AOHi MagArmor iPhone 17 Pro Max Case REVIEW

Protective case with premium look and feel.

September through November is one of my favorite seasons of the year.  The weather changes, fall themes, upcoming time change, and release of new iPhones and accessories lead nicely into Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I love the Apple event, latest launch, and seeing what new tech, features, and gear companies provide.  Are you a full-armor phone case user, or a lightweight, bumper-style user?  Or, are you a naked, au natural iPhone user?  I have moved away from the bulkier, heavier, waterproof cases to lighter-weight options.  I want form, function, pizzazz, and features for my new blue-colored iPhone 17 Pro Max. 

The AOHi Future MagArmor phone iPhone 17 Pro Max case arrived in a hanging-style retail case that was 4 3/4 inches wide by 9 5/8 inches tall by 7/8 inches thick.  The cover panel had a bright yellow sticker with “6.9 in iPhone 17 Pro Max” along the lower edge of the case.  If you look closely at the cover panel, you will see the product name and texture in a slightly glossy, black font.  Even though I liked the matte black color scheme and yellow sticker, the words were difficult to read.  The rear panel proved to be quite effective with the grey font upon a black background.  The panel discussed the P4U polymer material, alloy CNC lens frame, magnetic MagSafe charging, 5-meter SGS drop certification, light and soft flexible material, anti-fingerprint, and the three-step installation process.  The lower segment provided a UPC barcode, product manufacturing labels, and product contents. 

I opened the packaging and felt a bit nostalgic for old VHS-style containers.  The cover’s inner flap surface had bright yellow images/font that detailed the AoHi non-Newtonian polymer fluid.  I am a big fan of the yellow color on a black surface and often use this for my PowerPoint presentations because it seems to glow off the background.  I wish the cover panel had used the same color scheme, as it was vibrant, bright, and eye-catching.  The panel showcased three images of the polymer material in a spread-out-elastic state, and a compacted state after absorbing energy.  The package’s right side had a foam cutout for the 1.6-ounce, 3 1/4 inches wide by 6 5/8 inches tall by 1/2 inches thick case along the upper section.  The lower section had a 1 5/8 inches diameter by 11/16 inches tall can of non-Newtonian yellow slime.  My six and ten-year-old daughters enjoyed playing with the slime. 

I removed the phone case from the foam cutout, then pressed the cardboard mock phone display and foam pad out of the case.  The rear panel of the case had a semi-translucent black backing, standard MagSafe grey design, and a visually pleasing yellow highlighter border.  The upper section of the panel had a metallic 2 1/2-inch wide by 1 7/8-inch tall camera cutout with a 1/4-inch diameter, 1/8-inch tall, raised, metallic rim.  The word “FUTURE” was printed along the right side of the raised camera protector in a contrasting white-Colored font.  The back panel was very cool and provided one of the most attractive color combinations that I have seen in a while.  I liked that they used the same yellow-on-black contrast as the inner panel of the packaging. 

The side, top, and bottom panels were made of a rubbery, grippy, silicone-like material. The left side panel had a 1/4-inch long by 1/8-inch tall action button and dual 7/16-inch long by 1/8-inch tall volume buttons recessed within a 2 9/16-inch long by 3/16-inch tall cavity.  The metallic buttons had a cool metallic feel, and the silver color added a nice flair.  The right side panel had a power button, 11/16 inches long by 1/8 inches tall, within a recessed cavity measuring 3/4 inches long by 3/16 inches tall.  Like the volume and action buttons mentioned above, the metallic power button was a nice touch.  The lower segment of the side panel had a 15/16-inch long by 1/4-inch tall camera button cutout.  The bottom panel had a centralized 17/32 inches long by 1/4 inches tall, oval-shaped USB-C port cutout and dual flanking 1/2 inches wide by 1/8 inches tall speaker cutouts.

The inner surface of the case featured a bold white MagSafe panel/ring and a highlighter-yellow top, side, and bottom AoHi material liner.  The material had hexagonal airspaces and hugged the inner side panel surfaces of the case.  Once installed, the black, silicone rubber material will provide ~1/16 inches of raised screen protection for the iPhone.  The installation process proved to be quite intuitive.  I followed the recommendations on the back of the packaging and slid the top of the phone into the case, and then pressed the bottom of the phone into the case.  

The action, volume, and power buttons were responsive, easy to press, well-aligned with the iPhone’s design, and had a pleasing metallic, bouncy touch-feel.  The lower USB-C port had no protection from dust or debris, but was easily accessible to every USB-C cable that I trialed. The speaker ports were well placed and cutout.  The raised screen protection paired nicely with the installed OtterBox Glass and provided substantial raised, glancing protection.  The raised camera barrier did not stick up very far above the three cameras, but had a nice buffer against the flash, microphone, and lidar.  I would have liked the camera protection to be a bit taller/thicker.  Lastly, the camera button cutout was well-aligned and easy to access.  The recessed nature of the design provided a bit of protection, akin to a raised screen or camera protector.  However, the surface of the very expensive touch-sensitive button was not protected with this case.  

I feel the ~$49.99 price point was reasonable for the look, feel, design, and quality.  I liked the color scheme better than many of the cases I have recently reviewed.  However, there were a few features that I would have loved.  I missed having a raised-camera protector kickstand like the ESR Hybrid Magnetic Case.  Additionally, I have read several reviews and concerns about unprotected camera buttons.  The MagArmor case provided an ~1/16 inches recessed channel for the button but left the touch capacitive button open to the elements.  I would have liked for the camera button to have a protective layer like the power, action, and volume buttons.  I have tested a few cases with USB-C dust covers.  I have not historically found an issue with dirty USB-C ports, and the feature was not one that I find essential.  However, some may express discontent with the lack of USB-C protection. 

I tested the case against a three-foot drop from my kitchen table to my hardwood floor. I swiped the phone off the table and found it landed on the bottom edge, bounced, and rotated to the screen side. I repeated the process twice and found the phone did just fine.  I would not want my iPhone to fall directly onto the camera surface due to the minimally raised camera protector. Furthermore, the case did not have any protection for the phone’s surface within the camera area, unlike with ESR or Unicorn Beetle cases.  I liked that I could see the blue color of the phone against the black/grey/yellow case features, and I appreciated the lightweight nature and design of the case.  My favorite feature of the case, outside of the yellow accent, was the raised metallic buttons. I think they were superior to the rubberized buttons on other cases.

I would rate the case at 8-8.5/10 based on features, color, and visual appeal.  I believe it would benefit from a bit more protection for the camera and the side camera button.  The grippy side material added a nice drop-resistant feature, and the back panel seemed to avoid fingerprints.  

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