Urban Armor Gear

The Urban Armor Gear iPhone 5 case features a hard outer shell and a soft, impact-resistant core. The light and relatively thin design compared to many bulkier cases on the market was welcome. 

The case comes with a protective plastic shield for the glass front of the iPhone 5 that is easy enough to install. However, these plastic covers tend to scratch easily and we found ourselves preferring to go without this option.

The case itself is easy to install: simply slip the phone from the top and the case neatly slips on. The snug fit is perfect and we found no play or unnecessary movement once the Urban Armor Gear case was in place.

The large, ergonomic buttons are easily activated; not something we can say for many cases we’ve used. The ports for the charger, earphone jack and speakers were easy to access and didn’t hinder the operation of the phone in any way.

For all intents and purposes, the Urban Armor Gear iPhone 5s case works extremely well and does as advertised – protecting the phone from unwanted impacts such as drops. If we were to find any gripe with this case, it was the smooth exterior shell, which seemed easy to slip from the hand and more than once we were thankful for that effective impact resistance.

- Composite construction
- Multiple colours available

Urban Armor Gear has a case for nearly every popular tablet and phone on the market today. UAG’s Iphone 5s case comes with an optional screen covering. We opted out of the covering as the plastic scratched easily.

The Urban Armor Gear 5s case port openings are easily accessible.

The robust 5s backing is stout and withstood multiple drops, some of which may have been due to the smooth exterior. A little texture for grip would be nice.

Like the Surface 3 Scout case, the 5s case’s buttons are clean and functional – something that can’t be said for many cases on the market today.

The Urban Armor Gear 5s case features a honeycomb internal pattern that contributes to the case’s shockproof rating. It works.

The design team at Urban Armor Gear held nothing back in the design of the Scout case for the Surface 3. With a one-piece design, soft tactile backing and their “frogskin” technology to provide grip in damp conditions, the Scout is clearly up for rugged tasks. It’s built to meet military standards for drops and shocks (MIL-STD 810G-516.6) and it has the looks to match.

The Urban Armor Gear Scout is compatible with the Surface’s Pro Type Cover keyboard (but doesn’t protect it), and has a handy corner fastener to ensure the keyboard doesn’t open when in transit. A multi-stage, flip up stand in the back allows for easy use as a desktop computer, and can even be opened all the way to orientate the tablet vertically if desired. While the aluminum kick stand is robust, there is a bit of “wiggle” room between each engagement – not a big deal and not necessarily flimsy, but it seems a bit strange for the otherwise solid construction.

All of the computer ports are easily accessed with the Urban Armor Gear Scout case in place, and the on/off and volume button covers are easily pressed and function well. Venting for speakers and the internal cooling fan were ample and did not hinder the Surface’s operation at all.

While Urban Armor Gear says this case was built using their “feather-lite” construction, there’s no mistaking the additional weight and bulk of this case, no doubt a result of the military-spec impact resistance. However, for the peace of mind this is a small price to pay. The Microsoft Surface is an impressive tablet/computer, but durability is not its strong suit and this case is worth its weight in gold.

- Compatible with Microsoft Type Cover keyboard
- Feather-light composite construction
- Impact resistant soft core
- Over sized tactile buttons
- Air vents to keep things cool
- Water resistant grip material
- Easy access to touch screen and ports
- Un-compromised audio and video
- Meets military drop-test standards (MIL STD 810G 516.6) when used with Microsoft Type Cover keyboard

The Urban Armor Gear Surface Scout case features a robust, shockproof casing. This case is the business and is among the more stout available. It comes with a weight penalty, however.

The Surface Scout has a nifty corner elastic holds the screen securely while in transport. Unlike other Surface model cases, the Scout doesn’t have a fastener for the Surface Pen2, something we would have preferred over the standard stick-on holder that comes with the Surface 3.

Urban Armor Gear’s Surface 3 Scout case has practical, easy to use buttons and accessible port openings. The Surface 3 Scout case also features an aluminum flip up, adjustable stand that can orientate the tablet horizontally or vertically.

The Scout case stand is functional but has a bit of play and is a little clunky, but works as advertized.

If you’re a tablet user but also go off the beaten track and enjoy an active lifestyle like we do, there’s no question the Urban Armor Gear Scout case is an excellent investment to protect your tablet and valuable data.