Your super-sized Samsung deserves a great case, super-sized, thin, or anywhere in between
Although the S22 Ultra is made of armored aluminum and Victus Gorilla Glass, glass is still glass and will break if you drop it hard enough. When buying a phone like this, you want to ensure it’s in pristine working order for as long as possible, so a case is vital.
OtterBox may be the most well-known brand when it comes to heavy-duty cases, but the Supcase Unicorn Beetle Pro series has proven time and time again that it can hold up just as well — if not better — while costing much less. Drop tested against up to 20-foot impacts and packing two front frames — one with a built-in screen protector and one without — this Galaxy S22 Ultra case takes advantage of its size to include a kickstand that works vertically or horizontally. Available in eight colors now, including a clear model and matching colors for the Samsung.com custom Sky Blue or Red. The UB Pro comes with a belt clip in case it’s too big for your pockets to contain.
Casetify’s custom cases allow you to snag a perfectly unique case — or pull from franchised designs like this darling Millennium Falcon, Harry Potter, or dozens of artist series. For the vast majority of cases, you can not only pick your pattern but also what the case’s base color is from five colors and two opacities. Made with recycled materials, the Impact Series is rated for 6-foot drops and offers a surprising amount of grip for a smooth, flat-backed case. Casetify nailed the sweet spot between “snug enough not to let lint in” and “too tight to get it off again,” making it easy to slip on and then slip off again as needed.
When you carry a phone as large as the Galaxy S22 Ultra, you might as well ditch your wallet and combine everything into one dapper, easy-to-carry package. Snakehive’s leather wallets feel even more luxurious in hand than some of Samsung’s leather covers. The magnetic clasp is thankfully positioned below the buttons so as not to interfere with them, keeping the folio closed when not in use. Inside sit three card slots and a cash flap. The leather cover of this folio comes in six different hues, from the classic Brown to a quite dapper Black, verdant Bottle Green, and even a darling Teal, which is the only colorway to come with a gray leather lining rather than yellow.
Rated to withstand multiple 10-foot drops and featuring a grippy, scratch-resistant flexible outer shell, the i-Blason Cosmo Series is both heavy-duty and daintily designed. The two-layer construction offers robust protection while the clear outer shell allows a wide variety of patterns to be painted across it while also showing off the rigid inner frame your Galaxy S22 Ultra is enveloped in. i-Blason knocked it out of the park for the Galaxy S22 Ultra with eight different colorways. The two standouts of the bunch, by far, are Green Butterfly and Blue Butterfly, pictured above. These patterns accent the Sky Blue and Green colorways, but the hues are carefully chosen to also play well with Phantom White, Phantom Black, and Graphite colorways as well.
Urban Armor Gear usually tends to look more tactical and macho than most, even among the heavy-duty market they thrive in, but UAG dipped its toe in the more modern, minimal design pool with the Lucent Series and the Civilian Series. Even with its more understated profile, the UAG Civilian Series can still take a hit in stride thanks to its honeycomb pattern on the case’s lining. The Black and Olive Green (it’s more army green, not that baby-food Olive the S21 FE got) get bright orange accents around the bottom corners and the top edge of the screen.
Using Spigen’s ArcticFlow technology and the AirCube pattern across the back, the Cryo Armor can keep airflow up and temperatures down while gaming without needing liquid cooling or battery-draining fans, allowing you to game or take photos for longer before thermal throttling occurs. This case also has the benefit of staying pretty slim, another feature that sets it apart from other gaming-related cases. While most cases only focus on the grip when holding the phone upright, Spigen also adds extra grip to the four corners for when you’re holding the phone in landscape mode for most of the best Android games.
Ultra is synonymous with premium luxury, and the case feels more luxurious than leather. While the rest of the accessory makers opt for cases that only cover the back in leather (not the sides), Samsung’s Leather Cover covers everything in leather except for the buttons, which get metallic color-matched covers that match the rings around the Ultra’s cameras . If you’re not a huge fan of the lack of a cohesive camera bump on the S22 Ultra, this case covers that inconsistency and should keep them from gathering as much dust.
If you want a heavy-duty case that isn’t quite as extreme as the Poetic Spartan, OtterBox’s Commuter Series gives your Galaxy S22 Ultra impact resistance, grip, and port protection in a slightly slimmer package. The dust flap keeps your USB-C port covered so that it doesn’t get any debris in it during whatever dirty work you get up to, and since the case is slim enough to easily support wireless charging, you can keep that flap closed as often as possible. The cutouts on the back of the hard outer shell let the inner TPU layer add grip so the case won’t slide around or off smooth surfaces and add grip in hand.
If ESR’s kickstand isn’t quite to your liking, or if you just want a case that does even more, VRS Design has a wallet case that also has an impressively sturdy kickstand that works in both portrait and landscape mode. The steel-accented card slide can take a beating so that your cards never fall out in a time of need or get trapped inside the case when you need to pay the tab. The Damda Glide Hybrid holds up to four cards with ease and comes in regular and metallic black finishes.
With a screen as big as the Galaxy S22 Ultra, kickstand cases are invaluable, letting you save your wrist and neck by propping your phone up when you need a break. ESR’s clear case also comes in a well-textured black, but the clear lets your S22 Ultra’s colors shine through. It also offers a compact kickstand for half the price of Samsung’s bulkier Standing covers. This kickstand is listed as being usable in portrait and landscape, but in portrait mode, I recommend going easy on the taps as the kickstand balances on three points rather than four as it does in landscape mode.
The best protection for your Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
The S22 Ultra is heavy compared to other phones, and combine that with the curved screen and large size, and you get a phone that is easy to drop. If you want a case that pursues protection above everything else, then UB Pro from Supcase is the go-to option. If you want something similar but prefer something more colorful, the i-Blason Cosmo comes close and looks lovely.
If you prefer something comfortable and easy to hold, the Caseology Nano Pop is one of our favorite cases ever. It looks good, feels good, and will prevent damage from your average drop. Spigen’s Cryo Armor is a solid choice that uses graphene and silicone to keep the phone cool.
The UB Pro has a built-in screen protector; you’re better off using the spare frame that doesn’t use it. Screen protectors that are built into cases can interfere with the S Pen and fingerprint scanner on the S22 Ultra. With that in mind, you should get one of the best Galaxy S22 Ultra screen protectors to keep that display safe without impeding functionality.