Save Your Phone with this Rugged Case

Caroline Morse Teel is the Managing Editor for SmarterTravel Media. Follow her on Instagram @TravelWithCaroline.

Caroline joined Boston-based SmarterTravel in 2011 after living in Ireland, London, and Manhattan. She's traveled to all seven continents, jumped out of planes, and bungeed off bridges in the pursuit of a good story. She loves exploring off-the-beaten path destinations, anything outdoorsy, and all things adventure.

Her stories have also appeared online at USA Today, Business Insider, Huffington Post, Yahoo, Boston.com, TripAdvisor, Buzzfeed, Jetsetter, Oyster, Airfarewatchdog, and others.

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This rugged case protects your phone and other gadgets from drops, dust, and scratches. It’s available for most types of smartphones and tablets.

Price and Where to Buy: The Defender series starts at $39.95 on OtterBox’s website or $29.95 on Amazon.

How It Rates:

Usefulness: 10/10. This is serious protection for your phone, and will shield it from big drops, dirt, and scratches.
Value: 9/10. Depending on which model you buy, the prices for this level of protection are pretty reasonable.
Durability: 10/10. OtterBox cases go through hundreds of hours of testing to make sure that they’ll be able to shield your phone from anything you do to it.
Cool Factor: 8/10. The Defender adds some bulk to your gadget, but at least they come in fun colors (and you can even customize your own case).

Final Verdict: If you’re hard on your phone, the Defender cases should be an easy decision.

Caroline is always on the lookout for cool new travel gear. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Editor’s Note: Reviews are based on usefulness, portability, durability, value, and “cool factor.” Some review products are sent to us free of charge and with no incentive to offer a favorable review. We offer our unbiased opinions, positive and negative, and will never accept compensation to review a product. If you have any questions or comments concerning our reviews, or would like to suggest a product for review, please email us at editor@smartertravel.com.

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