Review: OtterBox Defender Series Protective Case for Kindle Fire HD 8.9", Black
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 30, 2013
I received this product today. It's a replacement for the Marware Vibe Standing Case that I returned, which in my opinion was cheap junk. The OtterBox seems to be well made and offers substantial protection. I found the included instructions very easy to follow and had no problems inserting the Kindle into the case and reassembling the case; it took less than five minutes from the time I took it out of the box until everything was assembled. The protective screen seems to be extremely thin but perhaps this was necessary in order to retain the touch features of the Kindle. I have a Zagg Invisible Shield on the Kindle so I'm not particularly worried about it. I haven't noticed any excessive glare, and in fact the glare seems to be reduced, which could be because of working in combination with the Zagg Invisible Shield. Glare is not a problem anyway if one doesn't have the Kindle too close to a lighting source or laying flat on a surface. The OtterBox protective screen seems to enhance the clarity of whatever I am viewing, but that could be wishful thinking on my part or it could be because of the Zagg protective screen I have on the Kindle. I like the exposed on/off and volume buttons and the ability to protect the charging/HDMI ports from dust and moisture. The only negative is the price, which I feel is too much. Nevertheless, if one wants the product one must be willing to pay the price.Edit: I've noticed that where the OtterBox protective screen touches the Kindle screen the areas are darker, creating many dark, splotchy areas, which makes it very distracting when reading books or viewing videos. There is no moisture present and both the Kindle and OtterBox are perfectly dry.I spoke with someone at OtterBox today. She informed me that the splotchy areas of the Kindle screen are due to static electricity and that the problem is not uncommon. The "fix" is to disassemble the OtterBox and rub a fabric softener sheet over the screen on the Kindle and also on the OtterBox screen. The "fix", as applied, lasted for about thirty minutes until the static electricity built up again. Sorry, but I'm returning the OtterBox to Amazon. The splotchy, dark areas of the screen are too distracting to me and OtterBox's "fix" is not a fix at all.