We bought this for our son's phone because he is so rough on things. It has went through a lot. From being dropped from the top of the stairs to dropping it on concrete floors at work, It still is intact and protected his phone.

I bought my daughter an OtterBox case for her Samsung Galaxy 3 amid her great protestations. She felt it wasn't cool enough, and that's true - the deal we got upon signing a new cell contract was for the basic black Defender box. Not very cool at all.

HOWEVER, the number of times she has dropped her phone on every possible surface has convinced her that the OtterBox is a fantastic choice. While all of her friends have purchased brand name or glittery generic cases, hers is the only phone without a cracked screen or loss of function due to dropping. She received a new case this Christmas in a more interesting colour and is very happy about that.

Her experience convinced me to purchase an OtterBox for my iPhone and I am also very happy with it. I had a Blackberry before this which was darn near indestructible, and now with the OtterBox my iPhone is in even better hands.

The only negative is that OtterBox is more expensive than the vanity cases, but it more than makes up for it in quality. It's also a little clunkier due to the stronger construction, but this is not a deterrent for me at all. Big fan!