Known for its ultratough cases, Ballistic has finally added a waterproof model to its lineup, the Hydra, which is available in a couple of colors. It has couple of layers to its construction, plus a few gaskets to seal off the headphone and Lightning ports. From my tests, it seems well designed, not too bulky, and it comes with an optional holster. But I'm not sure it beats the LifeProof for the same price ($80).
If it has one drawback, the headphone port is pretty small, so many headphones plugs won't fit inside the hole. Also, you have to bend a piece of rubber every time you access the Lightning and headphone ports, which may lead to that rubber cover cracking over time, although Ballistic's head engineer Fernando Tages says his team tested the Hydra case ports covers to 1,500 open and close cycles (one cycle is opening then closing it). The testing included a water proof test after the 1,500 cycles.
Compared with the LifeProof case, I did find it slightly easier to get the phone out the case. That can be important for someone who doesn't plan on using a waterproof case every day.
Note: The Hydra is scheduled to ship in the next few weeks (July).
Price: $80
See pricing for Ballistic Hydra.