UAG Essential Armor iPhone Case: Sleek but Strong

It’s rare to see a phone without a case these days. Phones are so expensive. Cases are an easy way to protect your phone that just cost $1000 or more.

Cases for expensive phones can’t just be floppy rubber that attempt to cover a phone. They have to offer good shock absorption, drop protection (especially on the corners), and work with features like MagSafe, wireless charging, and Apple Pay. If you can’t use these features with your phone in the case, then what’s the point?

The Essential Armor iPhone cases with MagSafe from Urban Armor Gear (UAG) satisfies all these requirements. UAG makes cases and screen protections for phones, tablets, and computers. The Essential Armor cases meet the military standard (MIL-STD 810G 516.6) for drop and shock protection so UAG know a few things about protecting your expensive devices.

Ambassadors from UAG spend a lot of their time outside surfing, adventuring and taking photos. Maybe it’s just marketing but I like that they do a lot of testing outside.

UAG have cases for most popular phones on the market. I have the iPhone 13 mini version but they have the same style case for the iPhone 13, Pro and Pro Max.

Quick Specs

• 32 grams (1.12 ounces)
• 14.7 cm x 7.3 cm (5.8 x 2.89 inches)
• 3.6 metre/12 foot drop protection
• Reinforced corner protection
• Antimicrobial
• MagSafe compatible
• wireless charging compatible
• $49.95 CAD ($39.95 USD)

Slim design feels good

The whole reason to get an iPhone mini is for it to be small and light. I didn’t want to ruin the experience with a giant case on it.

The Essential Armor is thin and sleek but still keeps everything protected against accidental drops. I take photos outside a lot, sometimes in went conditions and need good drop protection. Also kids.

The case does bump out around the camera lenses which means the lenses get less wear and tear on them. Scratch up those camera lenses and your photos are forever fuzzy and marked up.

MagSafe Charging

I’ve used a magnetic mount on my phone case for years. But it was always an extra metal plate to stick on and never charged.

Getting MagSafe mounting and charging was one of the big reasons to upgrade a newer iPhone. It’s very convenient to just magnetically mount your phone on your desk or in the car and charge too.

The MagSafe charging through the case works great. There’s a magnet in the case which holds the phone well and passes wireless charging through the case no problem.

I use the Spigen OneTap car charger in the car and the Ikea LIVBOJ wireless charger in the house. Both work great with the Essential Armor case. The phone doesn’t site quite flat on the LIVBOJ charger because the edges of the disk hit the camera bump on the iPhone Mini. That’s an issue with this charger and the mini, not the case.

Improvements

If there was one thing I would improve with the case would be adding stickier edges. The plastic is very durable and slides nice in pockets. To improve grip in the hands it would be nice if the plastic around the edges were a little softer and grippier.

Other cases I’ve had include a little kickstand to hold it up when you’re watching a show or movie. This was a nice feature but wasn’t a dealbreaker for me. I’d rather have good protection and MagSafe charging.

Conclusion

There’s nothing worse than spending $1000 on a phone and sticking it in a cheap case.

UAG makes cases worthy of expensive tech and actually protects them.

The slip but strong Essential Armor gives me peace of mind that my expensive phone isn’t going to explode into peaces if I drop it on a corner. And even though it covers the phone, I get to use the features like MagSafe, wireless charging, and Apple Pay that I bought it for.

Questions? Comment below and I’ll get back to you.