Verdict
The OtterBox 9500S offers plenty of enhancements over the old Defender Series, and is likely the toughest protection you’ll find for the Storm, but that extra layer over the screen is enough to for me to not want to use it on a daily basis. Typing is hard enough with two layers of touch navigation to chew through, nevermind three. The slide action is a great way to install your BlackBerry quickly and painlessly – hopefully it’s a feature that’s here to stay. If using a BlackBerry 9530 or 9500 is an absolute necessity for you and you’re working in a rough environment (which I see as being an especially small cross-section), then this is definitely the way to go, but if you’re flexible and can go with a more practical device (like the Bold), you would get more bang for buck out of OtterBox, and if you don’t necessarily need heavy-duty protection, hold out for an Impact Series skin and you’ll get some decent protection without sacrificing functionality. If the OtterBox for the BlackBerry Storm sounds like it’s for you, you can grab it for $44.95 over here.
