Otterbox Commuter Review – iPhone 6

Design – The Otterbox Commuter, could have spent more time at the drawing board

The Otterbox Commuter for the iPhone 6 will double the thickness of your device which seems odd to us given that this is suppose to be a slimmer case for the iPhone 6. On top of that, it will add 1/4 inch around the entire iPhone 6 but it is quite easy to install.

It will add a bit of weight to your iPhone 6 as well, a little more than the Otterbox Symmetry and it handles a bit better as the edges of the Commuter follow the same roundness as the iPhone 6, something doesn’t occur on the Symmetry.

During our test period for the Otterbox Commuter Review, we were appalled at the build quality of the slim iPhone case. The rubber sleeve is fairly loose as it doesn’t even sit on the face of the iPhone. The cutouts for the mic don’t quite align as parts of the headphone jack are exposed. Given that the point of the headphone jack cover is to protect it from debris, why does the cutout expose 1/2 of the headphone jack?

To add to the poor build quality, the plastic backing and the rubber sleeve don’t line up well. It would not be too far fetched to have the top of the Otterbox Commuter get caught on something in your back or pockets.

The nail in the coffin is the screen protector that is included with the Commuter as it doesn’t fit the iPhone’s touch screen too well. The screen protector extends slightly past the rounded edges of your iPhone so it looks like the screen protector is starting to peel back.

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Protection – The Otterbox Commuter provides 2 layers of protection. Most of the time…

According to Otterbox, the Commuter provides two layers of protection for your iPhone 6 except in the areas where there is only one layer. One these areas are the top corners of the iPhone which is, in our opinion, a place where a shattered screen is going to happen.

Because of the poor build quality, the rubber sleeve is going to allow dust and debris to get into the back of the case which over time, will result in the debris scratching your iPhone 6. Its a little ironic isn’t it? The 50 dollar accessory that is going to slowly degrade your $700 dollar iPhone?

The case isn’t drop rated so we’re not going to do a drop test with it but we do see the Otterbox Commuter providing enough protection from day-to-day drops. Just make sure you take it apart and clean out all the debris from the case before using it again.

We will add that the Otterbox Commuter provides decent screen protector as it does extend approx. 1/4 inch past the iPhone’s touchscreen and it does include a screen protector that doesn’t fit that you can install.

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Functionality – The only good thing about the Otterbox Commuter

This is the best part of the Otterbox Commuter as it doesn’t really get in the way of the functionality of your iPhone 6. You can easily access all the hardware functions of the case as well as the Touch ID sensor.

The only thing that we’ll note about the Otterbox Commuter is that you might try to wedge your headphones into your iPhone without prying open the cover. You can’t, we tried.

Even with the high edges, the Otterbox Commuter doesn’t get in the way of viewing or accessing the touchscreen of the iPhone 6, even with the screen protector installed.

As you can tell from our Otterbox Commuter Review, we aren’t impressed with it. Again, take your money and spend it on a different case. If you really want an Otterbox case, check out the Otterbox Symmetry or the Defender.

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