If you've seen my review of the regular Urban
Armor Gear case you know that I'm a huge fan
of how rugged it is while still being very
thin and light. I always assumed that the
folio version was the same just with an added
front cover to store a few credit cards. But
when I saw UAG drop this case from the window
of a Porsche going 120mph, I knew I needed
to get my hands on this beast. And given how
rugged it is, I knew my standard 4ft drop
test wasn't going to cut it.
UAG was kind enough to send me this folio
case for review, and although they weren't
able to send me their Porsche 911 Turbo S,
I did manage to construct this crude catapult.
And as far as I know, this is the Internet's
first catapult iPhone case drop test.
I did this catapult test twice while recording
from many different angles including from
the iPhone 6 itself. Hopefully this shows
how confident I am in this cases ability to
withstand drops from much higher than what
you'll encounter in normal daily use.
The corner skid pads definitely did their
job. Two of the corners received some scratches
and the inside corner was slightly scratched
when the case flopped open. Most of this wiped
off though. The rest of the case was mostly
unharmed which is pretty amazing considering
how high it flew. The iPhone was well protected
and still works great.
Now for a closer look at the case. The outside
is a mix of hard polycarbonate and soft rubber
that UAG calls frogskin technology. There's
a front cover that can hold up to three of
your most used cards and it stays closed thanks
to a magnetic latch.
The frogskin technology is a really interesting
material. It almost feels like an animal skin.
It's very grippy but not so grippy that it's
hard to remove from your pocket. It certainly
won't slide around on smooth surfaces. It
does appear to be glued on though so I wonder
how long it will last before the edges start
to peel up.
The inside of the front flap is a smooth suede
like material. On some of the edges you can
see white fuzz or threads that make the case
seem cheap like the material is fraying. I
haven't experienced any durability issues
with it thus far though.
The volume buttons have a small slit under
them that makes them a pleasure to use, but
they're mostly flush with the case which can
make them hard to locate if you're not looking.
The mute switch is easily accessible as you'd
expect. Each of the corners has a durable
skid pad to receive all the impact from drops.
The power button works just as well as the
volume buttons. Across the bottom there are
very generous openings for all your ports.
Instead of leaving big gaps around these ports
UAG fills this area by bringing the material
flush to the phone. This not only looks better
but also helps keep dust and debris out. There's
an adequate cutout for the camera and flash
as well as the typical UAG cutouts for the
iPhone logo and branding. The magnetic flap
is a good mix of strength while still being
easy to use. It naturally flaps closed which
I really appreciated. On the bottom of the
front cover is a cutout for the home button
that wasn't included on earlier versions of
this case. This prevents the front cover from
accidentally pressing the home button when
closed. For the card slot there's a thumb
cutout that helps with removing the cards.
I did find this more time consuming to use
that a normal wallet. Especially since you
have to remove all three cards if you only
need the back card. When sliding the cards
out you definitely have to use the thumb hole
since trying to slide the cards out from the
top causes them to hit the incline of this
slot and get stuck. At the top is a cutout
for the earpiece. This means you can close
the case and still talk on the phone. When
done with a call you can press the power button
to end the call and never have to open the
case. There's lots of play in the hinge for
the front causing it to flop around and seem
a big flimsy. However it's stitched onto the
case very well. I don't see durability being
an issue with this portion of the case. The
floppy hinge also means that the front doesn't
always line up properly for closing. This
was annoying at first but you quickly get
used to it.
One handed use is surprisingly simple and
doesn't require much effort at all. When using
your phone you'll most likely want to fold
the flap around back. I found myself wanting
to flip the magnetic flap backwards to make
it attach and get it out of the way. It would
have been great if UAG would have included
magnets in the cover itself that would cause
it to automatically attach to the back of
the case when folded back.
One of my biggest frustrations with the case
was photography. When in portrait mode the
flap dances around at the bottom of the picture
causing you to either hold the flap down or
all the way open. One handed portrait photography
isn't really doable. When in landscape mode
it's a non issue.
Although the case almost always flops open
when dropped, the magnetic flap keeps it closed
really well in normal daily use. There's a
very generous lip on the case to allow room
for the cards in the front cover. This also
provides more than usual protection for your
iPhone. Even if you drop this case with the
cover open your phone should be well protected.
To remove your phone start from the top corner
by the volume button and work your way down
to the bottom. The inside features a honeycomb
design similar to that of the regular UAG
case. However, the honeycomb wells are deeper
here providing much more shock protection.
You can also see just below the UAG branding
the stitches that I referenced earlier for
the front cover. To insert, simply start with
the volume button side first and snap the
phone in place.
And although the flap doesn't double as a
kick stand, it does help stabilize the phone
when on it's side. This is helpful for timer
photography without a tripod. However, it's
easily tipped over.
The real elephant in the room is the thickness
of this case. When put beside the regular
UAG case it's obvious that this thing is massive.
How else do you explain its ability to survive
a 15-20' fall to concrete when launched from
a catapult. It measures in at 17.5mm thick.
That's 2mm thicker than an Otterbox Defender!
For what it's worth, if you search Google
images for thickest iPhone 6 case, this is
the 10th result.
In the end this is a really durable iPhone
case. And although it's extremely thick it
doesn't seem that way in normal daily use.
I think that's primarily because when using
it you open the front cover removing a lot
of the thickness and then reach down inside
to where the iPhone is. Realistically the
only part that you'll experience is in between
the iPhone and the back. When you look at
it that way it puts it on par with most other
rugged iPhone cases.
I can definitely see why UAG was willing to
drop this from a car going 120mph. If you're
looking for an extremely rugged case with
the ability to hold a few cards as well, then
look no further. The case currently sells
for $30 on Amazon or $40 at UAG's site with
free shipping. They also make a version for
the iPhone 6 Plus as well. If you have any
questions I didn't cover please leave those
in the comments. If you've enjoyed this video
review please give it a thumbs up and consider
subscribing if you haven't done so already.
And as always, thanks for watching.
