say that this thing has certainly proven to be Bob-Proof.

This is a great product. I highly recommend this case to anyone who has an iPhone 4 that is commonly used in places less friendly than the coffee room at work. Its compact design, mil-spec construction and superior usability set the LifeProof case apart from anything else currently available.

This is not the lowest priced waterproof solution on the market. With an MSRP of $69.95 it costs quite a bit more than some of the other high quality waterproof cases out there. On the other hand, if you need a waterproof case that offers full phone and camera functionality along with unbeatable protection in a very small package, the extra $30 may be well worth the investment.

Until next time.

Bob