Originally Posted by
Burton
I have an Otterbox myself and just my opinion - that technicien's comments don't make any sense to me.
Humidity is in the air everywhere and in North America at least - the places where you'll find the lowest levels of humidity are indoors. That's just a side effect of creating a heated, sealed environment. It's impossible to totally prevent issues with condensation - and cameras are no different than cellulars. And I can't think of a more appropriate way to minimize condensation issues than by sealing a package indoors.
I'm more of the opinion myself that the problem was caused more by regularly subjecting the cellular to conditions that promoted condensation ( extreme cold / extreme humidity ) rather than by the level of protection.
None of the ports are actually sealed against moisture with or without an Otterbox, and I personally appreciate the shock resistance of the additional case.
Something to think about: If you were keeping the iPhone in an inside pocket - that's a high humidity environment because of perspiration and that's probably all the Ziplock is effectively protecting it from. A ziplock would be a good idea there with or without an Otterbox.
And reception issues due to interference from a small amount of plastic and metal? It takes a lot of steel and concrete to do that. A bit of plastic and silicone really are no promlem for reception. The iPhone case already uses it.
I agree. In fact, after reading the previous post, I called Otterbox technical support and explained to them the concern with trapping condensation inside the phone. The girl I spoke to said that she fields hundreds of calls and complaints each day and has never once heard of that being an issue. She said I was the first person to ever ask about it, and she has never had customers report moisture damage resulting from their use of an Otterbox. She sounded very genuine.
There are lots of things that could have caused corrosion inside the previous posters phone. Without knowing exactly how the phone was used and cared for, its impossible to speculate. And, like you mentioned, the Otterbox case is not air tight. The phone could breath through the speakers, connection ports, etc.
Here is how I look at it... Do I want to risk my phone being damaged from the rare chance that the case is trapping moisture inside, or do I want to risk my phone being damaged by dropping it without the a case? I know one thing is for sure, I'll take my chances with the Otterbox. The odds are astronomically higher that I'll inevitably damage the phone without the protection of a case.
Now, does anyone have any insight on protecting the phone from sweat and other bodily fluids while the phone is mounted on the bike?