For the last 4 months I had/have been living, wandering, and debaucher-ing in the city of sin: Las Vegas, Nevada. A small metropolitan block in the heart of the Mojave desert of Nevada known for its parties, heat, parties and did I mention parties? Right. Anywho, one of the most annoying parts of mixing said partying with said drinking is the carnage; destroyed shoes, clothes, ego’s and of course lost or broken cell phones. Of the aforementioned carnage, the only thing you can really protect fully, even from the best of nights, is your phone - and I am a firm believer that if the Otterbox could withstand my partying, it can easily withstand anything you throw at it. Read on to hear my thoughts on using the Otterbox Commuter for the BlackBerry Bold 9900.

Size and Feel: Those crazy design engineers at Otterbox seriously know what they’re doing, seriously. Device after device, no matter how slim these phones get, Otterbox manages to design right to spec. protecting while maintaining the slim, light form factor of every model case they release; the 9900 is no exception. When I first slapped the commuter on my Bold I was taken aback; the 9900 is already really thin, but to have a protective case on it and not lose that form factor was actually amazing. It covers, contours, protects and provides, period. I actually dropped the phone down a flight of stairs at a club with the commuter on it and not only was the phone intact after that roller coaster, there wasn’t even a scratch on the outer casing.

Usability: As with all Otterbox Commuter systems, the 9900 comes with the rubber skin, the hard plastic exo-skeleton, and the screen protector. While I’ll admit I’ve had a much easier time installing the case with previous BlackBerry’s - namely the 9700 series - this one wasn’t too bad. Otterbox did however fix the headphone/charging area covers to make them easier to access in a hurry, whereas it used to be a mission to use them. One thing I will point out about using these cases, albeit Commuter or Defender (they have an impact case which is simply a heave duty skin) is that you can remove and re-install 100 times and you’ll never find an uber convenient way to do it; it always seems like some sort of force needs to be exerted to get them on properly. Assurance for some, annoyance for others.

Overall: I hold nothing but love for Otterbox and what they do. Simply put my relationship with them has saved me thousands in device repairs/replacements and for that I will be forever grateful. Yes, their products are a tad on the pricey side, but I am a firm believer that you pay for what you get, so in this case - no pun intended - it’s worth every penny.

Buy an Otterbox Commuter case for your BlackBerry Bold 9900 here or read our BlackBerry Bold 9900 review here