OtterBox Defender Series Case for iPhone 5 - Heavy Duty Protective Phone Cover with Retail Packaging (White/Gray) | Shockproof, Drop Protection for Outdoor, Work & Active Lifestyle

I got this case way before I got my iPhone 5 ( around 2 weeks in advance).Working in a university based setting I noticed that i phones are of 3 types : No scratches, no glass broken cased iPhone (around 40 %), no scratches, no glass broken non cased iPhone (around 20%) and broken/ scratched uncased iPhone (40%)A lot of students and many coworkers have iphones, but a large number of them also have broken screens/ broken back glass (no longer much of a problem with the iPhone 5) and since repair is expensive, none of them bother getting it repaired or changed, and trust me a broken iphone looks just plain ugly.So when I wanted to get a case, I wanted a no compromise, super safe, sturdy case which I could use in every setting : when using public transport, to take a quick peek out of the pocket in adverse weather (rain/snow), accidentally dropping it off my bed/night stand, and this case fits its all !It comes with a rubber (ized plastic?) outer shell, flexible yet sturdy which can be pried off the inner hard shell case. The inner hard shell case itself comes with an inbuilt screen guard and a foam back. There is a cover over the apple logo on the back, but no plastic cover for the camera or the earpiece.The innards of the hard shell are pretty protective enough, its a comfy fit - not too tight, not to loose that the iPhone will get jostled about in it. The back contains a foam thing so that the back is not in direct contact with the hard shell. The sides and front (except the screen) are pretty much unguarded from the plastic, and one should hope for the best.The screen guard is one touchy topic here. The screen guard is such that its stuck to the inner wall of the hard shell. 2 problems - one is that there is a small (very very minute) gap between the screen and the screen guard, which makes typing sort of slightly inaccurate. For example - when you press 's' on the qwerty it tends to type it as 'a' and things like that. Another problem is that the screen guard in general reduces the sensitivity if the iPhone screen, some touches wont get registered on the screen and things like that.I have heard of the Spigen Glas.t being used in conjunction with the Otterbox Defender, but I'm not sure how much it would fit in given that the glas.t is pretty thick by itself. One will also have to pry off the inbuilt screen guard from the otterbox to use this, though I'm not sure if this will compromise the water safety of the screen guard.The case is thick, fat and ugly, it can fit into a baggy jeans pocket, a normal jeans pocket with some effort but don't try fitting it into a tight pocket, coz it will be a pain to get it out. But the size doesn't matter to me, all I wanted was protection - and this case does it well. If you are generally clumsy, or just have a lot of bad luck, then this case is for you. If you want to see the prettiness of the iphone 5 everyday, then this case is not for you. Its a trade off between style and functionality.But it does as is advertised. Also it comes with a holster which can be clicked into position such that it acts as an iPhone stand on your table/desk. This can be pretty useful if you charge it on your work desk like me. I don't use the holster as a holster though because it just looks silly.