Today I’m going to turn back time a few days and follow up with this case for my Apple Watch.
Description
It’s a plastic bumper case just slightly bigger than the watch is protects. My current one is orange. It has a hard plastic inside part that contacts the watch and a more flexible outside part that bumps into things.
Narrative
I always protect my expensive electronic gear with cases. Sometimes that isn’t enough for the worst types of damage, but for the most part, they seem to help. Especially with watches. I ding them up all the time, whacking them into walls, countertops, whatever my wrist swings into. Usually within a few months my watches have various dings and dents on the bezel and at least one noticeable scratch on the face.
Functionality
Not my Apple Watch, though. This case has protected it and it still looks as good as new, albeit way dirtier. You have to take off the wristband and then put the watch in the case from the back.
Quality
The fit is excellent and it protrudes enough to give it a decent amount of protection.
Reliability
It does not come off. You have to put the wristband back on through the case, but not once has the case even tried to come off.
Durability
The problem is this is my second case. My first one was black and lasted about a year. Then the internal plastic part separated from the external plastic part and kept coming loose and falling off, leaving only a loose rubbery bumper around the watch. I finally said enough is enough and ordered a replacement from OtterBox. Thanks to their generous warranty, I got a “free” replacement, but shipping was half the cost of a new one.
Conclusion
I would expect the original purchase of a protective case to last the lifetime of the watch it protects, but alas, that was not the … er … case (sorry). I’d still buy another one because it is a small price to pay to protect an expensive watch. I might even try gluing mine back together once it comes apart, which I assume it will do like the last one. But time will tell…. (Ugh, another pun, sorry about that.)