Please note that some of the links in my video descriptions are affiliate links where I earn from qualifying purchases. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Intro
If you just got your brand-new Z Fold 7 and you want full protection, you have to check out these cases from subcase. There are UB Pro and UB grip cases have built-in tempered glass screen protection, full-inch protection, protective front and rear camera bezels, great fitment and hand feel. Both cases offer something unique like a built-in kick stand, maxi of charging and maxi of accessories, a finger holder and great draw protection. However, you will have to compromise in one area, so let’s take a closer look at the UB Pro and UB grip cases and a big thanks to subcase for sending these out for review.
Package Contents
In the UB Pro box, we have the rear case cover front case cover with the tempered glass screen protector, instruction manual and extended warranty. And note that the instruction manual also comes with additional adhesive strips. In the UB grip box, we have the front case cover with the screen protector applied rear case cover, extended warranty card and instruction manual again with additional adhesive strips.
UB Pro Case Design
Let’s look at the UB Pro case first, so this is coming in at around 82.5 grams, give or take a couple of grams, since I do have to remove a lot of these protective peels. Now on the front of the show that we have a tempered glass screen protector, if we take a look at the underside here, so we do have some protective peels that we have to remove, and this is going to help keep this front case attached to the front screen, looking at the rear cover here, so we do have this kind of soft lining on the inside to help protect the phone. And then we do have a complete hinge cover on the side. Not only is it we have this kind of textured pattern here, but this is still a hard type of material. It’s not rubberized or soft in any way.
So yeah, it adds a little bit of grip, but not a ton of grip like if this was kind of a silicone or rubberized finish. On the other side, we also have that same kind of textured pattern. And we have a huge cutout for easy access to the fingerprint unlock and to the volume buttons. On the rear we have the huge camera lens bezel cutout, that’s what it looks like from the side. And we also have a built-in kick stand here, so if I just kind of flip this up, you can see that just pops right out, then you could use this horizontally. You can also use this as a kind of built-in kind of ring holder as well. The hinge movement is fairly fluid, so you can see when I let go just snaps right back into place. And then we have a cutout for the USB Type-C charging port.
UB Grip Case Design
The UB grip case comes in and around 96 grams, give her take a few grams since I do have to remove the protective fields again. Now the front cover has the tempered glass screen protector built in similar to the UB Pro case. Now the rear case has this kind of frosted matte type of finish, so you can actually see the phone color a little bit. Now if we take a look at the back, we have that same raised rear camera bezel right here with a huge cut for all the lens. And then we also have this kind of ring here. And this is actually going to let us use a max-save charging on here. Now if we take a look at the side, we have these kind of textured diagonal stripes going along here. And this does actually add more grip than I found on the Pro case.
And if we look at the other side, we have those there as well. Same large cutout hair for easy access to the fingerprint scanner and the volume buttons. The hinge is also very fluid, so it snaps back into place nicely. And what’s unique about this hinge is that this actually has a built-in kick-send, so you can actually fold that out and then just tuck it right back when you’re not using it.
UB Pro Case Install
To install the UB Pro case, so the first thing we’re going to do is to remove all of these protective fields. First we’ll start at the bottom here and then just snap it in at the top just like so. And you’re just going to press along the various corners here to get it to really apply in it here. Once that’s done, we can go ahead and take the rear cover, just retrak that hinge cover, pop it in from the bottom again, snap it in at the top. Until you’re here to satisfy and clicks and you’re done. So this is what the UB Pro case looks like on the Z Fold 7. And it actually looks pretty good. It doesn’t actually feel like it’s adding too much bulk, which is pretty surprising to me. I thought I was going to be more bulk-y, but you know the hand feel is still pretty good on here.
In terms of fitment, everything fits perfectly. You could see if I look at basically every angle, so where the hinge actually retracts out. It’s pretty tight in terms of the tolerance there. So yeah, pretty good fitment overall. Now taking a look at the top, we do have precise cutouts. You could see the top there for the microphones. That’s the USB Type-C port cutout at the bottom along with the various microphones. On the side, we still have full access to the fingerprint or the power button there for quick unlocking. Same with the volume up and volume down, but everything is very responsive on here.
Looking at that rear camera bezel, so you could see from a side view it actually extends high enough from the camera lens, so that if you place this face down on a table, you don’t have to worry about the lens as being scratched. Do not know how ever that it is a very large camera cutout, so it doesn’t actually wrap around the lens. Now this is probably done to that if you wanted to use something like a lens protector, you still have a little bit of room to fit those in there. Opening and closing the phone is really easy, especially since we have these kind of textured areas of the bottom. It makes it much easier to just open and close. And here’s what it looks like once fully open, so here’s a top down view.
You could see how the hinge just slides over onto the front screen, but it doesn’t actually make any type of contact with the screen. It just rests on the frame at the top and bottom mirror, so here’s a slow motion kind of closing it and then opening it again. And of course you could do this very quickly and it just snaps into place very resolutely. When the inner screen is fully open up, if you do a side view, the case bezels actually don’t extend higher, then the built-in bezel that’s already there on the Z Fold 7. The front screen bezel that goes all the way around is sufficiently high enough so that if you place this kind of outer screen side down on a surface, you don’t have to worry about any scratches.
And again, you really don’t have to worry since we do have a built-in screen protector as well. The front firing speaker grill also has cutouts, but I would have preferred just a large cutout instead of the perforated cutouts. Even with the added bezel protection going around the front screen, I can still easily use the swipe out features without any type of hassle. In terms of a wobble test, so putting the phone camera side down, if I go ahead and tap, you can see it’s very minimal wobble, and also fairly well controlled. Now, opening the phone up completely and then putting it down, you are going to get significant rocking of course.
The built-in tempered glass screen protector doesn’t get job at protection, but it does actually make the colors on the Z Fold 7 display a little bit more washed out, and there is a noticeable amount of glare as well when compared to the original screen. A close-up view of the screen shows this kind of dimpling or grid-like pattern or arrangement, and that’s something I’ve noticed with these type of screen protector, which kind of washed the colors out or faked them out a little bit. And even with the enhanced touch sensitivity setting off, the phone is still very responsive and touch sensitive.
Using the built-in kickstand, so I could just easily pop it out and then if I push, it just clicks our locks into place, and I can use it with the phone actually horizontally while the phone is still closed, and you can see that’s rock solid, it’s not shifting or rocking in any way. You can’t really use it vertically though because the angle is just too extreme. Now if I go ahead and open the phone up, again, I can go ahead and use this horizontally for this type of viewing. And you kind of have to only use it horizontally. If I try to use it vertically, you can see that’s way too unstable. Now using it this way is also not ideal, so really you have to use it this one particular way. And of course, this does double-do the acting kind of as a finger loop or ring holder.
And when you’re done, you can just go ahead and kind of press down, snap that back and you can hear it click into place, and it’s those away nice and flush. And here’s what the Hinch looks like once applied to the phone, and if I just retracted, you could see the phone hinge is nicely protected in there. There’s no type of sagging or looseness, this is a very well-tensioned hinge. If you’re looking to use maxif charge and maxif accessories, that’s only going to be possible on the UB grip case. The UB Pro case is not capable of that.
UB Grip Case Install
I’ll go ahead and install the UB grip case now. Here’s what the UB grip case looks like on the Z Fold 7, and I actually prefer the look of the UB grip case a little bit more, because I can see a little bit of the phones original color. Now this has the same great hand feel and fitment as the UB Pro case, and it does feel a little bit more grippy with this kind of, you know, kind of larger diagonal stripes on the side here. So yeah, this just actually feels a little bit better in the hand to me. We have the same precise cutouts, top and bottom, using maxif charging and maxif accessories, a zero-issue thing that is secure and strong magnetic hole. Let’s do a quick wobble test.
So on the UB grip, you could see as soon as I place it face down, it’s actually wobbling already, so you can see that’s significant wobbling or rocking, whereas with the Pro case, we didn’t have any of that. So just keep that in mind. If you want a wobble free experience, the Pro case is the way to go. And of course, when you open it up because of this huge and raised middle hand dryer, you’re going to also have significant rocking or wobbling. Opening and closing the phone is really easy. Again, thanks to this textured area at the bottom here. You can see that’s just really easy, open and close it well. You can see I’ve left quite a bit of fingerprints and smudges on the front here, so it’s still not amazing at resisting fingerprints.
Similar to the UB Pro case whenever the inner screen is fully open, the case bezels don’t extend past the actual inner screen bezel. However, there’s significant front screen bezel protection that goes all the way around every corner. We also have that perforated front firing speaker cutout, which again would be better if it was a huge cutout. The hinge performance is also really good, so when I retract it, snaps right back into place nicely protecting the hinge. In terms of screen clarity, so the colors are a little bit washed out and muted, similar to the UB Pro case when compared to the Z Fold 7’s original screen. And similar to the UB Pro case, even without the touch sensitivity option applied, the screen is still very fast, fluid and responsive.
It’s also easy to use the swipe out panels, even with the front cover bezels. To use the built-in kickstand, it’s really simple. You’re just put your fingernail at the bottom, lift it right out like so, then you can go ahead open up your phone and use that built-in kickstand for vertical viewing or horizontal viewing as well, either this way or this way. Now, the only way you won’t be able to use this as if the phone is completely closed it won’t work for that purpose. And do note that you can actually see the phones original hinge color, which is a nice touch, and at any time you’re done using the kickstand, just go ahead, snap it into place.
Fingerprint Unlocking
Fingerprint unlocking is responsive. Once you make the adjustment of putting your finger in at an angle, since we don’t have a massive cutout to cut out just only where the finger print unlock sensors, once you get a hang of that, is very predictable.
Protection
In terms of protection, both of these cases have an MIL, SCD-810H rating, and both of these are rated for drops up to 20 feet high.
NFC
NFC use has also completely unaffected on both cases.
Selfies
Even though the front selfie camera is covered by the screen protector, I didn’t notice any detriment to the image quality.
UB Pro or UB Grip?
If you ask me which case I prefer, I’d probably go for the grip case, only because I still retain maxi functionality. There’s also a built-in kickstand right in the hinge, and I can also add, you know, a third party ring holder, just like so, to add even more versatility.
Compromises?
The one compromise I see with both of these cases is just the kind of colors on the screen. It’s going to be a little bit muted and washed out, but maybe it’s not dabbing of a deal for you. If you just kind of want a one-stop option for all around protection.
Recommended?
So if you’re looking for great all-around protection for your Zufold 70 sub-case, UB Pro and UB grip cases offer hinge protection, a built-in tempered glass screen protector, protective front and rear bezels, and unique features like a built-in kickstand, the ability to use maxi of charging or cheap wireless charging, kept pending on the case you choose. I’ll leave links down below for you to get your very own case, and you could use my coupon code DCT for 11% off your order on the sub-case website. If you found this video helpful, consider checking out this video next, and maybe also liking it, subscribing. I have much more case reviews coming up soon, and consider checking out some of my other tech reviews.
Outside of full-case is also a review here, but it’s monitors, laptops, pretty much something for everyone, and I really hope you’ll join me in my next video soon.
Please note that some of the links in my video descriptions are affiliate links where I earn from qualifying purchases. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
