Best iPhone 14 cases of the year: Affordability, leather, wallet-style, and more

Update: While we haven’t narrowed it down to the top 5 yet for 2023, our roundup of the best iPhone 15 cases is now up.

As any avid gadgetnewsonline reader will know, we test and go hands-on with an inordinate amount of covers for Apple’s latest handsets every year, and it’s time to weigh in on the best iPhone 14 cases of 2022. While like most Apple gear accessory categories, the established brands and products tend to shine every year, this time around we have both a few mainstays and some new options that made their way to the top of the pack. If you’re looking to upgrade your case beyond the model you purchased at launch or just recently acquired a new iPhone 14 over the holidays, you’ll definitely want to take a closer look at our list of the best iPhone 14 cases to at least ensure your well-informed of some of our favorite options out there. 

Best iPhone 14 cases of the year

• Best bang for your buck – Spigen
• Best leather iPhone 14 case – SANDMARC
• Best folio-style wallet case – Coach
• Most unique iPhone 14 case – Arc Pulse

Head below for more details on each of our winners this year as well as hands-on reviews for each, some honorable mentions, and more.

Best bang for your buck – Spigen

While it has once again unleashed its exorbitantly priced, high-end Italian leather Enzo model, the standard issue Spigen iPhone 14 cases remain the best bang for your buck out there. Spanning a broad range of styles, models, and even an expanded set of color options this year to match the purple iPhone 14 models, there aren’t very many better options in the price range. 

This year’s collection launched just minutes after the iPhone 14 took the stage with a series of updated models from last year’s collection, some new entries like the novel Cryo Armor with design focused on heat dissipation, a slew of MagSafe models, and just about everything is currently on sale. One thing to keep in mind with the Spigen iPhone 14 cases is that you’ll definitely want to purchase them through the brand’s official Amazon storefront where literally every option is priced well below the direct listings – sometimes as much as 50% less, too. 

We went hands-on with several models this year with a focus on the Mag Armor (my personal top pick), Rugged Armor, Thin Fit, and Liquid Air variants, coming away as about as impressed as possible for a bunch of cases that sell for roughly $14 to $35 each. 

Spigen iPhone 14 collection

Learn more in our hands-on review

Best leather iPhone 14 case

While brands like Nomad (last year’s top pick) and MUJJO make wonderful leather covers ever year, and 2022 is no exception, a new offering has pushed its way to the top for me this year. Enter SANDMARC’s Leather iPhone 14 Pro case – a brilliant option with special accents, attention to detail, and something you might not have considered in years past. While you’ll certainly want to keep the aformentioned brands in mind if you’re using a base or Plus model of Apple’s latest handset, the SANDMARC variant is my pick for the best leather iPhone 14 case this year. As you might know for our hands-on Tested with gadgetnewsonline review, it presents a gorgeous leather covering with metal capped button covers and a gunmetal machined lens protector threading around the back. It takes your traditional clean leather offering to another level with these metal details, easily standing out from the pack alongside black, brown, and two new colorways to introduce navy and teal options to the lineup for the first time this year. 

If you’re looking for a leather iPhone 14 case for your Pro or Pro Max, you’ll certainly want to at least give the SANDMARC options a closer look – be sure to use our exclusive gadgetnewsonline code at checkout for a nice discount, too. 

SANDMARC Leather iPhone 14 Case

Learn more in our hands-on review

Best folio iPhone 14 wallet case – Coach

Twelve South and Pad & Quill, both former recipients of our picks for the best folio-style wallet case, should certainly be on your radar in this category, but this year we were just so impressed with what the Coach variant brought to our EDC, it had to be featured. While you might not think of a brand like Coach when it comes to iPhone cases – best known for its leather bags, wallets, and purses – its fashion-forward folio iPhone 14 wallet case doesn’t just look good. From the classic all-over Signature C Tan print adorning the leather cover to the accent brown magnetic strap holding it shut and the almost suede-like feel of the interior case, there’s a luxurious attention to detail here that’s blatantly obvious the second you pull it out of the packaging. Subtle hidden Coach lettering, decorative stitching, and more than enough card storage in the accent brown leather inner flap, the design is more than exemplary here.

While I would have preferred the inner case attach to the folio magnetically, like the Twelve South BookBook, it is so soft and luxurious feeling (and potentially even more secure with the snap mechanism), that design choice is easy to overlook.

Coach folio iPhone 14 wallet case

Learn more in our hands-on review

Most unique iPhone 14 case – Arc Pulse

The Arc Pulse isn’t really even a case, but a rather a sort of eye-catching deconstruction that delivers a comparable range of protection without actually sheathing the Apple handset at all – a form-factor that is truly unique among iPhone case accessories. Our hands-on review put it best:

Ultimately with a market of covers from other brands that are all effectively the same in one way or another, the Arc Pulse iPhone 14 Pro bumper case breaks the mold to deliver something a bit more exciting. It puts form very clearly over function and is a better accessory for the decision. 

You’re essentially looking at a pair of separate metal bumpers that safeguard the most vulnerable elements of an iPhone 14 without actually covering much of it at all. A sort of aluminum skeleton if you will, it surrounds the camera array spanning out towards the top corners and wrapping around the front of the device, not unlike the bottom bumper. As we noted, it might get in the way of some MagSafe accessories and some flat charging pad designs, but it’s so remarkably different it be would hard to choose anything else for our pick of the most unique iPhone 14 case out there. 

Arc Pulse

Learn more in our hands-on review

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