Just about everyone who covers consumer electronics is at the CES out in Las Vegas this week. We used to go, until we realized that most of what we saw at the show never made it on the market. So for the past four years, we have stayed home during the "crazy" season :-) When we want to see what is the latest, we just pop over to Gizmodo! It costs a lot less and gives us more time for testing gear that has actually made it on to the market!
Today, we will be reporting on the results of our FirstLook of the OtterBox Armor case for the iPod Touch. This case, like all of the other cases in the Otter line are functional, tough, and great looking.
The front of the case has a crystal clear window. The material is soft enough to allow the user to manipulate the screen, but feels tough enough to hold up to extended use. There is a removable clip on the back which doubles as a cord management system. The case does add some thickness to the iPod, but did we mention this case is part of Otter's Armor series?
The latch to the OtterBox case is on top. As expected, there is an O-ring around the perimeter of the case. On the bottom of the case is the watertight headphone socket.
The lid of the case opens enough to insert the Touch. It was easy to seat the iPod in the case, especially with the headphone plug inside the case as the guide. The overall fit is perfect. The iPod does not move at all when inside the case.
Since this is suppose to be a watertight case, we had to at least dunk it into the water to see if that were any leaks. Yes, we could have done it without the iPod, but what fun would that have been?
We left the iPod under water for about five minutes. During that time we saw no bubbles rising out of or any signs of seepage into the case. The moment of truth came when we reached in an pressed the button to turn the iPod on. No problems.
While the case will protect the iPod if dropped in to water, it clearly does not float. So this case is good for protecting the iPod in rugged and dirty environments, but don't drop it overboard!
Everyone here had full confidence that the OtterBox case would keep the Touch perfectly safe. The OtterBox Armor case is rated to 3 feet deep. However, we think this is a conservative estimate. If you want to see just how deep we can go with this case before water starts seeping in, just send us your iPod Touch and we'll be happy to test it out :-) - Wan Chi Lau (permalink)
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