Mujjo’s new “Understated & Low-Key” case collection is out, and if you like slick and simple leather sleeves for your devices then you’re in luck. I have my eye on two pieces: the Slim Fit iPhone 5s Wallet and the Slim Fit iPad Air Sleeve , both in tan.
iPhone wallet cases are traditionally cases first and wallets second; their focus is on protecting your iPhone, and then a few pockets are added for carrying your cards and cash. But the Danny P Pocket Book for iPhone 5 and 5s is a little different.
Made from the finest Italian leather, it’s essentially a traditional wallet that has space for your iPhone, so you don’t need to make any compromises to use it. You can continue to carry as many cards as you want — there are 8 card slots in total with two additional sleeves for business cards, receipts, and anything else you might want to stuff in there — and there’s more space for bills than most of us will ever need.
The Pocket Book is available in cognac — a beautiful tan color with blue internals — and it’s priced at $129. As iPhone wallets go, it’s pretty darn good.
The biggest surprise about the Joli Originals iPad sleeve is how much I like it. I use my iPad just about as much as I use my iPhone, (which is a lot). Maybe more. And for this reason I prefer a case which I can flip open and get to the screen as soon as possible. In short, I have no time for iPad sleeves. And yet the Joli sleeve won me over.
If you’re shopping for a new iPhone wallet case, you’ll be hard pushed to find one as suave and as strongly-built as the Fulki Pocket for iPhone 5 and 5s. Handmade from thick, belt-grade Italian leather, it’s the kind of case that’ll still be looking good and going strong long after the iPhone you slip into it has died out.
The Fulki Pocket is designed to provide your iPhone with protection from scratches, scrapes, and bumps at almost every angle. It also has a small pocket that’ll carry your credit card or some cash, and the v-shaped cutout in its top edge will allow you to grip your iPhone with your thumb and forefinger when you’re pulling it out of the case.
The Fulki Pocket is available in tan, coffee, and cognac colors, and it’s priced at €85 ($116). It’s pretty pricey, but it’s worth it.
I’ve tested lots of leather wallet cases for the iPhone, but the Wall St from id America is a lot different to the rest.
It’s not a folding case like Twelve South’s iconic BookBook, but rather a sleeve that your iPhone slips into that has a large hole in its front for your display, and a little pocket in its back for your credit cards.
It’s an ideal alternative for those who like to keep things simple and don’t want to have to deal with flappy front covers when using their smartphone. It makes everything easy to get to, and it doesn’t cover up any buttons, ports, or speakers.
The Wall St fits both iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s (there’s another version for iPhone 5c, too), and it’s available in a number of pretty colors, including brown, blue, orange, and red. It costs $34.95, so let’s find out whether it’s worth it.
If I have to put my new iPhone 5s in a case because I forgot to buy AppleCare+ during the first 30 days and I’m terrified I’ll drop it on its face, then I want that case to be sleek and simple and made of leather. The CalypsoCase Loop is all of those things.
Handcrafted by a team of skilled craftsmen in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the Loop is a beautiful slip-on sleeve made of only the finest leather that provides your iPhone with all the protection it needs when it’s not in use. It has laser-cut titanium foundations that retain its shape and offer impact protection, and a soft inner lining that lovingly caresses your iPhone’s aluminum without marking it.
The Loop is available in four colors, and it’s priced at €89 (approx. $120) with free shipping. Let me tell you why it’s worth that price tag.
Sorry bird-lovers, this post isn’t about reversing extinction — rather, it’s about DODOcase’s custom case builder coming to the iPad Air.
DODOcase’s book-like cases are pretty spiffy — they’re apparently distinguished enough even for presidential use — so being able to build one to fit any taste makes sense.
The NewTrent Gladius case isn’t the first iPad case we’ve seen with a grabby handle on the back, but it is the first we’ve seen that uses a leather strap on a plastic case. This also makes it the first case that would let you play a game of “My Little Subway Car.” Just glue the iPad to the ceiling of your bathroom and hang from the strap. For extra realism, piss in a corner a few hours before “embarking” and have family and friends pass through from time to time, asking you for money.
The Beamhaus BillFold is a wallet case with three pockets; one that holds your iPhone 5, another for your credit card or ID, and another for your cash. The iPhone pocket has a suede lining that’s kind to your iPhone’s display and prevents it from getting scratched.
The BillFold is made entirely of leather; “Horween latigo” in tan is used externally, while the inside is lined with “Horween Dublin” in black. It’s only available in these colors, but I think you’ll agree it looks pretty darn beautiful.
The BillFold is priced at $89.99, which is a little pricey for an iPhone 5 case. But is it worth it?
Twelve South, maker of several fine iOS device and Mac accessories, has released an updated version of the SurfacePad for the modern MacBook. The SurfacePad is one of Twelve South’s earliest products, and it has now been optimized for Apple’s 2013 laptops.
Maybe Distil Union’s ultra-minimal Wally iPhone “case” was a little too minimal for some, because the design outfit has come out with a more conventional case-wallet.
The id America SmartFold is a leatherette folio case for the iPad mini which offers drop protection and a smart design that will fit in just nicely at your next board meeting. It protects your iPad mini from top to toe, with a reinforced back for impact absorption and a sturdy front cover that stays closed with magnets.
The SmartFold provides access to all of your iPad mini’s ports and buttons, and leaves its front- and rear-facing cameras exposed. Its front cover can be folded back into a stand for typing or watching movies, and it has a soft microfiber lining to prevent your device from getting scratched.
The SmartFold is available in black and white and it’s priced at $39.95. I’ve been using it for the past two weeks to find out if it’s any good.
When I received the Truffol “Signature” case in the mail, I was prepared to be underwhelmed. After all, how much can a case maker bring to the table that hasn’t already been brought (broughten?) several times over?
It turns out the answer to that question is, “quite a bit.”
This precision-designed metal and leather case is a striking combination of frame and backing piece, and it genuinely makes my iPhone 5 feel like a whole new luxurious device, waiting to be touched.
Imagine that you took the aluminum frame from the inside of, uh, something that has a small, iPhone-sized metal frame. Then – still in the garden of your mind – imagine that you chopped the cover off a fancy leather bound book and glued the flat flap to the pre-scavenged frame. Now open your eyes and look at the picture above. Uncanny right? It’s exactly what you imagined.
The BookBook from Twelve South has long been the best and most luxurious leather wallet case for iPhone, but it has a new contender from Acase that wants to steal its crown. It’s called the Collatio, and in many ways, it’s very similar to the BookBook.
As well as holding your iPhone 5, the Collatio holds up to three credit cards, and features a larger pocket for bills, receipts, and anything else you’d like to stuff in there. It provides access to all of your iPhone’s buttons and ports — though you will need to open it up to use the volume buttons and mute switch — plus its front- and rear-facing cameras.
The biggest difference between the Collatio and the BookBook, however, is the price. While Twelve South’s offering will cost you $60, the Collatio is just $40. But is it as good?
Question: Do you associate complexity with value? That is, do you think that an object is worth more if it uses more parts in its construction? No? That’s absurd, right? But try this: the No.002 bag from Clean Everything is made from a single sheet of leather, cleverly cut and folded to form a bag. The price? €289, or $385.
This is the first part of a two-part review. When you see the case I’m writing about, the reason will be obvious. It’s the Castello Davarg Kanam, and it’s a wraparound case fashioned from full grain leather in the good old U.S of A. Fortunately, this doesn’t mean that it was thrown together by unionized slackers with one eye on the time-clock: The case is clearly put together with some care.
Why the tow-parter? Because this is a chunk of cow, and as such it’s meant to age gracefully, getting better over time. So today is more of a first look, with a long-term write-up to follow.
Cult of Mac reader Derek Stein put me on to this hot hot leather case for the iPhone 5. It’s similar in intent to the TwelveSouth SurfacePad I re-reviewed on Friday in that it’s a simple wraparound leather cover. The differences are that it looks less functional and much longer lasting.
This is the Bison Tote, and it’s just about the hottest laptop/camera bag ever. Unless, of course, you’re a bison. Why? Because the bag is made from bison skin.
Regular readers will know how much I dislike iPad cases, and that I only ever subject my iPhone to the confines of a miniature straitjacket. They’ll also know that I’m a big fan of Skech cases in general. So what happened when Skech sent me some leathery iPhone covers to try out?
Surprise! I (quite) liked them.
The Beamhaus Pocket is a premium leather sleeve for the iPhone 5 that’s “inspired by old baseball mitts, broken-in leather jackets, and long-loved boots.” It’s made from hand-selected leather from the Horween Leather Company, the oldest tannery in the United States, and it’s built to provide your iPhone with complete protection from everyday scratches and scrapes.
On the front of the Pocket, there’s a little pouch that’ll hold up to three credit cards — according to Beamhaus — plus a large cutout at the bottom that allows you to access your Lightning connector and hear your speaker. The Pocket is also lined with suede, which aims to prevent your shiny iPhone 5 from getting damaged as you slip it in and out of the case.
The Pocket is available in black and tan, and it’s priced at $59.99. Read on to find out whether it’s worth it.
Out of all the junk that I own, there are a few objects which I love to use. And I mean “love” on a base, visceral level. These are the things that are so well suited to their tasks that they not only never get in the way, but they make doing that task better.
When I heat milk and cocoa in my small De Buyer saucepan, alone in my quiet kitchen late at night, I smile when I unhook the pan from its hanger and feel its durable heft; I smile again when I pour the cocoa into a thermos and feel the pan’s perfect balance. Even washing it and hanging it up again is a pleasure.
I also love to use my dented, stainless steel Klean Kanteen “Reflect” water bottle. It’s design is so simple, just two pieces of steel, a silicone ring and a bamboo disk, but it does its job so well that I really do take it everywhere with me. And it’s so trustworthy that I’ll toss it into my bag along with my iPad and never worry about it leaking.
Which is to say, some things are not just well designed, they’re actually wonderful objects in their own right. And Twelve South’s SurfacePad for the iPhone is one of those objects.
That’s right — instead of a case that turns your iPhone into a wallet, Wally, the latest Kickstarter project from Distil Union, sort of does the opposite. It’s a slip of leather that attaches to the back of an iPhone 4 or 5 via something called “micro-suction,” and creates a cavity with just about enough space for three of your most-used cards.
There are plenty of tangle-wrangling, clutter-cutting, cable-tidying solutions out there, but none of them looks as delicious as this one: the Cord Taco.
I was a big fan of the original BookBook case for iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, but it did have a number of drawbacks that its creators, Twelve South, needed to address — such as the lack of a camera cutout on the back of the case. With the iPhone 5 version, however, drawbacks have been eliminated.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the BookBook, is a luxury, handmade leather wallet case that’s designed to look like a pocket-sized, vintage book. In addition to carrying and protection your iPhone 5, it carries up to four credit cards and has space for cash.
BookBook for iPhone 5 comes in vintage brown and classic black, and it’s priced at $59.99.
