Disclosure: I was sent a review unit free of charge for the purposes of this writing. Usually I pay for the stuff I review and give it away afterward. I wanted to be forthcoming with this. This in no way changes how I feel about this case after having used it for several weeks.
As usual I will be comparing this to the Trident Kraken, reigning king of cases in my opinion.
Receiving the UAG case, I noted the packaging as I usually do. Retail peggable cardboard with plastic windows. Minimilistic and functional, easy to get your stuff out of. Included with the case is a screen protector, cleaning cloth, plastic card to iron out bubbles, two window cards (more on these later), and a UAG booklet I never opened.
When I looked at this on the UAG website, I thought the orange behind the slots would be an inner silicone layer of the case. I figured the orange was the back and black was the top, and the white was a clip on shell such as on the Ballistic I recently reviewed. This is not the case at all.
The case itself is all one piece, and your phone pops into it sort of like a PTU case (but without the flexibleness of the thin PTU). UAG has some sweet styling here that's very militaryesque (if that's a word). The orange bit behind the slots is a card of some sort. It's not a piece of cardboard, but I don't think it's plastic either. Whatever it's made of it's pretty strong. You could probably bend it in half and crease it easily. The card is not made of steel after all. With proper handling I doubt you'd ever ruin it though. Two cards are included: One black on one side and white on the other, and an orange and white. I prefer the orange as they picture on the website with the Navigator model, however the black isn't bad either.
The different models seem to just be color names. Navigator is for the white and Scout is the black. Both models are made of stiff composite material. Descriptions on the manufacturer page say the inside is soft, however it is equally as stiff as the outer part on this case. Inside the case are two pegs to hold the colored card in place, and on the pack are four "torx screw" rubberized pegs that help keep your handset from sliding off a surface. Cutouts for ports and camera/flash are all accounted for with no flaps or covers at all. UAG claims their cutouts do not hamper flash performance as other cases do, and in my experience this is mostly true. The only interference is narrowing of the flash beam, which doesn't do all that much to the photo quality of the Note 2. Access to the S-Pen is as easy as no case at all. This was a big sigh of relief to me as the other cases I've had seem to have that cutout as an afterthought. The buttons for volume and power press easily and do not stick.
Getting down to the day to day use this case is a pleasure. It's material is hard enough to be pocketable. This is good as it comes with no belt clip, and I do not wear my phone as a fashion accessory. It adds only minimal thickness to your device. Usually this is a bad thing in my view, as I like to have something to hold on to. The device design of the Note 2 makes it very difficult for me to hold as a phone. Being so thin and rounded on the back I have to press it firmly against my head to make a call with no case at all. UAG improves this experience while keeping the case as thin as possible by having squared off sides. Think of the sides of the iPhone models 4+. The part of the case that encircles the front glass of the phone forms a little lip that helps you keep the phone where you want it. This also allows you to lay the device screen side down as it stands off the glass a little.
I have had butterfingers lately, and had the sad occurances of dropping my phone with the UAG case. Too many times, in fact. Never has there been any damage, bouncing, or any funny business. This thing does it's job. Well.
I give this guy a 5/5 star rating. This has been the only case to give the Kraken a run for it's money. I'm hesitant to say whether or not it beats it because I just don't know. Really, my way of thinking about these accessories is changing because of the UAG case and the Note 2. Having a large device makes me not want it to be super thick, and adding a Kraken might be too thick. On smaller phones like my old Galaxy Nexus, a case like this UAG would be OK, but not ideal. The Trident case is supreme on smaller devices, but on these big 5.5"+ display phones, I don't think the UAG can be beaten.
Pros:
Pocketable
Great cutouts for everything INCLUDING S-Pen
Customizable to some extent with the color cards
Good anti-slip "torx" rivet thingies
Cons:
No inner silicone layer
No belt clip or other accessories (other than screen protector)
TLDR: Give these guys a try. You'll be happy with the case on large devices like the Note 2. They also make cases for iPad mini and S3. If you have a smaller phone and are looking for a bulky case you've got to keep looking. If you're a fan of TPU cases but want something to give you more protection than that, go for it.
Taken from my G+ (original link https://plus.google.com/110574663848967034344/posts/2QkUxtJNJTE)
As usual I will be comparing this to the Trident Kraken, reigning king of cases in my opinion.
Receiving the UAG case, I noted the packaging as I usually do. Retail peggable cardboard with plastic windows. Minimilistic and functional, easy to get your stuff out of. Included with the case is a screen protector, cleaning cloth, plastic card to iron out bubbles, two window cards (more on these later), and a UAG booklet I never opened.
When I looked at this on the UAG website, I thought the orange behind the slots would be an inner silicone layer of the case. I figured the orange was the back and black was the top, and the white was a clip on shell such as on the Ballistic I recently reviewed. This is not the case at all.
The case itself is all one piece, and your phone pops into it sort of like a PTU case (but without the flexibleness of the thin PTU). UAG has some sweet styling here that's very militaryesque (if that's a word). The orange bit behind the slots is a card of some sort. It's not a piece of cardboard, but I don't think it's plastic either. Whatever it's made of it's pretty strong. You could probably bend it in half and crease it easily. The card is not made of steel after all. With proper handling I doubt you'd ever ruin it though. Two cards are included: One black on one side and white on the other, and an orange and white. I prefer the orange as they picture on the website with the Navigator model, however the black isn't bad either.
The different models seem to just be color names. Navigator is for the white and Scout is the black. Both models are made of stiff composite material. Descriptions on the manufacturer page say the inside is soft, however it is equally as stiff as the outer part on this case. Inside the case are two pegs to hold the colored card in place, and on the pack are four "torx screw" rubberized pegs that help keep your handset from sliding off a surface. Cutouts for ports and camera/flash are all accounted for with no flaps or covers at all. UAG claims their cutouts do not hamper flash performance as other cases do, and in my experience this is mostly true. The only interference is narrowing of the flash beam, which doesn't do all that much to the photo quality of the Note 2. Access to the S-Pen is as easy as no case at all. This was a big sigh of relief to me as the other cases I've had seem to have that cutout as an afterthought. The buttons for volume and power press easily and do not stick.
Getting down to the day to day use this case is a pleasure. It's material is hard enough to be pocketable. This is good as it comes with no belt clip, and I do not wear my phone as a fashion accessory. It adds only minimal thickness to your device. Usually this is a bad thing in my view, as I like to have something to hold on to. The device design of the Note 2 makes it very difficult for me to hold as a phone. Being so thin and rounded on the back I have to press it firmly against my head to make a call with no case at all. UAG improves this experience while keeping the case as thin as possible by having squared off sides. Think of the sides of the iPhone models 4+. The part of the case that encircles the front glass of the phone forms a little lip that helps you keep the phone where you want it. This also allows you to lay the device screen side down as it stands off the glass a little.
I have had butterfingers lately, and had the sad occurances of dropping my phone with the UAG case. Too many times, in fact. Never has there been any damage, bouncing, or any funny business. This thing does it's job. Well.
I give this guy a 5/5 star rating. This has been the only case to give the Kraken a run for it's money. I'm hesitant to say whether or not it beats it because I just don't know. Really, my way of thinking about these accessories is changing because of the UAG case and the Note 2. Having a large device makes me not want it to be super thick, and adding a Kraken might be too thick. On smaller phones like my old Galaxy Nexus, a case like this UAG would be OK, but not ideal. The Trident case is supreme on smaller devices, but on these big 5.5"+ display phones, I don't think the UAG can be beaten.
Pros:
Pocketable
Great cutouts for everything INCLUDING S-Pen
Customizable to some extent with the color cards
Good anti-slip "torx" rivet thingies
Cons:
No inner silicone layer
No belt clip or other accessories (other than screen protector)
TLDR: Give these guys a try. You'll be happy with the case on large devices like the Note 2. They also make cases for iPad mini and S3. If you have a smaller phone and are looking for a bulky case you've got to keep looking. If you're a fan of TPU cases but want something to give you more protection than that, go for it.
Taken from my G+ (original link https://plus.google.com/110574663848967034344/posts/2QkUxtJNJTE)
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