I picked up a Magpul iPhone 5 case in OD green about a month ago after my OtterBox was no longer serviceable. Â The case is made of a textured plastic that snaps over the back and sides of the iPhone. Â It has the distinctive Magpul logo and waffle grip pattern on the case.
There are openings for the camera, flash, speakers, audio jack and lightning cable port. Â All of the 1/8″ headphone plugs I tried (six different pairs) with the Magpul case worked fine. Â A car adaptor in my wife’s car, however, had a body that was too thick to plug into the audio jack. Â I’ve noticed that patch cables tend to have thicker bodies, so I suspect that many will not fit through the Magpul case without some trimming of the case or the cable.
On numerous occasions, I dropped the iPhone onto a hard tile floor from waist high. Â None of these were intentional, but it happens. Â The Magpul case protected the phone each time, and no damage was suffered by either phone or case.
For what it is worth, I had a Magpul case for my iPhone 4. Â That case held up very well, and I had no complaints about it. Â However, when I bought my iPhone 5, Magpul did not have a case out for it yet. Â So, I went with an OtterBox Commuter case. Â The Commuter is not the top level of protection offered by that company, but it is a step up from the simplicity of the Magpul case.
While the Commuter did protect the iPhone, it did not last a full year before needing replacement. Â The Magpul case on my iPhone 4 lasted nearly two solid years with little obvious wear. Â Thus far, the iPhone 5 case from Magpul looks like it will hold up well to regular wear and tear.
This iPhone 5 case comes in a variety of colors including black, OD green, foliage green, flat dark earth, gray, teal, yellow, red, clear, dark blue, light blue, orange and pink. Â MSRP is $12.95, and I have found prices to run about $11-12.50 at Amazon, which includes free two-day shipping. Â Compared to the prices for some unknown brand case in the local Best Buy, I consider these prices to be very reasonable.
Bottom line: Â The Magpul iPhone 5 case offers good protection against common bumps and drops and is affordable to boot. Â It does not add a lot of thickness to the phone. Â It will not turn your iPhone into a bulletproof bunker or make it waterproof. Â But, it isn’t designed to do those things. Â I give it a definite buy if its level of protection is what you need.
