Hi everyone. If you read my first review you would have noticed that I recently purchased two new LG Velvet 5G phones. You can read our review of those here. Overall the phones are really nice and designed well. They could really benefit from a case though since they are a bit slippery. With that being said, I think that all cell phones should have a case. It is true that most phones these days are built very well and can survive a fall or two. But with the glass backs that most phones now utilize the entire phone is susceptible to physical damage, aka cracking, and not just the screen anymore. Also in my experience most phones tend to always fall onto one of their corners. That type of fall tends to always do some damage.
Not all cell phone cases are built the same though. You can find cheaper cases that will give you some extra grip, can change the phones color and they may fit well. A lot of the time though they don’t fit exactly how you would hope. They also tend to be very thick or overly thin. Usually they are made with inferior material or don’t really offer much drop protection. The higher end, name brand cases do not have these cons usually. The Spigen Slim Armor Essential S case is no exception.
Fit
As is the case with all of Spigen’s cases, this case fits the phone like a glove. The case has a nice tight fit. All of the buttons still work like they would if there were no case and the ports have enough room around them to plug things in. The Slim Armor series of cases are made to give you good protection. While being as thin as possible to preserve the design of the phone.
As with any case it will add a little thickness to your phone but that is inevitable. I don’t think you can really get much thinner than the Spigen Slim Armor though. Especially if you want to keep any protection at all. It is thin enough that you don’t really notice the thickness that is added, which is impressive. Even more impressive is that Spigen managed to fit in a built-in kickstand as well. So you can set your phone on a table and watch content without having to hold your phone up. This kickstand only adds about 1mm of thickness and only where the kickstand itself is located.
Protection
If you are constantly dropping your phone or maybe you work in an industry such as construction, where you are at more risk of damage then you may want to go with a more protective case like Spigen Tough Armor. Even in those situations though the Slim Armor Essential S should be more than enough protection.
The big protection in this case comes from what Spigen calls Air Cushion Technology. This means that in addition to the case material itself, the corners are made with a slightly different radius than the phone’s corners. So a small cushion of air is left under the corners of the case. This radius difference is almost imperceptible but does an amazing job of protecting the corners of your phone. Like I mentioned earlier that is where a lot of phones fail in a fall. Think of it as having four small airbags in case of a crash.
The material will absorb a lot of impact by itself, then it can flex a bit because of that air cushion. In a fall by the time the phone itself contacts the ground the impact will have been slowed enough that in most cases the damage will be avoided. In addition to the corner protection the thickness of the case material is more than the amount that the camera sensor is raised. This means if you put your phone down on it’s back or drop it the camera lens is protected from taking a direct impact or getting scratched.
The case has a hard shell back that is molded right into the rest of the case material. This adds even more protection. To protect the phone’s screen the top and bottom edge of case is slightly raised. This will accomplish the same effect as the camera protection on the back. On the LG Velvet 5G I would have liked to see this raised edge continue on the sides of the screen as well. But since it has a curved screen it would really take away from the phones intended design and feel in your hand. This line of phone cases are so protective they achieved Mil-grade certification, which is impressive for a case this thin,
Material
The case adds some grip but doesn’t feel sticky like some silicone or gel cases do. Also unlike other sticky cases it doesn’t attract lint and dust. The material itself actually feels a little harder. More like plastic than a softer silicone, even in the areas where the insert is not located. In short the case feels great in your hand. Depending on which model phone you have you may or may not have different color options. I especially like the crystal clear case. It really is clear and Spigen says that it will not yellow over time. This is nice to know since most clear cases start yellowing very quickly. The clear case just blends in to the phone so you really don’t notice it much and it still lets you show off the design of your phone.
Conclusion
In short I think everybody could benefit from putting a case on their phone and you won’t get a much better one than the Spigen Slim Armor Essential S. The only con would be that it is quite a bit more expensive than the generic ones that you can find online or at a mall kiosk. The materials, fit and function make it well worth the extra cost though.
If you are interested in this case or other Spigen cases you can click here to go straight to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. If you do purchase something using this link I will earn a small commission on the sale. At no extra charge to you. Obviously it is completely up to you whether or not you want to use this link. If you do, thank you very much.