| Cult of Mac

CAZLET: A premium wallet case that provides instant access to your iPhone

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The CAZLET from KYNEZ is an iPhone wallet case like no other. It’s the only one I know of that provides military-grade protection for your beloved smartphone, and it’s one of the few that allows you to use your device — and almost all of its features and functions — without having to open the wallet up.

CAZLET by KYNEZ
Category: Wallet case
Works With: iPhone 5 & iPhone 5s
Price: $65

CAZLET’s design leaves your iPhone’s display exposed yet protected, so as soon as you pull it out of your pocket, your device is ready to be used. It’s made from gorgeous leather sourced from boutique tanneries in France and Southern Germany, and it boasts some nifty features you don’t normally get with smartphone wallet cases — including dedicated pockets for a spare nanoSIM and SIM eject tool.

KYNEZ also offers a number of add-ons that you can buy separately, including a coin pocket, a card band, a hand strap, and an ID sleeve. The wallet itself comes with a $65 price tag, which I think is very reasonable. Let me tell you why.

Minimal Bezl iPhone corners offer maximal protection [Review]

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Bezl by Bezl Design
Category: Cases
Works With: iPhone 5/S
Price: $20

Who’d have thought that four tiny stick-on plastic corners could make such a great iPhone “case?” Yet the Bezl, a case so minimal it doesn’t even have room for vowels, is one of my favorites. That might not be surprising for someone who avoids cases altogether, but they’re pretty useful for something so tiny.

Incipio Atlas ID, A Great All-Round (And Underwater) iPhone Case [Review]

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Atlas ID byIncipio
Category: Cases
Works With: iPhone 5/s
Price: $90

Summer’s (nearly) here! And that means we are forced outside to use our devices in places that remain inhospitable to our iPhones and iPads.

The Incipio Atlas ID is a slimline waterproof iPhone case that lets you keep using the iPhone 5s’ Touch ID scanner, even while it’s in the case.

Weatherproof Braven 710 Is Loud But Lacking [Review]

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710 byBraven
Category: Speakers
Works With: Anything with Bluetooth
Price: $170

Braven’s 710 Bluetooth candybar speaker has a lot going for it. It’s the same size as my favorite pocket speaker ever, the Braven 650. It’s made of aluminum, it has the same battery-sharing tech as all the other Bravens, and it even fixes some of my complaints about the 650 – it has proper buttons for volume and play pause.

Hell, it’s even waterproof. But there’s one thing that isn’t quite so good. It doesn’t sound as good as the 650. Not by much, but enough that you should still buy the 650 – unless you want to use it in the shower.

TYLT RUGGD: Premium Protection For Your iPad Air [Review]

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The TYLT RUGGD is an iPad Air case that makes protection its priority. Its tough outer shell, triple reinforced corners, and “micro energy absorbing cushions” make it ideal for clumsy commuters who want to make sure their beloved tablet doesn’t get damaged on the train to work.

RUGGD by TYLT
Category: Cases
Works With: iPad Air
Price: $49.99

It’s also practical, with a built-in kickstand for watching movies on the go, and its two-tone design aims to provide a striking look that’s “more awesome that any other [iPad] case on the planet.”

The RUGGD is available in gray and green, and it costs $49.99. Let’s find out if it’s worth it.

Meison Morgan’s Handmade iPhone 5s Case Is A Beauty [Review]

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About a month ago, I reviewed a beautiful iPad mini case from U.K.-based BUKcase that was designed to make the device look like a simple book-bound notebook. Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been testing a handmade iPhone 5s case from Meison Morgan, courtesy of MyBanana, that has the same aim.

Meison Morgan by Meison Morgan
Category: Cases
Works With: iPhone 5 & iPhone 5s
Price: €30/$46

Manufactured in Greece using the same bookbinding process that traditional notebook makers use, this case offers not only good looks, but also all-round protection that promises to withstand the test of time.

It’s available in black and denim (blue), and it’s super affordable at €30 ($46).

Pi DockIt Pro Is Like Robo-Cop: Dated, Clunky, Still Sorta Cool [Review]

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When I opened the box that contained the Pi Dock-It Pro from Parle Innovations, my first thought was that it looked like an older model HP or IBM laptop. The dark gray plastic case, surrounded on all sides with a matte, silvery metal structure just scream “high tech,” albeit from a time in the recent past.

Pi Dock-It Pro by Parle Innovation
Category: iPad Cases
Works With: iPad 2, 3, 4
Price: $159, $30 off to start

The manufacturer wants you to use the Dock-It Pro to turn your iPad into a laptop while letting it remain useful as a tablet, and they’ve succeeded in doing just that, at least from a design standpoint. I found myself using the Dock-It Pro case as a flip-up laptop more often than as an tablet, though.

Does The Dock-It Pro truly transcend its clunky, quaint visual style and become something truly useful? The answer is–of course–somewhere in the middle.

Pad&Quill’s The Field Is A Whole Lotta Bag [Review]

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The Field byPad&Quill
Category: Bags
Works With: MacBook, iPad, paper
Price: $329

You need to know two things before you read this review. One is that Pad&Quill’s The Field is one of the best-made bags I’ve ever tried. It’s solid, tough, and will ages way more gracefully than I will.

The second is that it’s exactly the kind of bag I will never use: heavy, full of handy pockets and able to put enough weight onto that one strap to crush your shoulder. So bear both these points in mind as we continue.

SLIMS Makes Your iPad Mini Look Like A Beautiful Book Bound Notepad [Review]

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If you have a soft spot for beautiful book bound notebooks like the famous Oxford Black n’ Red, then you’re going to love the SLIMS for iPad mini from BUKcase. Made using traditional book binding techniques, it’s almost identical at first glance — but when you open it up you find its pages have been replaced by a handmade wooden frame that lovingly cradles your iPad mini.

SLIMS by BUKcase
Category: Cases
Works With: iPad mini
Price: £30 ($50)

Born in the U.K., and also available for the iPad Air, SLIMS isn’t just a protective case, but also a stand for typing and watching movies. It accommodates all of your iPad’s buttons, ports, and cameras — so you never need to take it out — and it has built-in magnets that automatically wake your device up and put it to sleep.

SLIMS comes in black with a grey, blue, or red interior, and BUKcase will even emboss your name on the front.

Varidesk Gets You Standing, Won’t Break The Bank [Review]

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Varidesk

Cult of Mac has long had a thing for standup desks – for years, publisher Leander Kahney has written posts great and small at an Ikea kitchen table propped up on canisters. His DIY version outlines the basic problem: a desk where you can stand up is useful, but they tend to be pricey.

We’ve reviewed NewHeights, for example, which will set you back over $1,300, so we were eager to try an option with variable height that didn’t break the bank.

PRODUCT by Varidesk
Category: Standing desk
Price: $275

Enter the Varidesk.