OtterBox Armor Series Waterproof Case for Samsung Galaxy S III - Retail Packaging - Arctic

Saves your phone if you drop it alot

I love this case. This is the best rugged case I've ever used. There are several rugged cases out there for the galaxy s3, and most of them are crap. This case is the best. It IS big and WILL make your phone large and heavy. If you are worried about looking cool or trendy this case is not for you. This case IS waterproof and will survive just about anything. If your line of work requires a rugged device, this is your case. It is a much better alternative to buying those stupid ruggedized phones with crappy screens and limited features.Mine has survived many, many drops at a construction site, and has been dunked in water more than a few times. My case now looks like it has been thru world war 2..... twice. I regularly pour soap over it and wash it in the sink with the phone inside. It've never seen a drop of water get past the case.I really like how easy it is to take the phone out of the case. Just flip the clasps and open. Much better than those 3 and 4 piece cases that are like peeling an onion. If you need to pull the battery to reset your phone it's fast and easy to do. I also like how the case adds to the bezel around the phone - makes it much easier to hold than the bare phone with it's tiny bezel.The screen protector works great, and I have not had ANY issues with the sensitivity of the touch screen. The physical buttons work good, although a little hard to press but I prefer that over ones that get pressed by accident when in your pocket. The soft buttons (menu and back) work fine too, and I have fat fingers and I don't have any problem pushing them.The sound quality is reduced due to the case. The back speaker sounds fine and so does the ear speaker. Sometimes people say it's hard to hear me so the mic sensitivity is reduced but I usually use my bluetooth anyway so it's a non-issue for me.All the people who complain about how big and ugly this case is, and how the sound sucks need to understand that this is a small price to pay to have your device protected on this level. You can't make a case this rugged and not sacrifice anything. Personally I'll take reduced sound quality of the mic over a broken phone. And in my line of work it would be broken many times already if it were not for this case. My other option is buying one of those horrible ruggedized phones that don't compare to even the worst smartphone.

This case is sturdy and seems apt at protecting your device in all the ways claimed. However, there are MANY problems with this case.FIRST -- Call clarity is SO BAD that I could not talk on my Samsung Galaxy S3 without taking it out of this case. After several people complained about not being able to understand or hear me, I left myself two voicemails (one with & one without the case) to check and see if call quality is as bad as they claimed. IT WAS!The calls were made back-to-back, in the same quiet room, with the phone held to my left ear by my left arm. With the case ON, it sounded like I was on the other side of a "echo-y" room from the phone with it on speakerphone (it was not). With the case OFF, I came through loud & clear (almost too loud, because I had become accustom to talking loudly into the phone in attempt to be heard).When I first got the case, I checked the sound quality by calling someone and they said they could hear me fine. I believe the problem with sound quality is that the microphone hole gets clogged with lint, etc. The problem is that you cannot adequately CLEAN the microphone hole because of the way it is designed and the fact that it's suppose to be waterproof, which means I didn't want to stab/stick/etc anything in the microphone hole.SECOND -- General usability is horrible. For the protection it provides, I can excuse the bulkiness & added weight. But the case makes it near impossible to use!The buttons are VERY stiff. Keep in mind that I bought this case because I hunt, fish, kayak, hike, etc. & want to take my phone with me and not have to worry about rain, dust, dropping it from a tree stand, etc. So, when I say stiff, I mean STIFF! My wife and mother couldn't even get the buttons to work, it's THAT stiff.While the case does seem apt at keeping water from entering, the case doesn't float (I didn't test this, but video reviewers have shown how it sinks). And there is not a lanyard clip, so you can't hook a flotation device to it or hook it to yourself. That is a big negative for me, because I fish from my kayak and there is always the chance of dropping something like this into the water.The screen protector allows the touchscreen to respond well enough for the device to operate. But visibility is HORRIBLE compared to stick-on screen protectors. The screen protector is attached to the case and of a material that seems easy to scuff. At some angles, there appear to be lines running through the screen protector that make it impossible to see it.Also, the plastic case surrounds the edge of the screen in such a way that it's very difficult to pull down the menu or capture an image of the screen by swiping the screen. It CAN be done, but it's very difficult and always took several tries for me.Let me put it this way: When I removed my Samsung Galaxy S3 from this case in order to make a call, I was amazing at how much different the phone looked, felt, reacted, and operated. It's a given that cases detract from the experience of operating a naked device. But this case detracts too much.THIRD -- Longevity of the case is questionable.I think the screen protector will quickly become too scuff and marked up to even use. And since it's attached to the case in a way that makes the case waterproof, it's not replaceable like typical stick-on protectors.The rubber buttons are already showing wear to the point that I'm afraid they will soon rip and the waterproof/dustproof quality will be lost.VERDICT -- This is a GREAT case for a tablet or someone who wants to take & use their device in some circumstances and is willing to use a headset at all times. HOWEVER, if you want to talk on your phone by using the device as the handset, it will probably have to be removed from the case, which defeats the purpose of a protective case for me & most people, I imagine.

I refuse to "upgrade" my phone until the S6 is released, so I am trying to keep my S3 going as long as I can.The Armor Series from Otterbox is an incredibly durable case. My first Armor Series lasted about one year before the top clip broke; it literally just broke in half. I had also worn scratch marks onto the protective screen with my thumb swiping (I read the news a lot).Yes, it broke. But it protected my phone. I can't tell you the number of times I dropped it, got it wet, or otherwise would have trashed it had I had a normal case on it. I watch Netflix in the shower with it (if you submerge the case or have water sprayed directly onto the speaker cover, it chokes the cover a bit and the sound coming out is greatly diminished).So I tried to claim the warranty through Otterbox on my first Armor Series. Unfortunately, and vendors will not point this out... This case is SO durable that you basically have to take the phone out of the case in order to use the phone function. I'm not kidding. If you talk to someone through this thing it sounds like there is a glass wall between you. They will barely hear you and you will be yelling like an idiot. I've gotten pretty good about getting my out of the case in like two seconds, but having to do this puts you at risk of dropping a very fragile phone in the process. For me this is not a huge problem. I use my phone more like a computer than a phone so it's easier for me to just pop it out when I need to. If you use your phone a lot, this case is not for you. And every time you open and close the clasps, they weaken a bit and eventually will break.Because you cannot actually speak through the case, this series has been discontinued by Otterbox. They will still honour the warranty, but the best they can give you is the Defender series, which I am not fond of.The nice part of it being discontinued is that the price for these has dropped dramatically. I paid about $100 for my original Armor case, and this one was about $45 I believe.For the S4 and S5, they have a newer case which is "life proof" and is better at allowing proper use of the phone. They do not make it for the S3.

Depend on what you research, but this case way too big for me. With that in my pocket i can't put anything else.If you're very unlucky with your phone, and you think you'll drop it from the second stair of a building... well it's your case.The case itself is good, it just doesn't correspond to my needs.Pros:Protect your phone X1000, you'll need to do it by purpose to break your phone when it's inside of it.The screen has really good sensitivity.No Loose, S3 goes perfect inside of itIf you use it to play a lot and you're not using the "phone" itself inside you're cell, well it can be good cause every function works wellCons (for me and people who call me):It makes my S3 too big for me, yet the s3 is already big, no need to get it that big, almost 1/2-3/4 inch bigger in all DimensionHard to speak in, people who i spoke with heard their voice in background repeat after them and the sound was reduce a lot by all the protectionYou have to push hard on power and sound button to make them understand that you're pushing them.Big fingers not easy to reach back and option button.Well that's kind of it, i won'T keep that case but you can trust otterbox to make case of high quality, good material and all. But you need to know what you buy, it's big, it's tough, if you're hard on your phone, go with it, it not, you'll find better for you.

Pros :Rock solid, waterproof. Best protection out there for a Galaxy S3Cons:The power/home buttons are tough to push and the sound/voice is dampened a bit since they're covered.Conlusion:A great case, but there's still some room for improvement.

Extremely tough case, I water proof tested it for about 30 minutes No Leaks! I can hear phone calls perfectly fine, However the other side can't hear me so well, You need to turn off the noise background cancelation on your phone, or open the USB charge port. Buttons are a little stiff to press, and the back button menu button windows are hard to get your finger into if you have fairly big fingers. Cameras front and back are perfectly aliened to the case, Light sensor for the screen is also perfectly aliened. Over all small price for total protection of your phone.

this is a realy nice phone protection, exactly what i wanted , solide like a tank, water proof ,dust proof, chock proof......what do you want more ? i just love it !