Otterbox Commuter vs UAG

Best Review on Urban Armor Gear GLXS3 COMP BLK VP Composite

I've been using the Otterbox Commuter for 4 months. The buttons were stiff and I wanted to get away from the all black and get a little color, but aside from white and black the other Commuter colors were just too feminine for a guy. I had a hard time finding good comparisons for both cases, so now that I have both cases I'll review them here.

1) Buttons - UAG hands down. You can feel the buttons click and the design of the rocker switch and standby button is fantastic. The Commuter buttons look nice, but the material is such a soft rubber that you have to apply tons of pressure and you can't feel the click.

2) Installation - Again UAG is much easier. There's a youtube video showing how to get it off properly without flexing too much which will probably avoid cracks a couple of people mentioned. Material has a little flex so I don't think there will be issues. Getting the Commuter on and off is tougher, but with a little practice takes under a minute. But if you change out your battery often you'll probably want the UAG case. I use an external battery for charging so I only take it off about once a month to clean the phone.

3) Protection - I'm giving the edge to the Commuter here. The lip over the screen covers more of the screen than the UAG and is thicker/softer material. If I had to choose a case for a face down drop it's easily the Commuter. The softer material in the corners of the Commuter would probably be better in a corner drop, but marginally. But that same soft material causes the issue with the buttons. The UAG has more material in the corners but it's harder, which will impart more shock into the phone. The UAG will do a better job than an all TPU case like the Diztronic, but the Commuter is slightly better in my opinion.

4) Cutouts - Great on both phones. I like the USB and headphone covers on the Commuter but some people think they're a nuisance. That's personal preference.

5) Size - UAG is the same width and height as the Commuter. The UAG is about 1mm thinner. However because the corners are thicker than the rest of the case the UAG feels significantly thinner in the hand. The rounded corners of the Commuter are a little nicer for pocketing the phone, but honestly I don't notice much difference in the pocket.

6) Design and Colors - UAG wins here. I would like the company logo to be a bit more muted like the Otterbox. It's a little loud but not obnoxious. Men will definitely prefer the color selections from UAG while women might prefer Otterbox. I love the little rubber feet on the back of the UAG to keep the phone from sliding around on a hard surface like the Commuter will. Both feel about the same with regards to slipping in your hand since they're both hard plastic.

7) Screen protector - Don't buy either for the screen protector. Both of these companies make great cases and garbage protectors. They'd be better off not including it and selling a wet applied/quality protector separately or including it for a few bucks more. With the curved edges on the S3, the wet applied models are the only ones that will completely adhere.

I'd go 4.5 stars for the UAG and 4 for the Commuter. If Otterbox had some more manly color options and the buttons weren't so hard to push I probably never would have bought the UAG case. I'd like to see UAG go with a slightly softer TPU for added protection and a slightly larger lip over the phone, as long as it doesn't affect the buttons.

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