Review: OtterBox Impact for Nokia N8
Score:
83%
Following my review of the comprehensive (but very expensive) OtterBox Commuter case, I thought it only fair to round off 'accessory week' with a look at its vastly cheaper sister case, the Impact. Living up to its name, it provides significant drop protection and is superbly constructed - I think we may have a winner, especially in the value for money stakes.
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The idea behind the OtterBox Commuter case was to meld a polycarbonate outer with a silicone inner - and it worked a treat but rather impeded access to the Nokia N8's microSD and SIM slots - it's simply too much hassle to keep taking the phone in and out of the Commuter.
At under a third the cost, but made by the same people, the Impact follows the traditional silicone sleeve route with one huge difference: rather than being some weedy, stretchy, insubstantial layer, the silicone here is thick, textured and superbly sculpted.
Of course, thicker silicone means a slightly bulkier cased form, but trust me, you won't mind once you get hold of the Impact. It's almost impossible to drop and, should the worst happen, feels like it would protect the N8 from a dozen 1 metre drops from all angles onto concrete. There's intricate webbing inside the case to add impact absorption without adding too much weight. And all the edges and corners are reinforced with extra mouldings. As are the button covers, for camera shutter, volume up/down, power and home.
In each case, the moulding is designed to maintain a sense of feel from your fingers through to the actual buttons and it works rather well. Actual key 'travel' is longer, but once you get used to it, the action is still positive.
On the rear of the Impact there's a tasteful moulded logo and a gap for the N8's camera island - raised just enough that the camera glass isn't exposed to surfaces. And, as with the Commuter case, there's a purpose-designed cutout for the all important N8 digital microphone.
Yes, one slight (very slight) caveat is that there's no microSD access again - but then, like all pure silicone cases, the Impact slips on and off in seconds, so this really isn't an issue.
In summary, it's very hard to fault the OtterBox Impact. Even more than other silicone cases, it bucks the 'thin is in' trend, but with this level of protection the extra bulk is understandable. And at the current Amazon price of £10 or so, it's an absolute shoe-in to take the honours for best overall in-situ case for the Nokia N8.
Steve Litchfield, All About Symbian, 13 April 2011
Reviewed by Steve Litchfield at