Over the past few weeks I’ve taken a look at two Otterbox cases for the Samsung Galaxy S Captivate, the Impact Series and the Commuter Series and today I’ve got another one. The case is the Defender Series of cases and it offers the most protection for the Captivate out of all the cases and it even includes a holster for easily taking your phone with you. The case itself is both silicone and polycarbonate in three pieces and then there’s a nice heavy duty screen protector included as well. The Otterbox Defender Series truly offers the best protection you can get, but it’s a bit on the bulky side, it makes a the svelte form of the Captivate seem a bit bloated and pretty much doubles the size. if you want the best protection though there will be sacrifices to be made. Read on..

The box looks just like the other Otterbox boxes.

Inside you’ll find an insert that holds the case, behind that inside the box is the instructions.

When you take it out of the box the case is already in the included holster.

The holster features a heavy duty spring loaded clip that swivels so you can wear it horizontally or vertically or somewhere in between.

When you take the case out of the holster, inside you’ll find the screen protector which includes cleaning cloth and instructions.

The case itself is all black in color with a silicone outer shell and plastic or polycarbonate inside. The silicone back is textured for grip as well.

I’ll show you the three parts of the casing in the next section, so continue on…

Specifications:

Samsung Captivate Defender Series Case

So you got your new Samsung Captivate and it has opened up your world to so many new possibilities with all of its amazing features. Ensure you get to explore every opportunity by keeping your vital mobile link safe with the OtterBox Defender Series for Samsung Captivate. This tailor-fit, three layer case provides industry-leading protection from drops, scratches, dirt and dust!

About our Defender Series: An innovative three layer design protects your Captivate from bumps, drops, scratches and dust while keeping your phone fresh as new.

Features:
* Three layers of protection
* Complete interaction of the device’s functions
* Ratcheting belt clip holster included

Material:
* High-quality polycarbonate shell
* Durable silicone skin
* Self-adhering clear screen protector

Environmental Protection:
Case provides added protection against bump, shock, drop and dust intrusion. Case is NOT protective against water.

Price: $49.95

So here are the three parts of the case, minus the holster of course. There’s a top, a bottom or back and then the silicone skin that goes around that. The top has cutouts for the speaker and sensors, while the back is cutout for the camera and speaker as well.

The first things you do is drop the phone into the top half, and then clip the bottom to that.

When the parts are locked together there are cut outs for the buttons and ports of course. It does take quite a bit of force to get the case closed, and then more force to get it back apart.

The next step is to slip the silicone cover over the plastic casing, fairly simple to do just a bit of stretching and it’s done. On the side you’ll notice plastic parts sticking out, these are used with the holster to secure it in place. The buttons can be pressed right through the silicone casing.

On the bottom is the hole for the microphone as you might expect.

On the top are covers for both the USB port and the audio port, these just flip up and push back down. The Captivate has a sliding door over the USB port, with the case on it can be a bit difficult to slide the door open, but if you get your finger in there just right it slides easily. The rubber doors can actually be a bit difficult to open, at leas the USB one is, but I like it that way as it will keep dust and dirt out surely.

When everything is put together the case protects the Captivate very well. The back is still open for access to the camera and speaker.

When you get the case on and look at the front, you’ll immediately notice how thick the case is, and there’s a bevel to the bezel around the screen. The Otterbox Defender Series case does add a lot of bulk to the phone and it adds a bit of weight as well. It feels almost twice as heavy, but I don’t think it really is, but it makes about twice as thick.

Here’s a few pictures of it in the holster, in these you can really see the bezel around the screen. There’s a clip on the side that you push to unlock the case from the holster, with practice you can do it with one hand, but it’s touch as it’s strong.

Here you can see how thick the border is around the screen. It actually makes using the phone a bit easier as it stop you from sliding everywhere, you slide your finger just far enough. For scrolling you you just slide your finger right along the bezel. The case snaps into the holster and will stay there, it locks tightly into place. I mentioned earlier you can put the case in the holster with the screen facing out or in. Having the screen facing in of course offers better better protection from accidental bumps while you’re wearing it.

The case will certainly protect the Captivate, there’s no doubt about that. One downside to that is it can be rather difficult to take your phone back out of the case if need be.

Conclusion:
I’ve spent some time with the Defender Series Case for the Captivate and I have to say I think you won’t find any better protection out there today in terms of cases, you might say it’s a bit overkill. Better to be safe than sorry though.

The case does add quite a bit of bulk to the phone, but it’s a trade off as your phone is very protected while in the case.

The holster is a nice touch, you can wear the phone with the display facing out or towards the case for even extra protection.

One gripe I has is that it takes a bit to get the phone out. The Captivate has what I consider a design flaw, the microSD card slot is under the battery cover which means to get it out you’ve got to take the phone out of the case. This isn’t that big of a deal as you can use the USB cable, but I like to swap cards and put things on and take things off as well using my card reader, it just seems faster to me.

Pros:
+Includes holster
+Case offers lots of protection
+Full body protection for the Captivate
+Includes screen protector

Cons:
-Adds a lot of bulk
-Hard to get phone out of case
-Might be considered expensive

Grades:
Overall
Design
Performance

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