When I first received OtterBox’s iPhone 3G Impact Series Silicone Case, I had serious doubts. I know that silicone cases are immensely popular because they tend to be slimmer than hard cases and offer more variety in terms of colors and styles, but in my book, all the cool style advantages of the silicone cases are erased by their average $29.95 price tag. Couple that with the fact that they’re usually just not that rugged and begin to lose their form fitting shape after a few months, if not weeks, and I just don’t think it’s a great product solution…until now.

OtterBox has managed to perfect what other companies have simply managed to mass-produce. Sure, this is still a silicone case, so my pockets occasionally get flipped inside out when I try to remove my phone, especially since the Impact Series seems to be a little thicker than most silicone cases, but other than that, they got everything right. Even after a few weeks of tossing my phone around, I haven’t discovered any new scratches or evidence of damage to my phone. Heck, my phone even suffered the highest fall of its life from about 5 feet while sporting the Impact Series case and survived without missing a beat. I had no doubt that the more protective, and probably overkill for most consumers, Defender Series case would protect the iPhone from such perilous times, but a mere silicone case? I’m impressed.

And I expect that the reason my phone has fared so well wearing the Impact Series, or perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it the “Anti-Impact Series,” is because it is a little thicker than most other silicone cases. The top, bottom, and back of the phone all feature slightly thicker sections of rubber which I suspect provides better shock protection than your normal run-of-the-mill piece of junk – excuse me, silicone case. These “insulated” areas are also smooth, while the slimmer regions feature a nice texture to the rubber, which makes it easier to grip the phone in your hand, as the texture is ideally positioned for your thumb and fingers to grab onto. My favorite aspect of the silicone case over the hard cases that I’ve tried in the past is that I can stick it on the dashboard without it flying all over the place every time I go around a corner a couple of miles an hour faster than Uncle Sam suggests (which does happen every once in a while – after all, I also test products like radar detectors).

Better yet, the Impact Series has none of the major drawbacks that seem to plague its big brother, the Defender Series: sound quality is unaffected by the case, I can use my car charger, I can type on the iPhone without any problems, and it’s not the size of the Star Trek Enterprise. But since my job is to be a professional nitpicker, and I get in trouble if I don’t find something to complain about, here’s what I’ve come up with: My camera and apple logo aren’t perfectly centered in their respective cutouts on the back, but since the camera still works without any interference, who cares? My second complaint isn’t much more significant than the first: the only colors available right now are black and white. But given that I’ve been using the white case for almost a month and it’s still not dirty (no, I’ve never cleaned it) and it hasn’t begun to lose it’s shape at all, once again, I have to ask, who cares?

Conclusion

Ultimately, the Impact Case may be the Corvette of the iPhone case world. It may not have the same variety and exotic styling that one might want, but it delivers tremendous bang for the buck. For $19.95, $10 under the cost of most of the silicone cases found in an Apple store, you can get a really protective silicone case that comes bundled with a clear protective film for your iPhone’s screen, a cleaning cloth, and an installation card (just in case you live in 1473 and don’t own a credit card or a similar piece of plastic). My bet is that the OtterBox Impact Series Case is a great fit for 90% of iPhone 3G users out there. And for the other 10% of you that need something even more protective, there’s always the ungainly, but effective, Defender Series.

Specifications

Price $19.95