Drop-proof case review: how do I protect my Huawei P30 Pro?

If there’s one thing I’ve discovered having used a Huawei P30 Pro for a month, it’s that gravity still works. Who needs a spirit level app when your P30 Pro can reveal uneven surfaces within 30 seconds? After its umpteenth fall, I decided I needed to invest in protection. So how do you protect your Huawei P30 Pro when it takes a tumble?

There are two things to think about. First, insurance. Boring, but potentially a huge saving. Second, protective cases.

Who offers insurance for the Huawei P30 Pro and why would you want it?

As always with insurance, it can seem like a huge waste of money if you never claim. As you can see from the table below, cost per month is typically around £9, so a cool £108 per year. And the excess is typically £100. (This is for a 128GB P30 Pro; the 512GB version costs yet more.)

So why pay? Simple: the replacement cost of a phone such as the P30 Pro is £900. Of course, most people buy their phones on contract so that price is hidden. For instance, Vodafone is selling the P30 Pro for £54 per month on a 15GB data plan; multiply by 24 (it’s a two-year contract) and you’re paying £1,296. How annoying to pay that much and be using a damaged phone for the final 18 months.

Name of insurer	Cost per month
insurance2go	£9.99
loveitcoverit	£9.79
multigadget insure	£8.75
tinhat	£8.99

Note that now is the time to buy insurance if you own a P30 Pro: if you don’t buy it within six months of purchasing the phone, you may not be accepted onto these plans.

Protect the Huawei P30 Pro with a cover

Bearing in mind the high cost of the handset, and those hefty insurance prices, it’s no surprise to see a burgeoning market of protective cases. See a selection below.

However, the one I’ve been putting to the test is by UAG (Urban Armour Gear). And it costs £30 from Amazon. So why pay that much?

Firstly, it’s been properly drop-tested. To reinforce this claim, UAG includes an imposing looking logo on the front of the packaging that says APPROVED and DROP TESTED, with MIL STD 810G-516.6 in the icon.

Now, MIL STD 810G-516.6 is a solid test for damage against “shock” (in this case, falls). If you’re curious, you can download an 800-page PDF from Everyspec.com and head to page 516 to see exactly what it covers.

For our needs, though, simply understand that phones in this case design have been subjected to a series of drop tests on their sides and corners. Not onto concrete, but “two-inch plywood backed by concrete”.

The case certainly looks the part, with reinforced plastic around its corners and a quasi-military air about its design. I decided not to drop-test my £900 phone to test UAG’s claims, but it’s worth noting that you can’t drop the screen itself directly onto the floor – the case gives it a buffer of around 1mm.

There are downsides to such protection. First, your finger no longer runs smoothly across the side of the glass so swiping from the top, for instance, involves going over the case’s ridge first.

Second, one of the P30 Pro’s selling points is its gorgeous design, and now that’s been replaced by the design of the UAG case. Unlike the silicone cover that comes in the box, it isn’t properly see-through.

But the biggest drawback, inevitably, is bulk. It’s that much thicker in your pocket, while the ridges mean it doesn’t slip in either.

Still, since UAG sent me the case for review a week ago I’ve kept it on. It’s perfectly contoured for the P30 Pro, with cutouts for the incredible zoom and lenses, while the buttons are still easy to work.

Personally, I’d rather spend £30 on a case than pay £108 per year on insurance. And what’s more, the P30 Pro hasn’t slipped off a surface once since I added the case.

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