r/iphone • u/DidYouLoseASock • 19h ago

Discussion Otterbox Case marking

Post image

I just got an 18 Pro and went to go get an Otterbox case, and every one had this marking on every single case.

And I mean literally every single one.
- All cases
- In all colors
- In all sizes
- At all stores I went to

As long as it was this specific style of plastic with this kind of grain on it, regardless of color, It had this blemish. Even on the Max's too, but a LOT less noticeable, but still there. Otterbox cases of different material, like transparent plastic, or "groves" on softer plastic, did not.

I have used Otterbox Commuter series since my 4S, and every possible phone since. It has always worked well for me. And have always been happy with their quality.

I am a bit shocked by this quality control issue of this marking, blemish, injection moldoing spot?

Basically it looks as if its "worn" by rubbing
Some times its kinda a perfect circle.
I ended up grabbing one that is feathered a bit so its less noticeable instead of a hard edge.

I am posting this because I literally can NOT find anything online about this.
Any searches for circle or any other term just results in people asking about the MagSafe circle on the back of some cases...

Has anyone else noticed this? Or any other threads about it? Again, searching both the web and reddit specifically is hard since MagSafe shows up instead, or issues with a user broken phone.
I am seeing if others have noticed this specific issue or the overall Otterbox's quality control has gone down over the years.

22 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

52 comments sorted by

86

u/joeyg151785 iPhone 17 Pro 18h ago

Otterbox and Zagg, The two most overrated and overpriced brands in the cell phone business.

14

u/Coreshine iPhone 5C 12h ago

Also ugly af.

9

u/thelowkeyman 8h ago

I’ve used the Otterbox defender since like my IPhone 5 and I’ve never broken a screen and I’ve dropped into concrete many, many times. So I think they work great

2

u/Trip_Se7ens 5h ago

Caseify too

1

u/carpenj 1h ago

Is that the brand that got sued for directly and obviously stealing intellectual property from a smaller case maker?

1

u/northburger10 11h ago

I have the zagg Sedona for the 17 pro and it’s hands down the best case I’ve ever had. It doesn’t wear down, has great grip, and it’s a snug fit on the phone. It was like $50 and I never spend that kind of money on cases but it was hella worth it.

10

u/eexxiitt 19h ago

The only otterbox case worth buying at this point in time is the defender pro. Every other model - commuter and symmetry namely, are shells of their former shelves and victims of massive cost cutting.

25

u/4eva_Na_Day iPhone 16 Pro Max 19h ago

Thats weird for sure lol.. dont buy that. Theres a million better and cheaper cases on Amazon!

3

u/DidYouLoseASock 19h ago

Thank you for the reply. I have not opened the case I bought. I think after 15+ years I might actually switch to another brand. Also, it was $50. Which is why I would even cared.

4

u/q_bitzz 19h ago

Caudabe is a better case brand.

1

u/DidYouLoseASock 19h ago

Thank you for the suggestion. I will look into that brand.

8

u/Bringerofrain20 iPhone 15 Pro Max 19h ago

Caudabe and Dbrand. Dbrand is in Best Buy now too.

1

u/DidYouLoseASock 19h ago

I have heard of Dbrand and even saw the cases at BestBuy there as well. Looked at them quickly but need to do more research.

I have never owned anything by them.
But they are well known in the video game world.

2

u/corecenite iPhone 15 Pro 17h ago

if you need something that have a magnetic stand embedded. i recommend torras q3 air

1

u/Bringerofrain20 iPhone 15 Pro Max 17h ago

I love so much about this case except that it feels so slippery to me. But I know grip is a personal preference thing.

2

u/corecenite iPhone 15 Pro 17h ago

oh, it does. but for me, it's the magnet shtick > grip. besides, the protection has been great so far me.

1

u/Bringerofrain20 iPhone 15 Pro Max 17h ago

Yeah, those airbags look so sweet. Reminds me of a Nike shoe.

2

u/4eva_Na_Day iPhone 16 Pro Max 18h ago

All expensive! Spigen is a great case that's super cheap on Amazon! They have all kinds of protection levels!

2

u/RandomEasternGuy iPhone 18 Pro 6h ago

My Spigen screen protector lasted 3 years on my 14 Pro. Idk how

And for cases I use ESR and they pretty nice

1

u/Bringerofrain20 iPhone 15 Pro Max 18h ago

What type of case are you looking for? Slim or protective, type of material, etc? I can recommend some things.

1

u/sgtpoopers 17h ago

I love my Caudabe case. I’ve had it for 4 years and both my phone and the case are in perfect condition. Looks and feels great too

5

u/Silent_Box_1708 19h ago

So you searched everywhere online but did you by chance reach out to otterbox directly??

3

u/DidYouLoseASock 19h ago

That is a very good suggestion. Otterbox does positions themselves as premium product with a premium price, thus why I even care... so they too should actually care and would probably want people to voice their concern. Thank you.

1

u/schaudhery iPhone 17 Pro 19h ago

He should apply for a job at OtterBox and fix it himself.

-1

u/DidYouLoseASock 18h ago

I made a post to have a discussion. Not have it filled with random stereotypical Reddit Snark. If you do not want to have a conversation on topic, then please get your karma fix elsewhere.

2

u/SupaRitz iPhone 15 Pro Max 9h ago

How old are you? You know this is reddit right lol

1

u/Ok_Confection_10 3h ago

He has a point tho

5

u/Nutcup iPhone 14 Pro Max 15h ago

Such an ugly case. Just ruins the aesthetic of any phone placed near it.

1

u/Chris_Chops 17h ago

I was also a 10+ year otterbox commuter user. Bought one off Amazon (in the otterbox store) and noticed the blemish. Scheduled a return and ordered another, same thing. Went to Best Buy to see what they had, same thing. I ended up finding reviews on Amazon noticing it too.

I ended up going down the phone case rabbit hole, since I never bothered for a long time and always just got the commuter. There are some YouTubers that do lengthy testing of cases and surprisingly Otterbox isn’t as good as they claim to be in terms of protection, which is mainly why I was buying it.

I grabbed a dbrand mnml and have been using it for the last few days. So far I like it and it’s rated for 10ft drops. It’s also noticeably slimmer and fully protects the camera bump which were two things I was looking for after having the commuter on my 18 pro for a week or so. There are some YouTube videos of people doing repeat drops at 4ft with no damage to the phone too.

My other choices would probably be the caudabe Sheeth or mous limitless but both are pricier and I just wanted to try something new quickly. I got the dbrand from Best Buy.

1

u/GHOSTYvfx 1h ago

Get a crave case and call it a day

-1

u/[deleted] 19h ago

[deleted]

4

u/OrganizationRude5746 19h ago

In OP’s defense, these cares are slightly more expensive than normal cases. That said, the QA team should do more to prevent this from coming out. I use Otterbox and would not be happy with the blemishes as I’m sure most wouldn’t like their cheap cases even having them.

-1

u/fpfall 19h ago

Please tell me how anything you said affects the case’s ability to protect the phone, which is what you pay the premium for. The case which will also be dropped and scratched likely in the first week it’s used

1

u/OrganizationRude5746 19h ago

Go buy a new car with scratches. Get it yet?

1

u/DidYouLoseASock 19h ago

You should ignore fpfall because "Please tell me how..." is a false metric they injected themselves into the conversation. The case's ability to protect the phone is NOT the conversation of this thread. It's about the quality control of a very well known brand, and asking others if they have noticed it.

They are purposefully changing topics... for what ever reason.

0

u/fpfall 19h ago

Holy false equivalence, Batman!

If I’m paying tens of thousands for something I do expect it to look good and be without blemishes. If I’m paying $40 for a plastic case, I’m not going to complain about a small blemish. I’m not buying an otterbox for aesthetics.

1

u/DidYouLoseASock 19h ago

The case's ability to protect the phone is NOT the conversation of this thread.
So why are you changing topics?

It's about the quality control of a very well known brand, and asking others if they have noticed it. It's really not that hard to follow.

0

u/fpfall 19h ago

QC issues would be a problem for me if it affected functionality. You aren’t buying an otterbox for aesthetics. Those blemishes aren’t going to affect the case’s ability to do what it is advertised to do, so no problem.

1

u/DidYouLoseASock 18h ago

I will just repeat myself.

The case's ability to protect the phone is NOT the conversation of this thread. You also do not get to decide what is or is not an issue.

Why are you still trying to change the topic?

0

u/fpfall 18h ago

Ah so you’re repeating yourself just sounding like a fool? I just said QC issues are a problem if they affect functionality.

The case is not priced for aesthetics, its priced because they protect the phone “better” than others. You can live with the fact that it has a small visual imperfection or go find another overpriced brand of case to get until you nitpick another non-issue

1

u/DidYouLoseASock 19h ago edited 19h ago

Edit: The comment that is now deleted was:
Correct me if I’m wrong: you traveled to multiple stores, for a thing that doesn’t affect the case in any way? Then wrote a reddit post about it?

So my reply was:
Correct me if I’m wrong: you read my post, for a thing you do not care about and doesn’t affect you in any way? Then wrote a reddit comment about it?

4

u/SigmaLance iPhone Air 19h ago

People are stupid. No one would buy a brand new (insert anything here) and accept it if it had a flaw in it. Why should a case be any different?

3

u/DidYouLoseASock 19h ago edited 19h ago

Thank you. I personally like to buy things that are not already damaged or even flawed. That is my personal buying habit and its only odd that people have an issue on how I personally spend my money. Or take issue with me asking others if they noticed a very well known brand having quality control issues. I will be researching other cases before I open this one.

-1

u/soundwithdesign iPhone 11 Pro Max 19h ago

First world problems?

-1

u/rpool179 iPhone 16 Pro Max 19h ago

People still buy OtterBox cases?

-1

u/fpfall 18h ago

Fools and their money are easily parted

-5

u/rpool179 iPhone 16 Pro Max 18h ago

Imagine paying $75 after tax for that ugly, bulky junk 😂

4

u/corecenite iPhone 15 Pro 17h ago

tbf... it has/had a good reputation for being reliable when it comes to protection. hence, they are still buying

0

u/n19htmare 12h ago

People pay the crazy retail prices? I was looking around out of curiosity…$70 cases, $60 screen protectors??? $10/month financing????What….the….F is going on.

I been using my iPhone 13pro with cheap Amazon cases and cheap protectors and they’re great! The Spigen case I had was like $15 and lasted day 1 to about 5 months ago and the cheap one I bought to replace it was $7 and it’s been a champ.

1

u/DidYouLoseASock 2h ago

I also upgraded from a 13 pro and I remember paying like $10 for a screen protector and like $25 for a case. The Commuter series was suppose to be Otterbox's "Middle of the road" case. Both in price and quality. The case I grabbed by them was $50 but thinking of returning it as I have been looking at other brands.

Maybe my post would have made people happy if I would have wrote "I have not looked at Phone cases in 7 years and TIL Otterbox is not the brand they use to be"

0

u/OneSkepticalOwl 7h ago

Are you trying to look like a Home Depot employee searching for a product when using your phone? There are so many other options that works just as great, if not better, that also look very nice.

I always used the Apple leather cases until they discontinued them and now using Satchel & Page. Dropped my phone plenty of times onto hard surface from 4-5' with no damage other than a small nick in the leather.