Otterbox Commuter Series Review

Last year, we looked at the sleek Impact Series cases from the great folks at Otterbox for the iPhone and Blackberry Curve. Now we’re taking a look at the new Commuter Series for the iPhone 3G and 3GS. OtterBox makes high impact cases known as their “Defender” line to protect your device from just about anything you can throw at it. Combining the durable elements from the Defender line and the sleek looks of the Impact series created the Commuter. Available for $34.95 at www.otterbox.com for a wide variety of smartphones.

Features and Design
The OtterBox Commuter™ Series has three slim, yet sturdy layers of protection. With a slim form factor and smooth outer layer, this case slides easily in and out of a pocket, purse or bag. The package comes with a screen protector, rubber membrane, and rigid plastic shell.

Front of the case

On the left side, there is a cutout for the ringer switch, and cover for the volume rocker buttons. Also notice where the plastic shell wraps around where your hand typically rests

Right side of the case

On the bottom, there are cutouts for the speaker and microphone ports, as well as a flap for the 30-pin dock connector.

On the top, a flap for the 3.5mm headphone jack, and cover for the sleep/wake button.

On the back, a cutout for the camera, and apple logo. Note there is no protection inside these cutouts, so a key or other sharp object could in inadvertently scratch the camera lens, or back of the phone.

Compared to the InCase for the iPhone.  Note, it’s a tad thicker.

Overall
At under $35, the Commuter Series of cases from OtterBox is about half the price of their more expensive Defender line. The overall quality of the case is fantastic, and after 2 weeks (and a couple of drops), it still looks great. As a fan of the mantra “slimmer is better” this case keeps the rugged protective nature of a case, without sacrificing size.

The Cell Phone Junkie Show #194

The Cell Phone Junkie Show #194 1:09:25
Show Notes
Mobile World Congress kicks off this week, forced data plans, and the iPhone app store is 150,000 strong.

iPhone/iPod Touch Application

News
Motorola confirms plans to split
AT&T LTE suppliers announced
AT&T forcing all smartphones onto data plans
Sprint Q4 earnings results
Sprint will waive calls to Haiti
HSPA+ rollout will be on coasts first

Thanks to our sponsor, Netflix

Devices
iPhone users consume up to 5x that of BB users
FCC filings suggest an AT&T Pre in May
New Garmin Asus Nuvifones on Windows and Android
Nokia 5230 Nuron
HTC Incredible spotted
HTC Legend
Google sells 80,000 Nexus One’s in first month
Google now supporting the Nexus over the phone
Google lowers Nexus ETF
Motorola confirms it is working on a phone for Google
myTouch 3G with 3.5mm on T-Mobile
Sony announces Xperia X10mini and X10mini pro
Top selling smartphones in Q4 2009
Samsung Wave – first Bada phone
Samsung i8520 Halo
Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro
Google working on voice translation phone
Sagem intros SIM with Wi-Fi built in
TI announces WiLink combo chip

TCPJ Unlocked

Software
Next Android revision called Gingerbread
Dev team creates Pwnage tool for iPhone 3.1.3
Navigon adds unique features to navigation app
Google announces Buzz, social networking site
webOS 1.4 coming soon?
Swype coming to more phones
Twitter for Blackberry
Skyfire bringing new browser to Android
Motorola revises Droid 2.1 update timeline
Motorola releases timeline on Android 2.1 updates
Windows Phone 7 Series
New Nexus One ROM to fix 3G issues?
My take on the Nexus One and it’s issues
iPhone app store at 150,000
RIM making “big” announcement about BESX
Samsung will expand apps to 50 markets

Questions/Comments
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Thoughts on the Nexus One and the T-Mobile 3G situation

3G…it should be one of those services that works where you need it, and you don’t have to think about it. With my use of the 4 major carrier’s 3G networks over the past few years, I have come to expect certain things from each. Verizon and Sprint seem to have the most robust coverage, while AT&T can easily peg the meter with the fastest speeds. T-Mobile has largely been an afterthought as their 3G network began its rollout in the fall of 2008. Because of this, I haven’t had many opportunities to test out the service, and thus, have kept pretty quiet about it.

Then along comes the Nexus One. Finally, a powerhouse of an Android phone, with AWS (1700 MHz) support for 3G…this must be the phone that T-Mobile has been waiting for! On paper, the Nexus one has a form factor that rivals anything out there, and has specs that make it a leader in what we’ve come to expect out of our smartphones. With a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 512MB of ROM and RAM, Quad-band EDGE with 1700MHz and 2100MHz HSPA+, 3.7 inch AMOLED Capacitive Touch Screen and a 5MP camera…with a flash! Not to mention all of today’s standards such as a 3.5mm headphone jack, industry standard micro-USB jack, microSD card support, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. Really, this phone should be everything the Cell Phone Junkie could ever ask for in early 2010.

Sure there are some small things that may annoy the biggest of power users. The battery life on the device starts out quite poor, leading the user to think that it will only last a few hours on a charge. But then you realize it takes a few days to get up to full capacity, and I ultimately found it to be on par with the iPhone – meaning 14-16 hours before it needs charging. The on screen keyboard isn’t quite as good as the iPhone, but the unique voice transcription may allow you to use different methods to enter your text. Throw in a service like Swype, and the traditional methods of text entry almost feel clunky when using such a stylish device. And though the 3rd party application store isn’t 150,000 strong, I did find 75% of the apps that I use regularly on the iPhone in the Android marketplace, and even a few jems that the iPhone doesn’t have, like the ability to scan a bar code to install an app.

There is however a very large issue that needs immediate attention from HTC, Google and T-Mobile – Radio Issues

Now, it wouldn’t be so bad if the device simply switched back and forth between T-Mobile’s 3G and EDGE networks occasionally, I mean, what can you expect from an 18 month old network? The issue though goes deeper, much deeper. Here are 5 examples of the issues facing the Nexus One and T-Mobile.

3G switching and EDGE
This is what most users are currently talking about, and waiting for a quick fix. An update was rolled out in early February to supposedly address the problem, but most contend that it still remains. The issue is very inconsistent, and quite annoying. Looking at the phone, the 3G signal fades in and out, from full strength to nothing, to EDGE, to 3G, to GPRS and back around. The “bars” on the phone bring a very uneasy feeling to the phone’s owner, and at the very least, should be toned down to not bounce around quite as much. But, bars don’t mean much, and are truly just a graphical interpretation of the phones’ dBm signal strength. Someone clued me in to checking out the Testing menu, which has the information to see the actual signal level. Watching this screen was interesting. The phone itself is susceptible to all sorts of factors that are part of normal use. The position of my hands was one of the biggest.

Radio location issues
In order to create a great looking phone like the Nexus, a certain amount of creative problem solving is needed due to the amount of metal around the phone. If you look at the back of the device, there is a metal band that wraps around the entire face about ¼ of the way from the bottom. The entire area above this band is filled with the battery and camera, so the only area to place the radios is under this band. On the front face of the phone in the same area is the bottom of the capacitive glass screen, and another metal band that houses the trackball. Because of this design, the radios are forced to transmit through this bottom portion of the back. If the user happens to place a hand on the bottom of the phone while talking (like most people do), the signal is quickly degraded, and problems ensue. This video is a good example of this location issue.

Phone call problems
Due to this radio location issue, data is not the only problem a user may encounter. This is a phone after all, and through testing of the T-Mobile service, I found that when on a call, the phone must be held in such a way to not block the bottom, or the signal starts to cut out, even in areas with strong T-Mobile coverage. I also found that even when starting a call on 3G, the vast majority of calls will switch over to EDGE, or even GPRS during the call, negating one of the benefits of having a phone with 3G, simultaneous voice and data.

Poor Wi-Fi signal strength
Further issues can be found in the Wi-Fi implementation. Since the 2.4GHz antenna is also in the bottom section of the phone, it has pretty poor reception when not in the immediate area of your router. I’m not saying that I need to roam hundreds of feet from my router, but when I’m sitting on my couch, and it can’t get a strong wifi signal from my router in the den 30 feet away, I’m not happy.

What about using a signal booster?
While this may not be an issue across the board, the zBoost amplifier I am using in my office does not support the AWS (1700MHz) band. Thus, while I can happily surf on my iPhone via 3G on the 1900MHz network, the Nexus stays stuck on EDGE until I leave the office and walk outside. Hopefully this is isolated to the zBoost, and other amplifiers can assist with the AWS spectrum.

Final Comments
There are rumors that we may see an update to address the still persistent radio issues in the coming days/weeks ahead. However, a device that comes out, directly from Google, certainly should not have these issues. There have been plenty of Android devices out on T-Mobile that have not seen these problems. The T-Mobile G1 and myTouch 3G are both very solid devices, and have no problem taking advantage of the T-Mobile 3G network. At this point, if a fix does come out, it may be enough to save the device and the sales once it hits Verizon. However, if these issues continue to fester, it may be time to move beyond a design that not only looks good, and have Google launch something that is actually reliable in the real world.