Magpul iPhone 5 Case: A quick Review

I picked up a Magpul iPhone 5 case in OD green about a month ago after my OtterBox was no longer serviceable.  The case is made of a textured plastic that snaps over the back and sides of the iPhone.  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.  All of the 1/8″ headphone plugs I tried (six different pairs) with the Magpul case worked fine.  A car adaptor in my wife’s car, however, had a body that was too thick to plug into the audio jack.  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.  None of these were intentional, but it happens.  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.  That case held up very well, and I had no complaints about it.  However, when I bought my iPhone 5, Magpul did not have a case out for it yet.  So, I went with an OtterBox Commuter case.  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.  The Magpul case on my iPhone 4 lasted nearly two solid years with little obvious wear.  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.  MSRP is $12.95, and I have found prices to run about $11-12.50 at Amazon, which includes free two-day shipping.  Compared to the prices for some unknown brand case in the local Best Buy, I consider these prices to be very reasonable.

Bottom line:  The Magpul iPhone 5 case offers good protection against common bumps and drops and is affordable to boot.  It does not add a lot of thickness to the phone.  It will not turn your iPhone into a bulletproof bunker or make it waterproof.  But, it isn’t designed to do those things.  I give it a definite buy if its level of protection is what you need.