UAG Monarch Series Case for the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is everything you want to protect your investment (review)

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 owners know they have one of the best phones on the market. In fact, most Note 8 owners will claim their phones are the best hands down. I recently reviewed the Note 8 and basically came to the same conclusion. The specs are top of the line, performance is blazing fast, the display is out of this world and the build is so darn sexy. The curved glass that sandwiches the sleek metal frame makes for an incredible build that’s very easy to hold. The only downsides to the Note 8 are its high price tag and its easily breakable glass panels. Luckily we have case manufacturers who have our backs with incredible cases. One of those companies is Urban Armor Gear, my favorite when it comes to protective cases, and I’ve got my hands on its ultra-premium Monarch Series Note 8 case. It’s become an instant favorite of mine. Let me tell you more about it in the review below.

UAG Monarch Series Case

The Monarch is the flagship case from UAG for the Note 8. UAG also makes the Monarch for other premium phones like the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, X as well as other Samsung smartphones like the Galaxy S8 and S8+. It comes with a higher than normal price tag for a case with a retail price of $59.99, but for your money, you get a case you can’t find anywhere else.

The Monarch case is made up of five layers that ensure double the protection standards set by the military (MIL STD 810G 516.6). It’s designed to keep your Note 8 safe against drops, which is the number one reason why we buy smartphones altogether. Very few phone cases meet the MIL spec standard, and UAG happened to double it with the Monarch series case.

It uses those five layers of metal, top grain leather, polycarbonate, and impact resistant rubber to create a case that blends the highest standards in drop protection with luxury and feels that make the Note 8 even easier to hold than without a case. There are other protective case manufacturers that meet MIL spec standards like Samsung’s own rugged case, or LifeProof and Otter Box, but those cases are very thick and even a bit pricier. The Otter Box Defender series case makes the Note 8 impossible to hold and use with one hand and is pretty ugly to boot.

It never ceases to amaze me how UAG engineers spend so much time and attention on the little details. They built the Monarch case with a tough, but slim armor frame, and then reinforced it with a shear plate and alloy metal to give it the ability to protect the Note 8 without adding excess bulk. The engineers then added impact resistant rubber in all the right places: the corners, interior to line the case and edges to give shock absorption where the phone is most likely to fall in the event of a drop. They lined the cutouts of the back of the Monarch case with top grain leather which not only looks great but feels as good as it looks. It was a shock to me that there was real leather in the cutouts as I expected it to be textured vinyl, and it’s a pleasant surprise given the higher price tag of this case.

UAG even used real screws that go through the case to hold it all together. You can see in the images below that the screws actually cut through the entire case.

Continuing on with the details, the case has textured sides to improve the ability to hold the phone. Those textures also find their way on the Bixby, power and volume rocker so you can differentiate what button you’re pushing. It helps cut down on the accidental Bixby pushes when I’m simply trying to turn the volume down on my Note 8.

On the front is where the UAG case offers quite a bit of edge protection for those times when the phone falls on its face. It’s thicker than most cases I’ve used without making the case feel bulky.

As you can see in the images, the UAG case is not only really great to look at, but what you can’t get from the images is how great the Monarch case is to hold. I really don’t know what black magic tricks that UAG designers are employing, but the Note 8 actually feels better to hold than any other case I’ve used. I’ll go even a step further and say I prefer to hold my Note 8 with the Monarch case than even going bare. As rugged as the Monarch case looks, it doesn’t feel thick and the textured sides make the phone easier to hold since I don’t grip it as hard in fears of dropping the phone.

I took a bunch of photos of this case, mainly because it’s so photogenic. But I also took extra pictures since you might be skeptical about spending $60 on a case. If you want to view just how great the Monarch case is for the Note 8, feel free to view all of my photos in my free Google Photos library here. See for yourself just how well made the Monarch case is with your own eyes.

Is the Monarch Series case for the Note 8 worth the $60?

Hell yeah, it is. For the most important reason alone, drop protection, it’s worth the price. It doubles down on the MIL spec standards set by the US military. The Note 8 is a very pricey smartphone and the last thing you want to do is to break it. There’s no better case on the market than the Monarch series for protecting your Note 8. It’s also thin enough to allow for wireless charging and Samsung Pay without removing the cover. It looks great too. And lastly, it feels great in hand.

This Monarch Series case for the Note 8 is worth every penny and UAG even offers a 10-year warranty on it! The warranty will certainly outlast your Note 8, but the crazier part is that I don’t believe anyone would ever make a claim on that warranty because it is so well made that it’s probably going to last longer than I will on this planet.

The Monarch Series case comes in two colors: Crimson and Black and can be purchased at urbanarmorgear.com, Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy.