Lifeproof's iPhone 7 and 7 Plus cases shipping soon (hands-on)
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus may be waterproof, but that hasn't stopped Lifeproof from putting out waterproof cases for them.
- Maggie Award for Best Regularly Featured Web Column/Consumer
Now that the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are waterproof, there wouldn't seem to be as strong a need to put them in a waterproof case. But as Lifeproof, now under the OtterBox umbrella, gets set to ship its next-generation of waterproof cases for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, it's emphasizing its Fre cases' "360-degree protection," which includes a built-in screen protector.
Available now for preorder in a variety of colors, Lifeproof's iPhone 7 and 7 Plus Fre cases cost $90 and $100, respectively. They are scheduled to ship on November 11.
Those prices seem a little elevated considering earlier models once started at $80. But on the plus side, with the headphone port gone, you don't have to worry about that little gasket you had to screw into the case to cover the port (or unscrew it to access the port).
Lifeproof sent me an early sample, and it's interesting to note how the case channels the sound of the iPhone 7's bottom speaker up to the top of the case and also allows for access to the microphone (some people think the iPhone 7 has two speakers on the bottom but it's really a speaker on one side and a microphone on the other).
