Seidio Obex Review – iPhone 6

Design – Thinner than most tough cases (but just as tough!)

In terms of design, the Obex is a decently sized waterproof iPhone case. It’s thinner than the Otterbox Defender and Ballistic Hardcore but not as thin as the Lifeproof Fre. Surprisingly, it’s really not that much bigger than a Speck Candyshell.

Installing this case is fairly simple as it is your standard “snap 2 pieces of the case together” but during one of our numerous installs and uninstalls, we lost the plastic piece that fits in the mute switch so now we can’t change the mute status with the case. Just as a side note, as we were trying to find marketing jargon to make fun of we discovered that the name Obex is actually the Latin word for Barrier (now you know!)

In terms of build quality, the case does fit together fairly well but from our drop tests, the Obex does get mangled. The last edge drop that we did left a pretty sizeable dent on the front of the case. Other than that, the case does feel quite nice as the rubber edges helps keep the iPhone in your hand and the two rubber strips on the back prevent it from sliding a bit.

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Protection – Not as tough as your average waterproof iPhone case

In terms of protection, we’re not too thrilled with this case. It is waterproof and shockproof up to 6 meters but from our drop test, we discovered that the case has a tendency to split. The iPhone didn’t come flying out of the case but if the case was to land on a dock and fall into a lake or ocean, your iPhone is going to be a goner.

If you’re taking the Obex into the ocean or a lake, we’d recommend that you attach a wrist-strap to the Obex. The installation point for the wrist-strap is in an odd place as you attach it to the two holes right below where the speaker is suppose to be.

The screen protector on the case is fairly thick but there isn’t much of an edge between the front of the case and the edges. The case fits fairly tightly together so we would recommend removing any other screen protectors before using the Obex.

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Functionality – Access to the iPhone is lacking but the screen accessibility is really nice

In terms of accessing your iPhone inside the case, we came across a few things that were a little annoying. First of all, the Obex really only allows you to use Apple only cables. The lightning port isn’t large enough for larger cables and that’s the same for the headphone jack cutout. On the flip side, Seidio does include a headphone jack extension that you can use that will also keep the case waterproof as you have to lock the extension into the case.

Next up is the sound and talking thorough the case isn’t a problem but you might notice a slight muting of sound coming from the earpiece speaker. Now, the sound coming out of the case is generally muted but we do have to give props to Seidio for doing something slightly different.

For most cases, the sound comes out of the bottom of the iPhone. With the Obex, sound is diverted to the back of the case and comes out this small grill. It looks like they tried to do an amplification chamber of some sort but the sound isn’t louder at all.

We didn’t have any issues accessing the Touch ID sensor or using the Camera/Flash during our test period for this Seidio Obex review. No noticeable signal attenuation either.

In terms of accessing your iPhone’s screen, the only thing we will note is that there is a slight gap between the touchscreen and screen protector but you have to go out of your way to look for it. The edges, because of their low height, allow you to get to everything on your iPhone easily.

In terms of screen viewability, the Obex is average though we will note the screen protector that Seidio uses has a grid of dots and one of the viewers mentioned that these dots left a mark on their Android phone but we’ve only read of 1 instance of that happening. Glare is kept to a minimum, rain bowing does occasionally occur which is annoying. Fingerprints aren’t any worse when compared to a naked iPhone screen which is also nice. And if its too grimy, just gave your phone a good rinse.
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