OtterBox Defender Case for HTC Thunderbolt Smartphone Review

Final thoughts on the OtterBox Defender

The Defender HTC2-TBOLT for the HTC Thunderbolt from OtterBox is a nice case that will protect your $250 investment. The Defender HTC2-TBOLT carries a 1 year warranty and a $49.95 asking price directly from OtterBox. The OtterBox Defender HTC2-TBOLT can be found our shopping engine for $39.95 with free shipping. Its a small price to pay to protect the
$250 investment you just made by getting the HTC Thunderbolt.

I did not have any major issues using the Defender for the HTC Thunderbolt; only real annoyance was the times I didnt want to use the holster and trying to slip the phone into my back pocket. There was a small break-in period, but after a day or so hitting the buttons for the power and volume rocker it was easier than when I first put the case on. It was also easy to open the ports covers for the charge/sync port and headphone jack.

With the screen protector set such that it hovers over the screen there was a small adjustment period on how I used the phone. Soft glancing touches sometimes would not be picked up because I touched the protector, but not hard enough to contact the screen as well. With in a couple minutes of use I had adjusted. Same for texting as well, few messages and I was back to full speed, roughly 140 characters per minute, with no missed characters. After couple weeks of use I did have to take the case off to clean the space between the screen and the protector. If you work in dusty environments this could a major annoyance.

Now the Defender may not suit all tastes, and if you think your Thunderbolt is big by itself then it will seem huge after putting the case on, the case is as thick as a US quarter is wide. Over all the weight did not increase that much to me, but Im also used to carrying the Thunderbolt with the extended battery being installed.

The Thunderbolt is known for its power consumption due to the large screen and the LTE radio. For these reasons most heavy users are rocking the extended battery. Prior to this review I used the extended battery due to the fact some days I know I will not be able to hook my phone to a charger during the day. That being said its pretty much only issue/drawback I can see with the defender, you cant use the extended battery with it. This is not purely a fault of the case, but the phone itself being a power hog, so not totally on the Defenders shoulders. For the last couple weeks I have been using the defender there was only one time where I was in the position of not having access to a charger and I forgot to turn the LTE off. I was able to adjust my habits and find ways to charge during the day, but small price to pay to help protect my phone.

Legit Bottom Line: The Defender HTC2-TBOLT from OtterBox is great protection for your phone; power users may not be interested due to not being able to use the extended battery.