Thursday, May 12, 2016

Urban Armor Gear for the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge


I have always been a big fan of the Urban Armor Gear case line. It is always hard to find a fault with this line of cases. Let's see how the S7 Edge case holds up.


This case is not like your other Urban Armor Gear cases in the sense that it just protects. When Samsung came out with the S7 (flat version), UAG just had to find the right dimensions and put it together. With the S7 Edge though UAG had to really find a balance between protection and usefulness.

The Edge of the S7 Edge is both very useful and a big hindrance. Let's see how UAG designed the case to work in favor of the S7 Edge.

Firstly, let's talk about the design. The design is quite on par with the other designs - you have that modern design that really looks like it's very industrial and sturdy.

It features very well reinforced black rubber in the corners and hard plastic at the back.

As usual, the UAG line comes in a multitude of colors (sadly, far less than the iPhone lineup has). To check them out, click here. In this review I have the Magma colored case which is actually very nice. Over the years I always got the ICE color because it would really shine through devices which could change their back plate or color with a skin. I really felt like this time I wanted to keep my S7 Edge with 1 color and just get a colored case. Magma is certainly eye catching, isn't it? I also have a blue case on the way that my partner really wanted, so when it arrives next week I'll update the post with comparative pictures.

Going back to the review we can see that there is also a thick and raised rubber that surrounds the camera. I'm quite a shutter bug if any of you visit my other shootouts :
S7 vs G5 part 1
S7 vs G5 part 2
S7 vs G4

As I was saying, the rubber around the camera and LED flash has 0 effect or warping on the camera which is great news. A lot of other cases tend to move those borders around the camera and flash and when you fire up the flash it leaves some ghosting or artificial whitening to the image. Luckily this doesn't happen. Also, as you can see in the image above, there is an shallow widening of the rubber to accommodate a finger for those of us that actually use the finger heart rate monitor reader. Good stuff. That's some attention to detail that the Supcase didn't take into account, having to do some finger gymnastics to get a good read.

 While there is added weight and width to the device, it's rather minimal.
The S7 E weighs 157 grams without a case, and with the UAG case it goes up to 192 grams, which isn't much. The Supcase went up to 213 grams.

 As you can see in this image the entire edge is very readily available. You lose absolutely no functionality while using this case.

One of the good points that I was talking about is that this case adds a little thickness to the sides. When I use the S7 Edge without using a case, I often touch the sides of the screens by accident and it opens apps or does functions that I didn't want it to do. With a case that adds a little thickness to its sides you avoid a lot of these issues. Now if you compare this case to other cases, you still have that awesome feeling of the infinity display in your hand - in other cases it feels a little more like a case with the sides, but this removes from the beauty of having a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge with those gorgeous edges! The UAG case keeps those edges nice and clean. Galaxy
If you take a look at the front of the case you can see that there are lips on the top and bottom to raise the case from a table if you place it on top. This is a must have for any case with such an expensive case and device! 

I have a few other cases that cost practically nothing that would protect my device from absolutely nothing other than a casual scratch that would have been caused by entering or exiting my jeans - but if you often place your phone face down on the table you'd better have a case that raises the screen off the table! Also, the added rubber keeps it from sliding off the table (fantastic for airplanes and tray tables on trains or buses). 

These rubber pads are, of course, also present on the back.

 Ports are open and exposed, but this is a waterproof phone, so it doesn't matter. Speaker phone and microphones don't get muffled. Port sizes are also very generous so you can use basically any micro USB cable and headphones. This compatibility issue is something of the past. 

OK, any bad things about this case? Of course! There are always drawbacks. If you drop your phone with this case on any corner or on the back it'll probably be OK with this case on it. But what about the sides? Since the case actually starts below the edges, that would leave it vulnerable.  Just something to keep in mind.

So would I recommend a UAG case? Of course! This is one of the BEST cases you can get for your device! It's about 30,00 euros on Amazon, and 35 USD with free world shipping if you buy it directly from their website. The price is right on target for the quality of the case and design, but is it for everyone? No. It's pretty noisy, and actually detracts from the beauty of the device. But then again, ANY case that actually protects the device will. Just something to take into account. :) It's a VERY good case and I highly recommend UAG to everyone. My partner uses it at the gym every day because we all know which case will protect it if it falls. 


+ Very stylish
+ 4 colors to pick from
+ Very VERY well designed 
+ Lighter than other solutions, but heavier than minimal solutions
+ It doesn't raise my screen protector (BestSkinsEver, case friendly)
+ Very easy to put on and take off, but it won't fall out!

- Kind of expensive if you don't spend money on cases
- The sides are more exposed than other cases, but this also allows you to enjoy the infinity display
- Shipping times take a while to Europe. I have tried both direct from Amazon (1 week delivery), and directly from UAG took about 2 weeks. 


Here are some more pictures. Enjoy