Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

After a few freak out accidental kitchen messes (one with spilling Rotel juice all over my phone, another involving a knocked over bottle of water, and the last straw...a slight coffee spill), I decided to switch my case to something that will repel liquid a bit better than my Otterbox Defender case, which, of course, has holes that liquid likes to delve into, and involved me struggling to take off the case. (Seriously, I had so many issues trying to remove that case when I needed to clean the inside of the screen protector). Needless to say, I loved my Otterbox, (besides the struggle to open the case, and the tiny bits of fluff that managed to get under the screen protector), but I needed something a bit better. So I searched the Internet vastly, and finally came up with two contenders. The Otterbox Preserver, and the Lifeproof case. But after having two friends with Lifeproof cases drop their phones, and one having the case separate after the drop (luckily the phone was fine, but the case did break), and the other having her phone drop and the screen crack, I decided the Otterbox has always treated me right, and went for it. First of all...I'm so very happy I did. The case wasn't the massive feared look of the Defender, but instead it's a sleeker version of it that still feels highly secure and protective. The Preserver has, of course, every nook and cranny covered, with a built in screen protector, covered volume, power, and silent buttons, and the bottom ports consist of two thick rubber areas that pull back to reveal either the audio jack, or the charging port. The rubber over the audio jack has a thicker "plug" on the inside of it that secures into the hole to make sure water doesn't get in. But please note this plug does cover the speaker on that side as well. The other rubberized area has a plug also, but this plug only goes into the actual charging port, and is not inserted to the speaker on that side. These rubberized areas also have small holes to help the sound quality. When both rubberized areas are pulled out you can also see that the inside is covered by the case, and only the left speaker, charging port and audio jack are uncovered for access. The rest of the device is covered by the case, and the speaker on the right does have a square membrane covering it that is supposed to be waterproof. The cutout areas align perfectly with my phone for the camera, front camera, etc. The case itself is comprised of a hard plastic shell for the backing, and the sides and front is made up of a hard, slightly, rubberized material that I know will be good for accidental drops. (I have the primrose color, which is very vibrant, I'd even say neon pink, and the pink areas on the front are the hard rubberized material). I will say the back does feel slippery, but I mostly grab my phone from the sides anyway. However, if you put your cell on its back, there can be some cause for sliding off a surface as it is pretty slippery. The screen protector on the Preserver is awesome! My colors are still rich, I find fingerprints don't adhere that horribly to it, it's easy to wipe off, and the touch screen works perfectly! I also find no "rainbow" or oily effect on the case, and it almost feels like I don't have a screen protector on at all. The touchscreen area, actually works fine with me. I've used it for a solid week with no problems. In fact, I've had an easier time of it than before when I had the hole open for my fingerprint with the Defender case. But I do have small fingers. The only thing I don't like all that much is the high plastic area surrounding the button and sides of the home button. I find that I can't tell how hard I'm pushing down, and instead of just pressing it to see my notifications on the lock screen, it opens to the home screen. I guess that's a good thing, as it seems the fingerprint sensor really works well. The only other negative comment I have is the open ports only allow you to hook up an Apple charger. I have one I love which automatically shuts off when your device is charged, but I can no longer use it unless I pop open the case. The area for the earbuds is the same thing. Don't try to use an L shaped jack as it won't work. Only a straight jack will work, and it has to be the same size as the Apple earbuds or it won't fit. As the instructions say I did do the waterproof test, but I couldn't wait half an hour to make sure there were no leaks, so I ended up leaving it in the water for around ten minutes before greedily grabbing it up. I did have to get my husband to open the case for me (stupid nails), and there were no water droplets in the case. There was one small drop when I popped open the charging port towards the outer side, but it was no biggie since I'm seriously not considering immersing my phone in water if I can help it. And the droplet might have been thrown there by me opening the bottom part in the first place. Putting my phone in was a thing of ease. I just made sure the inside was cleaned of debris, made sure to take off all screen protectors on my phone (front and back), and slipped it inside. The inner back of this case has a wonderful cushion to it, and really makes me feel like my phone is better protected than in a different type of waterproof case. And lastly...the sound quality. I've read so many reviews that said it sucked, and some said it was fine. The first taste I got of it was of my text message coming in, and it was just as loud as before. No issues with sound notifications. Music, same thing, I put it on, and the sound was still fine. It may sound slightly, and I mean very slightly, thin, but for me it was perfectly fine as I normally use earbuds anyway. As for calls......this is where I had the biggest issue. The sound does vibrate. Hate to say it, but it does. I had the other person put their phone(landline) on speaker as well as hold it, just to see, and while we can hear each other perfectly, (there was no muffled sound coming from either me or my caller), when the person spoke it did vibrate, and the sound of it actually hurt my ear. It was kind of loud, and the vibration still has my ear slightly ringing. Perhaps I'll try to turn my volume down, and see if that helps. But all in all, I love my new case! I feel it has everything I was looking for, and works perfectly! The sound could be a lot better, but I normally, again, use my earbuds when I'm home or at work, and normally only have short calls when I'm holding my phone to my ear. I feel my phone has better drop protection in this case than in other waterproof cases, and even with the sound quality, I'm still glad I purchased it! **Update** As I've had my phone for a few weeks now I've already dropped it from about four feet high on concrete, and it simply bounced, with no damage whatsoever. I've also dropped it already about the same height as mentioned on hard tile, and again, no damage at all to my phone. So drop protection is definitely great on the Preserver! I also neglected to mention that the camera works perfectly, as does the flash with this case, and I've had no issues in that regard. The silent switch is another story, and I ultimately don't use it simply because I can't. I don't want to push hard enough to damage the case myself so I leave it alone, and use the do not disturb function or put my volume all the way downs. This case is also very slim and easy to get in and out of your pockets, and I have turned down the volume, and the sound quality is slightly better. It doesn't hurt my ears anymore with heavy vibration. And the last thing...again I have the Primrose color, which is definitely a bright bold neon pink, and one side of my case is starting to show a bit of dirt that will not rub off. The underside of the volume key, the silent knob, and the little knob that juts out under the minus volume key all show signs of wear/dirt, and since the material is a hard rubber, it's basically glued on. It's not horrible by any means, but the sides can get dirty.