Otterbox defender and extended battery. Not truly compatible.

[metz65]

So I have seen many say the defender fits with extended battery, and it does, but I don't recommend it.

While it does fit you can tell while snapping it together that it feels tighter than it does with the stock battery.

I have never had an otterbox break on me till now. The small clips that hold the two pieces together have snapped on the bottom half of the box where the extended battery causes the slight bulge.

I think the added stress and tightness is more than a small plastic clip can stand over time and eventually causes failure.





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[davidnc]

In addition to what you said I would be concerned about the pressure it might put on the screen .

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[dcastillo]

Re: Otterbox defender and extended battery.

thanx for the report, as I was seriously considering it...

need something to protect my phone on trips to the beach.... wanted the defender for the built in screen protector to keep the sand out... and block the ports....

-Danny

 

[DB12088]

Re: Otterbox defender and extended battery.

i had the defender and went through two of them, the screen protector and the case started to seperate on both of the cases

 

[Tweezle]

Re: Otterbox defender and extended battery.

I have the Otterbox Defender case for my GN with the extended battery. I really like how well it protects the phone.

However, the first time I had to do a "battery pull" reboot, several of the clips on the hard shell broke off when I opened it up. Apparently they did not take this battery size into account when they designed this case. They did not specify that it would not work with the larger battery either, which is why I didn't ask that question when I got it.

Plus the holster broke shortly after I started using it. That was not related to the battery size, but it made me very disappointed in the case overall.

Now I'm looking for the best replacement case. Don't want anything bad to happen to my baby!

 

[Hovik818]

Otterbox will do a replacement at no cost. Just make sure you still have the case. They might ask for photos of the case being broken. They provide great customer service.

 

[Tweezle]

Otterbox will do a replacement at no cost. . . . They provide great customer service.

I do not doubt that Otterbox would make good on their great product. It still will not address the issue of fitting the extended battery. Unless they now make such a product and I can upgrade.

I could go back to the stock battery, but I'd give up several hours of Angry Birds

Oops. I mean work.

 

[chubb]

I've been using my defender with the extended battery and haven't had any problems. It fits a tad tighter but have taken it off at least five times now and haven't had anything break. I also don't have the sp on anymore. The one I put on might be thinner. But I would try the warranty and if hey ask tell them it was the stock battery.

 

[davidnc]

(snip).........Plus the holster broke shortly after I started using it. That was not related to the battery size, but it made me very disappointed in the case overall.

Now I'm looking for the best replacement case. Don't want anything bad to happen to my baby!

My holster broke to when I was taking phone out of holster.
I called Otterbox CS and after they pulled up my account ( I ordered off their website this time) They said they would ship me the entire case cause just the holsters were on backorder.
I had also ordered off amazon before for a previous phone and still got a replacement for free to.
I have already received the replacement case and holster.

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[Gherkin Savorus]

I have the Defender with the extended battery. It squeaks and flexes a tad where it ought not to, presumably because the of the extra bulge in the back. I can see where you might have issues doing a battery pull, because the little clips are not that robust. However, I think this would be the case with either the extended or stock batteries. The minor extra stress would, IMHO, create not issues for the clips themselves. I think the simple act of detaching the clips is the risk.

Take it for what it's worth. Had mine since day 1 now, about 4.5 months, and no issues, other than the kickstand clip snapping off (which they were quick to replace - love their customer service).

 

[Mindsunwound]

I want to preface this by stating that my experiences are with the MB860 and MB866 phones and the Otterbox Defender cases for each. I can tell you for a fact that those cases both had design flaws that prevented unfettered access to important ports, and the extended battery back for the MB860 had a similar problem of overtightness.

For me, there were two options that seemed immediately relevant.

1. Remove the foam from the back panel of the Otterbox case.
Pro: Quick and easy extra room.
Con: scratching the crap out of the back of the phone over time.
2. Using a heat gun to soften the heat molded plastic of the hard case and remolding it to fit the new size.
Pro: Everything fits like a boss.
Con: You run the risk of ruining the case entirely if you overheat it.

Just keep in mind when doing phone mods that modding your case is a much less expensive thing to screw up than say cracking your screen because of overstress inside the case. You can get foam padding that has less thickness and more give to replace the Otterbox padding for pretty cheap, or amazon has heat guns in the $20-$30 range, which if you are going to make a habit of modding modern technology, investing in both options is the smart bet.

Oh, and sorry about the necropost.