Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I was very happy with this underwater phone housing to take pictures and videos while snorkeling and would recommend it to others for that activity. I spent a lot of time looking at other products and short of spending thousands of dollars on a camera housing for my DSLR, this case did the trick so I could at least bring my iPhone below water with me. Pros: -Clear pictures and video footage (friends thought I used my DSLR) -The audio is good enough to clearly pick up the sound of whales calling, fish eating coral, waves, etc. (Note: There's a loud click when you start and stop the video -- nothing a little editing can't fix but keep in mind that you may have to clip out the beginning and end of your footage so give yourself an extra second or two on either end.) -No water leakage -Lightweight -Easy to use wrist lanyard so you don't lose your phone (the end did fray when I had to get it through the plastic ring but didn't prevent it's use). -Price is very reasonable --You could pay $10 for the plastic bags that hang around your neck, but I'm highly doubtful you'd be able to take any pictures worth framing due to lack of clarity. Cons: -After the casing starts to heat up inside from your phone the touch screen can get very wonky and easily switch from photo to video to pano, etc. no matter how many times you switch it below water. This was very frustrating and I found myself often bringing the phone above the water to switch back to the setting I wanted. However, you may find setting changes the minute you put it back in the water -- eventually, I found it helpful to dip the camera into the water at a vertical angle in order to avoid the water/temp change that causes the phone into thinking I'd swiped horizontally across the screen like when I brought the case back below water at a horizontal angle. (This is only speaking for my iPhone - - don't know how Androids respond.) Though be prepared, once you reach this stage of overheating (around 45 minutes in the water for me), I would recommend setting the phone at whatever you want (photo, video, etc.) and leave it at that. Don't try and then touch the screen to focus on one particular object b/c it can easily disturb the phone and cause it to flip to another setting like video when you just wanted to take a picture. If this keeps happening to you, just take a deep breath and enjoy the scenery sans photos -- not worth it to keep messing around. Just let your phone cool off outside the case when you're back above water/onshore and try again on your next snorkel. To me, I found this overheating and touch screen issue is an expected limitation. I don't know how else you'd design an underwater phone case that uses a touch screen without running into a similar issue. Tips: -Go into general settings and turn the screen sleep mode off... you don't want to be messing with unlocking your phone when you're about to take the best photo of a sea turtle or shark as they swim past. -Wait until the very last minute to put your phone in the case to prevent the case/phone from getting too hot b/c your touch screen will be affected quickly. -Make sure your touch screen and hands are clean when putting it in the case. (ie, don't apply sunscreen and then touch your phone before putting in the case b/c it can possibly decrease the sensitivity of the touch screen b/c the phone case housing now has a coat of sunscreen on it and you can mess up the window you want to take clear pictures through.) -Turn the sound off on your phone BEFORE you put it in the case. Otherwise, all those clicks/snaps can be heard by the fish and it's rather distracting when the main point of snorkeling is just to relax and be attuned to the sights and sounds of the reef and your surroundings. -If you have your video going, just know if you tap on the touch screen to try and focus on an object that "tap" will be a loud thud in the audio. -Bring a phone charging brick b/c you'll quickly drain your battery if you're snorkeling for >1 hour and it's on camera the whole time. You don't want to be caught with a dead phone when out on vacation. -It's important to make sure you protect the housing from sand or hard surfaces when you're not using it so it doesn't get scratched. -Attach the plastic ring that is given to open the housing case to your car keys ring or something you'll have on you at all times-- you don't want to lose it mid-vacation, otherwise, getting the case open with your fingernails or even a paperclip is quite tricky.