It’s hard to resist taking a smartphone on the mountain bike trail. With a single device, it’s possible to track your ride, navigate unfamiliar terrain, take photos and videos, and even call for help if you need it. The problem is, smartphones are just too delicate to do anything more than play movies on an airplane or help you find the nearest Starbucks in an unfamiliar part of town. Luckily, Seidio has a line of rugged cases and mounts to prepare your phone for adventures in the great outdoors.
I’ve been testing the Obex Waterproof Case and Holster with bike mount over the last two months, and I’ve found it to offer excellent protection on the trail. The set-up I’m using consists of three parts–the waterproof case, the holster, and the bike mount–so I’ll go over each part individually in my review.
Obex Waterproof Case
The Seidio Obex Waterproof Case is a locking two-sided case that encapsulates your phone in a waterproof cocoon that’s IP68 rated. In the real world, this means your phone should survive continuous submersion in water up to 2 meters deep. It also means the case is dust proof, which can be just as important on the mountain bike trail.
Inserting a phone into the case is easy, though removing the phone from the case can be a bit trickier. I never thought about it much before, but smartphones have a TON of external buttons, ports, and sensors (and logos) that need to be accommodated. Seidio uses a number of rubber button covers and gaskets, many of which are not permanently attached to the case itself, making them easy to lose whenever you remove the phone from its case.
The gaskets also make it difficult to access charging and headphone ports, though clearly that’s part of the price you pay for waterproofing your smartphone. The company does use a patent pending design, which allows sound to travel through the case without distortion (think microphone and speaker). I found distortion wasn’t an issue at all, though the case does muffle phone conversations to a degree.
Overall the case is not overly bulky, and I was still able to fit the encased phone in my pocket without a problem. The screen protector is strong enough to stand up to fairly serious abuse, but the tradeoff is it adds some resistance to touch input. I tested the iPhone 5 case, which features a glass cover over the rear camera. Photos came out as clear as usual without any added blurriness or glare due to the case.
I went on at least one bike ride in steady rain with the Obex Waterproof case and didn’t notice any signs of water intrusion, like fogging or dampness. I wouldn’t purposely dunk the case in water, but I feel pretty confident that if I accidentally dropped my phone, say into a puddle or toilet, it would survive the plunge.
Obex Holster
The Obex Holster can be purchased with the waterproof case in a combo pack ($89 MSRP) or separately if you decide to add it later. By itself, the holster is useful if you like to clip your phone to your belt, but I suspect most people won’t go this route. It is, however, required for use with the bike mount, which I’ll discuss later. The belt clip is removable.
Once your phone is in the waterproof case, it’s super easy to snap into the holster, which holds the phone very securely. There’s a locking latch at the top that can be lifted to take the phone out–perfect for answering those urgent calls when you’re playing hooky out on the trail.
Seidio Bike Mount
With the case in the holster and the belt clip removed, the Obex Holster can be clipped into the Seidio bike mount. This simple contraption doesn’t require any tools to install and it’s fairly low-profile on the bars. Rotate the mount on the bars to adjust the viewing angle. The Obex holster even allows you to adjust the orientation of the phone so you can use it on the bars in either portrait or landscape mode.
Out on the Trail
Out on the trail, the Seidio case / holster / bike mount combo worked as advertised. There was no excessive rattling and I was able to get the phone mounted at just the right angle for viewing maps in the Singletracks app. Using the touchscreen with gloves was a challenge, though probably only slightly more challenging than it would have been without the screen protector. The whole set-up is fairly lightweight, though it does stand out on the bars as a bit of a wind catcher.
Over the last year or so I’ve stopped using a GPS on the trail on all but the longest backcountry rides, so a handlebar mount like this one from Seidio is a great tool. For mapping and speed/distance tracking, there’s no substitute for getting the data in front of you during the ride–that is, until those smartwatch things start to take off.
Seidio offers cases to fit many iPhones and Samsung Galaxy, Nexus, and Blackberry smartphones. Thanks to Seidio for providing the Obex case, holster, and bike mount for review.
