I’ve been yearning for someone to get this right ever since I wrapped my hands around an iPad 2: the perfect marriage of Smart Cover and back protection for the iPad. Damned if Griffin hasn’t just nailed it with their new IntelliCase ($60).
I’m a huge fan of Speck’s extensive range of accessories that compliment Apple’s iOS devices. I’ve had a number of Speck cases since the original iPhone, in addition to products for my MacBooks and iPads, and one thing that’s consistently good about these things is their build quality and design. They all fit well, do the job they were intended to do, and cope with whatever you throw at them.
I was delighted, then, to get my hands on the new Speck CandyShell Wrap ($55) for the iPad 2.
Smart Cover? IntelliCase? Yeah, there’s no product-naming rivalry going on there. And just like its name, Griffin’s IntelliCase, is a cooler version of Apple’s ubiquitous iPad 2 Smart Cover, because it adds something sorely missing from Apple’s version: a back.
What peels away from your tablet’s display, folds to allow you to prop it up or type on it, comes in five pastel colors and has a product name that starts with the word ‘smart?’
Apple’s Smart Cover for iPad 2 is a good guess. But that’s not what we’re talking about here: we’re talking about the Smart Case for Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1. And hey, no surprise here: Samsung’s officially certified the copycat Smart Cover to be used with their copycat iPad.
Apple’s Smart Cover for iPad 2 is great for protecting your iPad’s display from nicks and scrapes while in your gadget bag, but how good is it actually protecting your iPad 2 when it goes flying from your butterfingers to skitter across the concrete pavement?
The Smart Cover is a beautiful invention, but pour a couple of beers and accidentally extinguish a couple of cigarettes on one, and it’s clear that some Smart Covers are better than others. So which one should you buy?
Thanks to its 21 built-in magnets, the iPad’s Smart Cover makes a great fridge magnet.
Just clip it to the fridge. It’s pretty sturdy. It clings to the fridge surprisingly strongly. There’s little danger of it coming loose, even when swiping your finger across the screen.
It’s another reason to invest in a $40-$70 Smart Cover when you get an iPad 2.
I made an interesting discovery today. I took my original Apple iPad case ($40), you know the black one, that the original iPad was inserted into making it kind of like a book or folio. It turns out that my iPad 2 with black leather Smart Cover (see my in-depth review) fits perfectly and tightly inside.
Wow I thought this a great opportunity to recycle something I didn’t know what I was going to do with after upgrading to the iPad 2. So hit the read link to find out how you can recycle your old iPad cover yet retain the unique Smart Cover and all its magic.
Apple’s new iPad 2 is basically one big screen. So the very first accessory that many of us will look for is a protective case for our new iPad 2s.
On launch day I wasn’t aware of any other case options besides Apple’s very own iPad Smart Cover which was available for $39 (polyurethane) or $69 (aniline-dyed Italian leather). The Smart Cover isn’t even close to being a case since it just protects the iPad 2’s display. The sides and back are completely exposed and unprotected. It’s elegant, thin, and doesn’t add a lot of weight or bulk to the iPad 2.
The Smart Cover is very thin and fits the iPad perfectly. It’s so thin it feels like you haven’t really added anything to the iPad at all. Perhaps that is just an illusion after owning the first iPad, but regardless it just doesn’t add a whole lot to the iPad’s weight or thickness. That is how it feels without going crazy weighing it, measuring it, etc. It just feels right.
Just marvel at the engineering behind the iPad 2’s Smart Covers. Between them, the iPad 2 and its Smart Cover contain an incredible 31 magnets.
Apple has made extensive use of magnets in the past – to hold a remote control to the iMac, for example, or keep the lid of a MacBook closed. But it has never used so many magnets in a product, or so elegantly.
The 31 magnets in the iPad 2 and the Smart Cover:
It’s really quite mind-boggling. iFixit has the details.
