Class Up Your iPad Mini With The Outstanding Macleay Folio [Review]

I’ve long been a fan of minimalist protection for my personal iPads, using a green Smart Cover for the non-retina iPad mini I still favor as my main reading and web surfing device.

When I got the Toffee case in the mail, however, I might have detected a bit of jealousy from the Smart Cover, which has gotten rather grimy and well-used over the past several months as I move the iPad mini from bag to bag, house to car seat, bag to coffee house table, and such.

The Macleay Folio comes in a very classy box, all recycled cardboard and slide out inner pieces. The folio itself peeks out through the clear front of the packaging with a classy style that promises a higher-class iPad mini experience. It’s ostensibly marketed for the iPad mini with Retina display, but as both models of iPad mini are essentially the same, the Folio will work with either.

I took some time with the Folio to figure out if the classiness was worth hiding my mini inside of.

The leather clasp on the right of the case wraps around from front to back, lovingly sliding into a leather strap on the back of the Folio to hold the cover closed, tightly comfortable without being difficult to use. The Toffee logo is gently pressed into another leather badge, itself stitched carefully in the lower left corner of the front piece. There are cut out sections on the rear of the deliciously tactile case for your iPad mini camera, as well as a magnet embedded in the front flap to activate the iPad wake/sleep feature.

The Toffee case beats out the Smart Cover in terms of solidity for placing the iPad into upright landscape mode and even typing mode. The front flap of the Folio bends around to the back, and the leather securing flap slides into the rear strap the opposite way, holding the newly-created triangular configuration incredibly well. Whether you’re watching a video or swiping through Facebook, the Folio has enough heft to it for using at either angle, though the lower, typing-table configuration is obviously quite a bit more stable, as it would have to be.

The weight and bulk of the Folio are manageable, though adding a full wrap around case like this will thicken your iPad mini up a bit. Whether this is a huge issue for you or not is going to be an individual choice. I, for one, really like the way the iPad looks in its fancy new waxed canvas jacket, and I’m willing to let go of my previous need to show off the device itself. Maybe I’m just getting old.

In the final call, Toffee’s Macleay Folio iPad mini case is a beautiful marriage of form and function, with a classy look and feel due in large part to the tasteful color scheme and alluring ratio of real leather to waxed canvas. The build quality is extremely high, and I’m enjoying the way the Folio makes my iPad look more at home on a table in a used bookstore.

Product Name: : Macleay Folio The Good: Solidly built, gorgeously trimmed out; makes me feel fancy. The Bad: Needs adjustment for perfect hole alignment; hides the iPad vibe. The Verdict If you’re looking for a subtly stylish full wrap-around folio-style case, look no further. Buy from: Toffee



[rating=excellent]