2X Drop Rated? - Urban Armor Gear Monarch Review - iPhone 7 cases

What comes to mind when you think of 2X Drop Rated? Twice the height? Or something else? Get it now on Amazon: http://mreh.ca/2ekyKst *Non-US viewers will need to go through my site for the right Amazon links 24+ Case Comparison Tool: http://mreh.ca/29Rb2or Help me choose what to review next: http://mreh.ca/1JODph4 The UAG Monarch is a big fancy case. And it is suppose to be tough. Fancy and tough. Seems like an odd combination but UAG makes it work. Visually, the stand out feature for this case is the back. There is a lot going on but it works. The texture on the case makes the iPhone easier to handle, especially on the larger 7 Plus or 6s Plus. There’s one design aspect that I’m not a big fan of and the marketing fluff on this case is quite bad. Spoiler alert, 2x Drop protection isn’t really 2X. Or it is. Depending on how you interpret the marketing fluff. If you’re looking for a similar case, check out the X-Doria Defense Lux. It’s as big as the Monarch but features an aluminum bumper. The Monarch is currently #3 on my list so to find out what tops this case, check out my Top 10 list on my website. Links are in the i or the description section below. At Mobile Reviews Eh!, we base everything we do on actual usage. Sometimes it means getting excited to break another iPhone to prove the marketing fluff wrong. But sometimes the marketing fluff proves us wrong! Sort of. So in the next few minutes, I’m going to talk about the design of the case, the functionality it offers your iPhone and then the protection it offers your iPhone. For design, the Monarch is a little thicker than the average iPhone case but slimmer. All the fancy layers that UAG lists out also increase the weight of the case as it sits around 54 g with the average case being around 39g. The Monarch has 5 layers of protection which include an Armor Frame, leather, polycarbonate shear plate, allow metal hardware and impact resistant rubber. Now…one of these layers seems a little useless to me for protection. Can you guess which one? it’s the metal alloy hardware. I don’t think that’s going to do much in terms of protection. In fact, the metal alloy hardware is actually it’s own layer because it goes through the entire case. To me, it’s like having a 7 Layer dip where the 7 th layer of dip is the bowl of chips? The case will wear well as the leather portion won’t make any contact with a flat surface, even during drops. The texture of the case is awesome. The edges have a honeycomb design that enhances the grip. The back of the case has lots of bumps and ridges for your fingers to rub against. Also, UAG makes this case compatible for the iPhone 6s Plus as they’ve included a cutout for the headphone jack. Which is great for iPhone 6 Plus users but people with the iPhone 7 might be a little annoyed. It’s not like it’s impossible to design a case that fits both without being obvious about like Mous does. For functionality, I didn’t have any issues accessing the iPhone inside the case. The buttons are nice but you can see the iPhone through the buttons. The camera cutout is big enough that it doesn’t get in the way of the flash and you can use whatever lighting cable you want with the UAG Monarch. Before moving onto protection, I will note that I gave the UAG Monarch extra points because of its unique design. It’s so cool looking. For protection, the UAG Monarch is going to provide your iPhone with great day-to-day protection from average drop heights. What? Only average? Well, the 2x drop protection doesn’t equate to 2x the drop height. It equates to UAG dropping the case 52 times at 4 ft to achieve MilSTd 810G drop rating instead of 26 times. So technically UAG isn’t lying about the 2x drop protection, it’s just that I’ve interpreted incorrectly. Silly consumer, this is your fault, not ours. Does that bother you? How UAG presents the 2x drop protection? Doesn’t it just seem a little shady? What do you guys think? So if you’re planning on doing any 10 ft drops with the Monarch, its going to do fine in protecting your $1000 dollar iPhone. From any height less than 4 ft. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe to stay in the loop! We release 2-3 videos a week so there's going to be something new every week. We're all about helping you get the most out of iOS so click Subscribe! WEBSITE: http://www.mobilereviews-eh.ca T-SHIRTS: http://mobilereviewseh.spreadshirt.com PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/MobileReviewsEh TUMBLR: http://mobilereviewseh.tumblr.com INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/mobilereviewseh TWITTER: https://twitter.com/MobileReviewsEh AARON: https://twitter.com/Aaron_The_Ho FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/MobileReviewsEh GOOGLE +: http://bit.ly/GplusMobileReviewsEh