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Urban Armor Gear LG G4 Case Review

Vincent Messina | On 23, Jun 2015

The Urban Armor Gear series of cases for the LG G4 aim to protect and serve your mobile device in a virtual blanket of, well, urban armor. Designed from a patented lightweight composite consisting of a hard outer shell and a soft impact resistant core, this dual layer defense not only meets military drop-test standards (MIL STD 810G 516.6), but looks good doing it. Now, before I go into more detail, let it be know that I have always been more of an au naturel device kind of guy, but after a bit of time with the Ash colored LG G4 Urban Armor Case, I can tell you that this case won’t be coming off any time soon.

Urban Armor Gear is a well known name in the mobile case industry and for very good reason. This thrill-seeking team of designers, engineers, and marketers ensure that every case made embodies the essence of adventure. Built with those who live an active lifestyle in mind, UAG cases are not only lightweight but highly durable, and all without compromising device performance and usability. UAG’s reputation for superior quality and craftsmanship continues to resonate in the cases designed for the LG G4.

I was able to get my hands on the Ash colored version of their LG G4 case and I was immediately impressed at how well this particular color style complimented my metallic gray G4. If you opted for a leather back on your LG G4, you’re probably not interested in covering it up with a case, but feel free to continue reading on if you’re at all curious about what these cases have to offer.

Quick Look Video

As I’ve already stated, these cases are lightweight. UAG uses the term “feather-light,” when describing their cases, but let’s be honest, that’s the marketing team speaking. Using a digital scale and my handy dandy buzzword blocking glasses, I proceeded to weigh the case by itself to get a better idea of just how light this case actually is. To my surprise, the case weighed in at roughly 35 grams (1.24 ounces). To put that into perspective, the wall charger (without the wire) that comes with the LG G4 weighs in at around 41 grams (1.45 ounces). I can safely say that their claims of lightweight are substantiated, and considering the quality of materials and level of protection, that’s something worth boasting about.

Okay, so the case is lightweight, but what kind of protection does it offer? Well, let’s take a look:

Designed for the LG G4
Armor shell and impact resistant soft core
HD Screen protector guards against scratches***
Non-slip ruggedized grips
Scratch resistant skid pads and screen surround
Meets military drop-test standards (MIL STD 810G 516.6): To achieve this certification, a device must be dropped from a height of 48 inches, on each face, corner, and back. The device is dropped a total of 26 times and must function properly after the test, while not sustaining any damage to the touch screen.

The case fit tightly around my G4 and as soon as I held it in my hand, I had a sense of protection that most definitely had been missing. Without, the case, my G4 simply felt like a fragile, slippery priceless artifact that I was petrified to drop or hold the wrong way. With the non-slip grips on the sides of the UAG case, I no longer felt as if my G4 would easily slip away. The case provided me with a firm grip and turned my fragile phone into an indestructible computing machine (at least that’s how my inner Ethan Hunt felt about the case). The scratch resistant skid pads on the corners were a match made in heaven as I’ve put more chips in the corners of my devices than Phil Hellmuth has put in the middle of a poker table.

Now, while protecting your device is muy importante, it’s all in vain if that protection gets in the way or hinders functionality and/or user experience. Thankfully, the team at UAG has managed to keep all ports wide open and accessible. The Micro USB and 3.5mm cutouts give more than enough room to comfortably plug in both your charger and headphones with virtually zero interference. Luckily for us LG G4 owners, all hardware buttons are located in one location on the back of the device, making it easy for case designers to leave an opening large enough for full access without compromise. Having the buttons on the back also allows for a more encompassing layer of protection since the case has no need for extra side cut outs or any form of tactile buttons.

NFC works flawlessly, microphone ports are wide open, the IR-blaster is uninhibited, and the port for the speaker grill, well, that’s a little tight, but has yet to have any sort of negative impact on audio quality that I could tell (see audio tests below).

Warning: Audio may put you to sleep, click at your own risk.

Audio Test Without Case

Audio Test With Case

Well gee Vin, you’ve been boasting on as if you were a spokesperson for UAG and I’ve yet to hear you say anything negative about the case. Shouldn’t all reviews include a few negative points? Fine. You got me. I do love this case, but yes, there are few minor (and I do mean minor) issues I experienced while using the case.

First off, if you enjoy having an array of different designs and colors to choose from when picking out a case, you can just forget it. While I’m in love with the Ash colored version of the UAG LG G4 case, you may not be. And if you’re not, you’re only other choice (as of this article post date) is the Maverick color. The Maverick version is more clear than the Ash but features the same black border and the exact same design. Not a huge turnoff, but less choice than I’d like to see.

Second, you’ll find that the case (like a lot of cases) enjoys collecting the vast array of lint treasure from your pockets. So far, the lint and dirt has seemed to collect between the lip of the case and the device but only time will tell if it collects elsewhere. While this should be easy enough to clean, it brings me to my third minor problem: ease of removal.

The case isn’t the easiest to remove and occasionally ends up taking off the back of my LG G4 with it. Sounds terrifying but it’s really a once in a while nuisance, and to put a positive spin on it: this means the case fits nice and tight and won’t accidentally fall off while I’m waving it around (I have no idea why I would be waving a $600 device around).

Last, but not least, we have the price. As of this posting, the LG G4 cases retail on urbanarmorgear.com for $34.95 USD. While certainly not the most expensive of cases, you will have a whole slew of consumers who will find this to be too expensive for a case (especially considering the amount of people I saw complain about the $35 price tag LG applied to their leather backings when posting a BOGO sale). After using the case, I have absolutely no qualms about the $35 price tag (and I don’t think you should either), however, if UAG is looking to hit a sweet spot with consumers, I’d say something in the range of $19.99 – $24.99 would be a bit more enticing.

Final Thoughts

To sum things up, I’m impressed with the quality, design, and look of the UAG LG G4 Ash case. Surprisingly, I prefer it to carrying around my device in its natural state of nakedness, but again, this is because I have the metallic gray LG G4 backing. If I was sporting a leather back, I’d be letting it all hang out.

If you find yourself in the market for a lightweight, durable, well-designed case for your LG G4, you won’t want to pass up the opportunity to try out a case made by the urban warriors over at Urban Armor Gear. For more information about these great cases and the company that designs them, head on over to the Urban Armor Gear website

***If you may have noticed, I did not review the free screen protector that UAG provides with all mobile device cases. Since I was planning on giving away this review case, I kept it intact. However, it wasn’t until after writing this review that I decided to keep the case and thus did not have the chance to review the screen protector.

GIVEAWAY

You didn’t think I was going to show off one of these fine looking cases without giving you all a chance to win one, did you? I was planning on giving away the one I reviewed, but since I liked it so much, I’m keeping it and letting one lucky reader pick one out for themselves. Since UAG also makes cases for Samsung, HTC, and Nexus devices, I won’t limit the contest to an LG G4 case. I’ll let the winner pick (limited to mobile phone cases, no tablet cases). Now for the details.

Since Urban Armor Gear ships worldwide, I’ll open up this contest to everyone. We’re still trying to figure things out over here at hashtagandroid.com and would like your input. To enter for a chance to win a case from UAG, simply let us know which comment platform you most prefer using: The current built-in comment section we have now or Disqus?

Our comment moderation is very limited at the moment, so if this is your first post, you might have to wait to have your post approved before seeing it. I apologize for the inconvenience but like I said, we’re still trying to figure things out and until we decide on a permanent comments platform, our spam protection is limited.

So that’s it. Leave a comment below telling us which comment platform you prefer and for brownie points, share this post on your favorite social network. And don’t forget to follow us while you’re at it.

The contest will run until midnight (EST) on June 30th. If we do not receive at least 25 comments by the contest end date, we will extend the contest until we reach at least 25 comments. Good luck and thanks for checking us out.

Urban Armor Gear LG G4 Case Review

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Urban Armor Gear LG G4 Case Review

Quick Look Video

Audio Test Without Case

Audio Test With Case

Final Thoughts

GIVEAWAY

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