Impressions: UAG Surface Pro 4 Protective Case

Honestly, for the Surface Pro 4, being thin and light is the whole selling point. Slapping a case on it is kind of dumb.

But in my case, there are still reasons it made sense.

First, that little bit of weight on a Surface Pro 4 is nothing to my arms.

Second, lately I’ve been using it in bed every day, and I often fall asleep while messing around with it. I’m worried that one day it’ll end up on the floor.

Third, right now I travel with a skin plus a sleeve, and it feels like a hassle. Especially the sleeve — once I pull the tablet out, I have no idea where to put it.

Last, I originally bought one of the newly launched Dbrand Surface Pro 4 skins during the February sale, but it still hasn’t arrived. I emailed them and got a reply two days later, roughly meaning:

“Calm down, our site says shipping to China takes 3–6 weeks. Contact us again if it hasn’t arrived after April 12.”

So when the Microsoft official flagship store had a sale, I grabbed one.

This case is seriously sturdy. No wonder it’s the same kind spies use in movies — feels like it could take any kind of knock. A lot of people say a glass screen protector will lift at the edges when installing it. From my experience, there are ways around that: for example, use this protective film as a shim to slide it in, then pull it out, so the gap at the corners of the case doesn’t squeeze the edge of the glass protector and it stays covered on top.

After putting mine in, sure enough, no lifting at the edges.

This UAG case, like the STM one, lets you keep using your own Type Cover. That said, I think the UAG looks better. The STM is expensive, and ugly on top of that.

The difference between the UAG and STM cases is the kickstand on the back. The STM lets you use the Surface Pro 4’s own kickstand, while the UAG only works with its built-in metal stand. Chinese users all say this stand is bad and not as good as the original. Foreigners say it’s great because you can abuse it however you want without worrying about it getting crushed or deformed.

I lean toward the foreign view. As long as it holds the thing up, who cares? Plus this stand can stand your tablet upright, which is one more function than the original has.

There’s also a spot at the top for the touch pen, and it’s way more secure than the original magnetic attachment.

This case’s kickstand doesn’t adjust to as many angles as the original, but it’s enough. I don’t see any problem with it at all — it works fine whether you’re typing or drawing.

As for why I bought a case like this, it’s because I get the feeling I’ll be using this Surface Pro 4 for a long time…

Probably…