Otterbox Commuter 4S

[Jmacman78]

I got my Commuter today, I've been using an SGP Neo Hybrid Matte. I've gotta say I miss the SGP, it feels almost like there is no case on the phone.

Typically I had been using the Commuter on my iPhone 4 because I needed that little added protection but after using the SGP for a while the Commuter feels bulky and kinda cheap. I noticed Otterbox changed the silicone this time, it's more firm than it was which makes it hard to get the plastic and the silicone to line up just right.

I'll have to give it some time and see if I like it. I do like the added protection but I'm not so sure I am a fan of it anymore.

 

[ERIC273]

My Commuter (White silicon/ blue plastic) 's silicon turned green like algae So I Called them and they are sending me free of charge the Teal defender (I asked nicely for the upgrade because I suck at putting on screen protectors.) So I wouldn't recommend buying the WHITE siliconed commuter because it gets dirty extremely easily and turns colors.

 

[Jmacman78]

My Commuter (White silicon/ blue plastic) 's silicon turned green like algae So I Called them and they are sending me free of charge the Teal defender (I asked nicely for the upgrade because I suck at putting on screen protectors.) So I wouldn't recommend buying the WHITE siliconed commuter because it gets dirty extremely easily and turns colors.

Maybe it's something new, their "Color Changing" cases!

 

[Usulsuspct]

Both the wife and I bought new iPhone 4S phones and Otterbox commuter cases so I have the benefit of being able to see/handle two cases. With one case nothing I can do will get it to line up in a way that I dont have gaps between the silicone and the outer shell, the other lines up much easier and only required a little manipulation. I have a support request open with Otterbox and will likely ask for a replacement for one case.

One thing I did have a problem with BOTH cases was what seemed like a punchout issue where edges on each case had remenants of the mold still attached. While not in the same spot, both cases exhibited this issue. I used a nail file to gently grind down the sharp sections.

Having owned Otterbox commuter cases for previous iPhone 3Gs and Blackberry Bold 9700 I can say that these iPhone 4S cases are of lesser quality parts and manufacturing process.

Hopefully a replacement will fix the issue although I am skeptical that it is a bit of pot luck if you get a good set or not.

I am curious if the issue is consistent with a specific color combo...

Case with issues for me is black on black, while the wifes case is blue on white. I will also mention that the white silicone is already discoloring - so we may have to swap that for the darker option.

What I havent tried - which I may right now is trying to mix the two components ie blue on black and blue on black to see if its the silicone or outer shell.....hrm.

 

[Usulsuspct]

Okay so this was bothering me so I grabbed the wifes case and swapped the parts and took some pics of my issues with the Otterbox Commuter for the 4S.

In the first pic you will see where the blue shell is noticeably thicker on the one corner than the black shell. Note this is the same regardless of the inner silicone used.

In the second pic I am showing the other side of the cases...here the thickness issue is reversed, the black shell is noticeably thicker than the blue case.

The third pic shows the blue outer shell thicker than the black on the button side.

In my opinion this is just manufacturing defect...on my old cases there was no difference in thickness regardless of the side of the case. If all edges on the outer shell were of uniform thickness, ideally thin enough that there isnt a noticeable lip the case would be fine. I am going to send these to the rep I have been speaking with at Otterbox and get their take on it.

 

[Jmacman78]

I have had my new Commuter for a couple days now and I do like the case. There are some improvements from the previous version. There are a few things I don't care for as well. Overall it's not as bas as i previously thought.

I put up a quick video on youtube. Unfortunately the quality isn't great.
http://youtu.be/bC_xDO3fwlI

 

[hizzaah]

I have had my new Commuter for a couple days now and I do like the case. There are some improvements from the previous version. There are a few things I don't care for as well. Overall it's not as bas as i previously thought.

I put up a quick video on youtube. Unfortunately the quality isn't great.
http://youtu.be/bC_xDO3fwlI

"that's what she said" lol.. good stuff. I'll have to pick up a new version.

wish they offered a better choice of color options. I'd do black/graphite or black/white but seeing as how i dont want to buy two or three cases, I'll just stick with the classic black/black.

I need to find a screen protector that can stay on with the commuter though. i had a zag on my iP4 and that peeled up after a while. I'm using the commuter from my iPh4 on my iP4S with a wrapsol anti-glare screen protector i picked up from walmart and it's having no problems. this protector is fairly thick too. I dont like the anti-glare, but i needed something on it just in case lol..

 

[ProMed12]

The one I ordered had sharp edges which made it very uncomfortable to hold. That's unacceptable IMO

I've been using the 4S commuter with my black 4S for the last 3 days now. The edges of the hard shell are very sharp. While I think they did tweak the design to perform slightly better by wrapping the hard case around the edges, it sucks.

It sounds like both of you may have received the previous gen Commuter? There are no hard edges anywhere on mine and certainly not any that are sharp or uncomfortable. This was true in my case even before the half day of on/off fiddling it took to get it perfectly settled in.

 

[lazybee]

Mine is most definitely NOT the previous generation. I received a box very clearly marked for 'iPhone 4 and 4S'. It just seems to me that these cases have been made with a very low standard of quality. I quit using mine and I'm going to see about a return.

EDIT: I remembered that a second assurance of this is the newer design of the 4S version with the further reaching hard plastic shell.

 

[ProMed12]

I have had my new Commuter for a couple days now and I do like the case. There are some improvements from the previous version. There are a few things I don't care for as well. Overall it's not as bas as i previously thought.

I put up a quick video on youtube. Unfortunately the quality isn't great.
http://youtu.be/bC_xDO3fwlI

Best Commuter review vid I've seen, nice job!

 

[La-vida227]

It sounds like both of you may have received the previous gen Commuter? There are no hard edges anywhere on mine and certainly not any that are sharp or uncomfortable. This was true in my case even before the half day of on/off fiddling it took to get it perfectly settled in.

Mine is most definitely NOT the previous generation. I received a box very clearly marked for 'iPhone 4 and 4S'. It just seems to me that these cases have been made with a very low standard of quality. I quit using mine and I'm going to see about a return.

+1 Mine had the sticker indicating it was for a 4S

 

[Usulsuspct]

+1 Mine had the sticker indicating it was for a 4S

Same sticker here AND both have the larger camera opening.

So the other 4S Commuter owners do not see the edges as I have shown? That gives me hope that a replacement might be worth a shot.

 

[Jmacman78]

Same sticker here AND both have the larger camera opening.

So the other 4S Commuter owners do not see the edges as I have shown? That gives me hope that a replacement might be worth a shot.

Mine does have a little bit of that edge on the side where the vibrate/silent switch is, but the rest of the case seems to fit pretty well. I did really have to massage it in there so it was seated properly. I would contact Otterbox for a replacement, you could have a manufacturing defect.

 

[Mark98xlt]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

Using the new designed commuter and I loved the old version but had a few issues that would annoy me with the old ones like the bottom silicone piece that ran across the bottom below the button would stretch and they aux in and charge covers would never stay in place!

Seems like they fixed the issues with this revision, I love how they added the top and bottom support to wrap around and they revised the plug covers esp the top is noticeable and the bottom is much snappier!

 

[iprime]

Does this case provide optimum protection for the screen if the phone is dropped face down?

 

[KentuckyHouse]

Does this case provide optimum protection for the screen if the phone is dropped face down?

If you're asking does the Commuter have a built-in screen cover like the Defender...no. But it does have a lip that runs all the way around so you can lay the phone face-down and it keeps the screen off the table.

I use Power Support HD Anti-Glare screen protectors in conjunction with this case and they work great together. The silicon wraps around and sits on top of the edge of the screen, so there's no issue with it causing the screen protector to bubble up.

Hope that helped.

 

[ozshadow]

I have two Otterbox Commuter cases to test on my white 4S.

The first is the iPhone 4 version (a week old). The camera port had to be redesigned for the 4S. No way around this. It affected pics in a negative way.

Today I received my blue & white 4S version in the mail and have a lot of issues with it.

The 4S version re-designed the camera opening, and from the few pics I have taken, it definitely seems to have improved this.

The 4S version does have some drawbacks though that I am not happy with. First, the silicone is much firmer. Not near as supple as the 4 version. The power button is extremely firm. I also have scuffs and dimples where the stuff was injected. It looks like eraser peel.

The plastic has trouble seating into the silicone grooves as well. No matter how much you pull and stretch and massage, it seems one side sits flush, and parts of the other side stick out.

Next, the 4S plug covers are only covers. They do not have extra material that inserts into the headphone and 30 pin connector slot. The covers do not hold near as well without the extra material inserting. The 30 pin cover may get removed if it ceases to hold in the future and they do not re-design.

Third, the hard shell has been re-designed. Mine did not fit as tightly as the 4 version and the new corners were a bit sharp and noticeable. I guess they will wear down or I will remove it and re-scrape. They bite on occasion right now. The corners do look like they will protect better on impact.

The edges of mine also had quite a few sharp spots where it needs the flash trimmed better. It can be uncomfortable to hold.

The bevel on the face of the silicone has been changed, but this is a non-issue for me. Works just fine.

I think they may have been in a hurry on this one.

One thing that helps - Before you put the silicone on. Push pull wad it up. Play with it for a while before you ever put it on the phone.

One GREAT thing to note and a big reason why I will keep it. Mine says: MADE IN THE USA
(prior version was China)

All in all, I like the feel of my wife's Speck Candyshell better, and it has the re-designed camera opening.

 

[leitmotif]

I went to a few stores last night and did notices some cases had larger camera holes. Unfortunately, none of them were suitable to my tastes so I went with an incase slider matte black. I had one of these on my 3GS and was happy and so far switching from theCommuter to the InCase has been a great improvement for my 4S. The Incase doesn't have the larger camera hole so how will this affect my photos?

 

[Usulsuspct]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

So after a bunch of playing with the two cases we have it seems that the issue is not with the outer shell rather the inner silicone shell. It would seem to me that the inner shell is too small. If I force ably stretch te silicon case I can get it to seat properly albeit only temporarily as it eventually returns to its original shape.

I wonder if there is a good way to stretch the inner case?

 

[Cside]

Defective case

The problem is that the commuter case made for the 4s and it works also with the 4 is the new case and has issues. There is to much material on the inner mold which makes it impossible to snap both sides into the mold leaving one side sticking out. I have tested this with three cases from otter box directly and it truly is a defect. The iPhone 4 commuter case works on the 4s and fits perfect. Otter box has great support and always wants to make things right. Customer service can be reached at 855-688-7269. The have excellent customer service.

 

[ProMed12]

There is to much material on the inner mold which makes it impossible to snap both sides into the mold leaving one side sticking out. I have tested this with three cases from otter box directly and it truly is a defect.

I thought it was impossible as well until after a lot of fiddling I finally figured out (like several others in this thread) how to make it work.

 

[KentuckyHouse]

I just wanted to give an update to my situation with the ill-fitting Commuter I received.

I've been emailing back and forth with one of their CSR's for about a week now. I figured out that the problem with the gray silicone that came with the green/gray case was that, on the back of the case (the silicone), where the shell is supposed to sit, the edge was not sharp but had a bit of a roll to it. After letting him know this, he's now shipped another green/gray case out to me, free of charge.

Hopefully this one will work better. But one thing's for sure. Otterbox still has that great customer service that we've all heard about. I'm very impressed.

I'll report back once I have the new case and let you all know if the problem is fixed.

 

[mpossoff]

I noticed on my new version Defender the silicon and/or rubber is made in the USA and the plastic shell is still made in China. The older commuter and defender version silicon are made in China.

Looks like Otterbox changed manufacturing.

 

[Autokon]

I got the Night Blue/Ocean Blue version of the 4S Commuter and absolutely love it. I'm sure I could nit pick some edges & molding issues, but its not a big deal IMO...it works great and I really like the new material used on the inner silicone layer...way less lint attraction, thats for sure.