LifeProof iPhone cases

[mgarbutt]

There isn't too much audio distortion with the life proof, what i usually do it open the charging door of the case when talking on speaker to allow the audio to not be so muffled. I have had the Lifeproof since it first came out and while the company had some problems in the beginning due to high demand and limited production i am still very pleased.

Let me tell you these cases are amazing. Being forgetful as i am i set my phone on the front bumper of my truck and forgot about it. Got to work to realize i didn't have my phone, so I thought for a second, then shear panic took over. Re traced my steps and found it sitting on the road. I ran over it with my 1/2 ton pickup truck and who knows how many other cars ran it over too. Picked up the phone which was faced down, expecting to see my iphone in pieces. To my surprise nothing wrong, the case didn't survive, but the phone did without a single scratch!! So was it worth the $80? You tell me!

[gallerysurfboards]

I ran over it with my 1/2 ton pickup truck... To my surprise nothing wrong

Wow!!! That's impressive.

[darippah]

I've used the case while kitesurfing several times.. Works great but the armband they sell sucks. Almost fell off many tines
So I don't use it anymore

[zaGaffer]

I've used the case while kitesurfing several times.. Works great but the armband they sell sucks. Almost fell off many tines
So I don't use it anymore

This is what I'm looking for, thanks. iPhones back up and recovered ol' boy's dater-pertater (I love SSD), just got to push it to the cloud and then do a factory reset. Down about 16$, don't know if anyone cares, but only buy replacements for the pentalobes off ifixit. The head of one of the phillp's I got off ebay snapped off in the case chassis as I was torquing it down. Last thing I had to do on the phone, took me 5 minutes to back the screw out with a speaker wire enough to pop the rear case. It's not like you can tap a 3.4mm X .6mm screw. All total it was about a 3 beers disassembly and a 2 rum & coke reassembly with a night in between to let the components dry out from an isopropyl scrub.

darippah, 2 questions:
1) Do you think it would fit in a regular sport band ? I've never had a phone come out of one and I use mine at the gym or when running every day. My EVO in an Otterbox is a super tight fit.

2) How well does it take a good wipe out? Slowly driving over it with a truck is different than a 15-20 mph impact. I think kite surfing must be a good test for these thing’s durability.

[darippah]

This is what I'm looking for, thanks. iPhones back up and recovered ol' boy's dater-pertater (I love SSD), just got to push it to the cloud and then do a factory reset. Down about 16$, don't know if anyone cares, but only buy replacements for the pentalobes off ifixit. The head of one of the phillp's I got off ebay snapped off in the case chassis as I was torquing it down. Last thing I had to do on the phone, took me 5 minutes to back the screw out with a speaker wire enough to pop the rear case. It's not like you can tap a 3.4mm X .6mm screw. All total it was about a 3 beers disassembly and a 2 rum & coke reassembly with a night in between to let the components dry out from an isopropyl scrub.

darippah, 2 questions:
1) Do you think it would fit in a regular sport band ? I've never had a phone come out of one and I use mine at the gym or when running every day. My EVO in an Otterbox is a super tight fit.

2) How well does it take a good wipe out? Slowly driving over it with a truck is different than a 15-20 mph impact. I think kite surfing must be a good test for these thing’s durability.

The first half of your post gave me a headache.

It should fit in a sport band made for a bigger phone.

durability- this case isnt meant to resit crushing it with a truck. Its really just a piece of sort of rubbery plastic. that being said It definitely can handle anything the ocean will throw at it- just dont take it scuba diving. Just make sure you have it secured properly!

To clarify my last post, the phone stays in the armband really well. its the armband that falls off from the impact as its only held by thin velcro

[zaGaffer]

The first half of your post gave me a headache.

H3h, h3h, h3h. 7331

Thanks for the advice.

[Swellinfo]

Has anyone noticed a decrease in audio quality or volume using the case? I noticed a huge difference in audio quality when using the speaker phone with the Otterbox. The case really muffled my speech for the person I was talking to. People would always complain they couldn't hear me. I'm just wondering if it's the same for Lifeproof.

Ya, when using speaker phone, sometimes it gets a little muffled... But, its worth it for me... being around water and in the sand a lot.

[zaGaffer]

I took an iPhone 4 protected by a Lifeproof case, out 5 times on Saturday and Sunday. Swell was 2-3', a lil’ 3-4’ mixed in, so pretty mellow. Call it maybe 8-10 hours of water time. I used the Lifeproof armband and H2O Audio Surge Contact headphones.

Long story short - the phone is still dry and functions.

Couple of things I’m not crazy about:
1) Armband – One size does not fit all. Barely fits on my left bicep, doesn’t fit on my right at all, never knew I was that asymmetrical. I’m still skinnin’ it these days, but those days are numbered and using this thing with a wetsuit is out of the question. If your guns are bigger than 15-16” this thing is going to feel like a boa constrictor, might need to lay off the bull shark testosterone injections for a while.

2) H20 earbuds – Not as good an audio quality as Klipsch or Bose, but that’s a fair trade-off. Wire is a pain in the arse to deal with while surfing. Worked as well as my Mack’s silicon earplugs at keeping the water out, same rule as the Mack’s though, put ‘em in dry, leave ‘em alone. Pull it out wet and try to put ‘em back in and the seal isn’t as good.

3) Pictures and video – You pretty much are going to need to pull this thing off the arm mount to do either.

4) Too Much Sh!1 - More crap to keep track of, clean, dry and deal with every time you use it. Surf naked.


Pros:
1) Duck diving, paddling, take offs, pop ups and maneuvers were no problem. If you’re used to running or riding or anything else with a sport band, you will be completely ready for this. Earbuds stayed in and the phone stayed on the armband.

2) I had music. While surfing and it wasn’t blaring from a 1500W PA system on the beach. Wow.

3) Photos – Popped it off the armband and snapped a couple of pics of the sunset in between sets on Saturday. Picture quality is real nice.


Since I’m using an iPhone 4 I rebuilt, I haven’t gotten the ESN switched from my current phone to it and I hate going to the AT&T store. I might not ever and may just continue using this thing as an over-glorified 20$ iPod. So, I have no idea what call quality is like. I’m still pretty leery about the whole thing and not 100% convinced. The case definitely seems like it has a finite life cycle. The seals are silicone rubber, which does wear down over time. I’ve never tried to rebuild a phone with salt water damage, one can only do so much. Irrecoverable loss of data keeps me up at night. I sure as h-e-double hockey stix ain’t gonna take this rig out in any decent sized or super short interval swell, but it’s a pretty nice addition to little, summer surf. If you back up your phone all the time, aren’t worried about losing data and can shell out for a new phone whenever you want, or think voiding warranties, ignoring warning signs and getting past security counter-measures are all part of a good time, well this might be for you. Caveat Emptor