Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

LifeProof Iphone 4S Case??

wraunch said:
For anyone interested I am selling my Lifeproof case for $50+ shipping. Only used it for a few weeks. Decided to change to a simple bumper wrap. Message me for details.
Click to expand...
Let me know if it's black gen 2, I'm looking for one.
 
Do not buy

Please do not buy this product. I just want to protect someone else from the hassle that I had to go through. First, let me start by asking if anyone else thinks it is strange that they have a social media manager- Dusty, but they don't have anyone to answer their phones or ship the product? And, that the same teenagers on their page seem to follow up every bad review with a comment implicating everyone/anything else but the company- IE The post office or even you the user? Bad signs in leading to...Second, my product broke within the first 30 days. Customer service is non existent. After weeks of calling, I never actually got a hold of a living breathing person. Emails were answered with a resolution that never came to fruition. Every time, they would email that a replacement would be mailed out immediately. Never happened. This was a broken cycle. I finally got tired and contacted my good old credit card company. This apparently is a pretty common complaint. Don't buy the case if you can't afford to eat the $80 if something should go wrong. Even if it was a great product- it wasn't, mine broke- the customer service is horrible enough to not waste your money.
 
LifeProof said:
Hi Andrew!

I happened to see that you were considering our case. If you're looking for dust protection you wont be disappointed with our case and our current case is 4/4S compatible!
Click to expand...

BS! Dust and lint get under the screen protector. I've taken the case off to clean it and it still gets in...I don't recommend this case. Just saying.:rolleyes:
 
Let us know if you get a gap between the screen and screen protector. i.e. when typing you hear a tapping because the shield is repeatedly touching and lifting from the screen as you type/touch it. Annoying as hell when typing in a quiet office while at work.
 
I bought one for my wife and for me. Result, ebayed both of them. Didn't like the space between the screen and protector, cause it made typing difficult. Even worse was their customer service took 45 days to respond to my inquiry for an RMA # then they apologized cause it was after 30 days from purchase. Will be my last transaction with them.
 
GobblerChaser said:
I bought one for my wife and for me. Result, ebayed both of them. Didn't like the space between the screen and protector, cause it made typing difficult. Even worse was their customer service took 45 days to respond to my inquiry for an RMA # then they apologized cause it was after 30 days from purchase. Will be my last transaction with them.
Click to expand...

Wow, wait -- was it 30 days past BECAUSE it took them 45 days to respond? If that is truly the case I'd never do business with them myself!
 
complaints?

I see these posts and am a bit confused because my lifeproof case has turned out to be more than I expected. I was expecting to and expected to live with semsitivity issues. I was also ready for a muffeled sound from the ear piece and speaker but have been extremely happy with my case. With protection like this you should expect some sort of trade off and with the exception or 3rd party chargers and headphones needing adapters (Apple products work fine) to use things like sound docks and right angle head phone connections. I know that my case has sold many others to friends, colleagues and aquaintences. If you need protection and water proof (note to otter box Proof not resistant) at that do not shy away. get your case and follw the instructrions that come with it and don't look back. just my 2 cents.

:apple: MBP 17 2009 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 500G
:apple: MBA 13 2011 i5 256G
:apple: iPhone 4S 64G In a Lifeproof case
:apple: iPod Classic 160G
:apple: Time capsule 2010 2TB
 
Read My Review on Amazon.com!

xav8tor said:
Having blown over 200 bucks and hours futzing around with an assortment of case parts to get this thing to work, I am flabbergasted that people who have the refined taste that brings them to purchase Apple products defend Lifeproof's terrible quality control. As for customer service, I hope you have better luck getting them on the phone than I have in the last few weeks (no answer, no way to leave voicemail).

As for the echo/muffled sound, no, it is NOT just a water issue in the top mic port. I have had so many case backs and fronts, I have not done the water test on every case, because I have no intention of swimming with a phone. The echo and muffled sound is caused by the seal. Besides, should a user really have to periodically wrap their lips around the top of their phone and blow? Do you have any idea what it looks like to others nearby? Man that dude really loves Siri!

I say again, if your iPhone itself had the variety of problems across the board that the Lifeproof has, would you still be justifying it? No, you never got the chance, because Apple would NEVER have let a product this fraught with design and QC issues out the door.

PS - If you want to really grasp Lifeproof's true corporate attitude, pay special attention to the CEO's statement that Apple, "in their infinite wisdom," moved the light sensor. If you understand the nuances of English, you'll get what I mean.
Click to expand...

My LifeProof case worked fine for the first week I owned it. I LOVED it and wrote a glowing 5 star review on Amazon... It is sexy, goes into the shirt pocket easily... and even though my hearing was damaged because I was a machine-gunner in Vietnam, I quickly learned to become adept at placing the audio port exactly over my ear so I could hear the party I was talking to... I even accidently dropped my iPhone 4S into a water bowl... No problem.

The problem started after I jumped on a commercial flight from Texas to Savannah, Georgia. When I returned, I had the worst audio distortion, people were hanging up on me, because my audio was so muffled... I thought my iPhone had gone wacky... Who would have suspected that a piece of plastic around a cell phone could cause all these issues. I think by getting on the airliner, and going from 1,500 feet at Dallas/Fort Worth airport to 35,000 feet and then sea-level at Savannah, the change in pressures inflated and then deflated the clear screen on the LifeProof case... then all hell broke loose.

I had to buy a TracFone just so I could communicate with the outside world.
(the story is fully described on my Amazon review, just look for the review marked "most helpful critical review, here is the link http://www.amazon.com/LifeProof-iPh...oof-Carrying/dp/B005E52BGC/ref=cm_cr-mr-title )

I contacted LifeProof after a savvy AT&T rep saw my LifeProof case and told me about the problems with LifeProof (they should change their name to LifeGoof...) As I was on-line with LifeProof and advised her about my problem, she REALLY hacked me off and refused any and all attempts to correct my problem... Now I am on a Mission From God to tell the world about how incompetent LifeProof is in regard to not only customer relations, but their poorly engineered product.

I plan on cutting my LifeProof case in half on my bandsaw and posting a video of the "beheading" on YouTube with an audio narrative of the fiasco. I'm going to try and extract some garbled audio from the iPhone while the LifeProof case in on, to include in my video.

This was my worst, WORST customer experience ever... LifeProof needs to learn that if you want to "brand" your product to customers, you need to follow the example of OUTSTANDING customer service as demonstrated by Apple, Zappos shoes and Amazon.

I have to admit, that they have communicated to me (long after I have pulled my hair out and after buying a competitors product) that they are NOW willing to replace my defective/faulty LifeProof case, but they "missed the bus" by being way-too-late.
 
Last edited:
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
HighAboveTexas said:
My LifeProof case worked fine for the first week I owned it. I LOVED it and wrote a glowing 5 star review on Amazon... It is sexy, goes into the shirt pocket easily... and even though my hearing was damaged because I was a machine-gunner in Vietnam, I quickly learned to become adept at placing the audio port exactly over my ear so I could hear the party I was talking to... I even accidently dropped my iPhone 4S into a water bowl... No problem.

The problem started after I jumped on a commercial flight from Texas to Savannah, Georgia. When I returned, I had the worst audio distortion, people were hanging up on me, because my audio was so muffled... I thought my iPhone had gone wacky... Who would have suspected that a piece of plastic around a cell phone could cause all these issues. I think by getting on the airliner, and going from 1,500 feet at Dallas/Fort Worth airport to 35,000 feet and then sea-level at Savannah, the change in pressures inflated and then deflated the clear screen on the LifeProof case... then all hell broke loose.

I had to buy a TracFone just so I could communicate with the outside world.
(the story is fully described on my Amazon review, just look for the review marked "most helpful critical review, here is the link http://www.amazon.com/LifeProof-iPh...oof-Carrying/dp/B005E52BGC/ref=cm_cr-mr-title )

I contacted LifeProof after a savvy AT&T rep saw my LifeProof case and told me about the problems with LifeProof (they should change their name to LifeGoof...) As I was on-line with LifeProof and advised her about my problem, she REALLY hacked me off and refused any and all attempts to correct my problem... Now I am on a Mission From God to tell the world about how incompetent LifeProof is in regard to not only customer relations, but their poorly engineered product.

I plan on cutting my LifeProof case in half on my bandsaw and posting a video of the "beheading" on YouTube with an audio narrative of the fiasco. I'm going to try and extract some garbled audio from the iPhone while the LifeProof case in on, to include in my video.

This was my worst, WORST customer experience ever... LifeProof needs to learn that if you want to "brand" your product to customers, you need to follow the example of OUTSTANDING customer service as demonstrated by Apple, Zappos shoes and Amazon.

I have to admit, that they have communicated to me (long after I have pulled my hair out and after buying a competitors product) that they are NOW willing to replace my defective/faulty LifeProof case, but they "missed the bus" by being way-too-late.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing. too many stories like this one have steered me away from this case. I LOVE it conceptually... seems to be perfect -- on paper.

Unfortunately, I'm not going to risk the $$
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
I also find it interesting that LifeProof used to be active on the forums here until people started reporting problems... now we never see them.
 
HighAboveTexas said:
My LifeProof case worked fine for the first week I owned it. I LOVED it and wrote a glowing 5 star review on Amazon... It is sexy, goes into the shirt pocket easily... and even though my hearing was damaged because I was a machine-gunner in Vietnam, I quickly learned to become adept at placing the audio port exactly over my ear so I could hear the party I was talking to... I even accidently dropped my iPhone 4S into a water bowl... No problem.

The problem started after I jumped on a commercial flight from Texas to Savannah, Georgia. When I returned, I had the worst audio distortion, people were hanging up on me, because my audio was so muffled... I thought my iPhone had gone wacky... Who would have suspected that a piece of plastic around a cell phone could cause all these issues. I think by getting on the airliner, and going from 1,500 feet at Dallas/Fort Worth airport to 35,000 feet and then sea-level at Savannah, the change in pressures inflated and then deflated the clear screen on the LifeProof case... then all hell broke loose.

I had to buy a TracFone just so I could communicate with the outside world.
(the story is fully described on my Amazon review, just look for the review marked "most helpful critical review, here is the link http://www.amazon.com/LifeProof-iPh...oof-Carrying/dp/B005E52BGC/ref=cm_cr-mr-title )

I contacted LifeProof after a savvy AT&T rep saw my LifeProof case and told me about the problems with LifeProof (they should change their name to LifeGoof...) As I was on-line with LifeProof and advised her about my problem, she REALLY hacked me off and refused any and all attempts to correct my problem... Now I am on a Mission From God to tell the world about how incompetent LifeProof is in regard to not only customer relations, but their poorly engineered product.

I plan on cutting my LifeProof case in half on my bandsaw and posting a video of the "beheading" on YouTube with an audio narrative of the fiasco. I'm going to try and extract some garbled audio from the iPhone while the LifeProof case in on, to include in my video.

This was my worst, WORST customer experience ever... LifeProof needs to learn that if you want to "brand" your product to customers, you need to follow the example of OUTSTANDING customer service as demonstrated by Apple, Zappos shoes and Amazon.

I have to admit, that they have communicated to me (long after I have pulled my hair out and after buying a competitors product) that they are NOW willing to replace my defective/faulty LifeProof case, but they "missed the bus" by being way-too-late.
Click to expand...

I just read your ramblings here and over at amazon. I have to say its very funny.

Few questions - Why didn't u remove lifeproof case? Did u test new phones without the case or as soon as you got them from apple u installed them in to the case? Why would apple replace 4 phones that you sent in without a case if they weren't defective.

Your suggestions are also funny in your amazon review :)
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
In the spirit of keeping all voices represented, I wanted to throw my 2 cents in. By no means do I intend to minimize or discount those who've had negative experiences with the case or customer support. My own experience with both, however, has been very positive. The case and holster function as advertised (the holster is awesome, actually), mic input is not distorted, speaker/speakerphone experience is actually improved, and when they accidentally sent me the wrong mount customer service gave me an RMA number shipped me the correct mount the same day.

The only real niggle that I've experienced is a slight pillowing effect when touching the screen. But for the protection it provides (go anywhere, do anything), I can get used to it.

So it seems experiences are varied. May be QC issues, may be something else.

Pick up a copy from Best Buy so that you can easily take it back if you are worried about risking the $80.
 
kalex said:
i just read your ramblings here and over at amazon. I have to say its very funny.

few questions - why didn't u remove lifeproof case?

i never even suspected a piece of plastic would cause such bizarre problems i experienced... I'd call someone, they sounded fine to me... And they typically said "your cell phone is garbled" but not on every phone call. My suspicions were related to hardware or software with the new iphone 4s. I had a similar problem in avionics i installed in an airplane i built a few years ago, and it was a hardware problem.

did u test new phones without the case or as soon as you got them from apple u installed them in to the case?

yes... Worked great out of the case, installed the 4s back into the lifeproof case, worked great for days at end... Then the garbled audio, feedback echos... (in hindsight, probably going flying in my cessna up to altitudes and back down to 1,800 feet on the ground may have inflated/deflated the lifeproof case because of differences in atmospheric pressures. Gawd, only a geek/sherlock holmes/phd might have had an inkling that the lifeproof case might be prone to air pressure decreases-increases... But, even my eardrums don't pop when i fly my airplane, unless i go up to 10,000 feet and higher (look at this, i really do fly with my iphone and i use the "radar" feature to watch for thunderstorms... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htt8qi_wxla the iphone is incredible with all the apps, especially for a pilot.

why would apple replace 4 phones that you sent in without a case if they weren't defective.

they didn't replace the last one advising the tested it and found it was fine. Actually the first 4s also had a battery that would run down in 4 hours in standby, in addition to the "mystery" audio problems.
I wish lifeproof would have been proactive in communication their known problems to the folks at apple, but they didn't. I actually got a call from an apple customer service manager based in austin, tx two days after the at&t rep saw my issue was "no wonder you're having problems, you have a lifeproof case on your iphone...' when the lady at apple called me, i told her "problem resolved, and it wasn't my iphone 4s." she was just as stunned as i was and said she was grateful and would share the information with the folks at apple...

your suggestions are also funny in your amazon review :)
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
tygrubb said:
Pick up a copy from Best Buy so that you can easily take it back if you are worried about risking the $80.
Click to expand...

This is what I've been thinking of doing so I don't have to deal with their customer service that seems to be hit or miss. Again, I really want to like this case and I think I could get my dad and father in law on board since they seem to NEED something like this... but with the negative reviews... it's hard to commit.
 
Customer service has beefed up significantly in recent months. They got buried in sales when the 4S turned out to fit the same case. I had mine for 7 months now, still waterproof, great screen sensitivity and sound. I wouldn't be without one.
 
I really want to get a couple of these cases for my girlfriend and I, these mixed reviews make me shy away, I don't have a Best Buy locally and I'd be forced to order online.

Seems like online support gets ignored for the most part, and shipping kinda hefty to Canada.
 
Not discounting anyone else's experience, but my LifeProof case is awesome. Both my wife and I both use LifeProof cases on our iphones and they have not let us down yet.
 
I too have had issues with my original LifePrrof case. Tried emailing LifeProof and after not getting a response after three days I called. They immediately resolved the issue and sent me a replacement. A lot of the negative comments seem to be caused by the user. If you want the protection this case offers then accept the few minor trades offs. For me, I love the case. I spend a lot of time outdoors and in water so this case fits me perfectly. I wouldn't suggest people shy away from this case if this is the protection you need. If there is an issue just call them and they'll fix it.
 
I had one for a couple days and couldn't wait to remove and take it back. Typing was dreadful to say the least and the white color is just plain ugly. My friend bought one the same night and he carried his back as well. Texting was slowed down to a crawl. Also it is a great bit longer than the phone itself.
 
I bought one a week ago for my Iphone 4, in spite of all of the negative reviews here. It replaced my Griffin Destroyer, which replaced my Outterbox Defender. As of right now, I love mine. Coming from the Destroyer, it is very sleek and slides in/out of my pants/shirt pocket with ease. Maybe I got lucky, but the screen protector on mine lies flat against the phone with no air pockets, except right over the Home button and sensors at the top. I have absolutely no issues using the touchscreen and it appears to me to be easier to use than it was with the Destroyer.

I wanted a case that completely encased the phone and that didn't have the very gripy silicone rubber on the outside that prevents it from sliding in/out of my pockets. The Lifeproof fits that bill. It's not perfect though. I don't care for the screw in cover on the ear phone jack, so I'll probably just leave it off. There are a few other minor gripes, but overall I'm pleased with mine.
 
Just bought a Lifeproof case for my 4s last night at Best Buy. Did the water test for an hour...no leakage. Installed it on my phone and it looks just fine. There is a little pillowing effect on the touchscreen, but hopefully it will settle in flat. No big deal. Going on a beach vacation for a week and want total protection. If I don't like it after the trip, it'll go back. That's the nice thing about Best Buy. You have 30 days to return it so you have a long test run with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back