Modular phones are all the rage these days, so it’s no surprise that OtterBox has made a modular case system that lets you swap out accessories on the fly. It’s called the Universe, and it’s pretty awesome! Here’s what we know so far.
At its most basic level, the Universe is a normal case: it protects your phone from drops and knocks, with a tough TPU and polycarbonate construction and a lip around the screen. The case meets Otterbox’s own ‘Certified Drop+ Protection’ standards, so it’s been torture-tested for hours in the lab and should take a beating without much risk to the phone inside.
On the back, things get more interesting – there are two slots here, allowing you to slide in a compatible accessory. Once in place, these accessories can connect to your phone via Bluetooth or the Lightning connector; there are no electronics built into the case, so there’s nothing to go wrong or require constant charging – nice.
So what sort of accessories can you put into these two slots? Well, OtterBox is a big enough name that they’ve actually got a lot of strong options already, from other established names. You can pick up an Olloclip lens module to upgrade your camera, a Sandisk drive to add more storage, or a Square card reader to accept mobile payments.
There are also battery packs, a Wi-Fi booster and a tripod, a speaker, a car holder; the list goes on and on, with many more accessories promised soon. All the accessories are designed to be fairly rugged, so if you drop your case your add-ons should still be OK.
The idea behind the Universe seems solid; you can get the uncompromised design of an iPhone or Galaxy S7, then add accessories to the outside when you need them, rather than deal with the awkward design of the LG G5, where you have to turn off your phone every time you want to put a new module in.
The Universe is based on a slim Symmetry case for now, but it could be added to more protective OtterBox cases like the Defender or Commuter in the future. So far, Otterbox have only announced Universe cases for the iPhone 6, 6S, 6 Plus and 6S Plus, but more phone models should be added down the line.
We’re looking to get the Universe case in stock, and we’ll let you know once we do.
It seems like a heck of a good idea to me; what do you guys think? Let us know in the comments below!