This is a case that I picked up on Amazon for my iPad 2. This one is from a company called iPearl which seems to only sell their items through Amazon. They are based out of China which is why I guess they only sell their items through Amazon and have it fulfilled by them. I had never heard of the company before and the case I have here only has a couple of reviews posted on Amazon’s site. Users gave the case a 4-5 star review but when dealing with items that have such a small number of reviews, sometimes I don’t always trust them as opposed to items that have 50+ customer reviews. I decided to take a chance on it anyways due to the relatively low cost of $14.99.
Upon first inspecting the case when I received it, I was quite impressed with the overall quality of the case. The stitching looks very tight and straight and the texture on the leather looks much better than the bumpy leather I see on other cases. The leather on it however doesn’t seem as thick as others nor does it feel as soft. On the inside, the case is lined with a very soft material that feels like microfiber so I’m not worried about it scratching up my iPad when placed inside it. The case itself is not very hard like other leather cases and has a softness to it that makes it feel like one of those Moleskine Folio Notebooks. The case even includes an elastic strap that keeps the cover closed when not in use. I’m a big fan of folio style cases because of the fact that they will not draw attention to your iPad. It helps conceal your expensive device from those who might want to steal it from you.
The iPad is placed inside case by sliding it into a pocket and is then secured in place by a flap that you fold behind the iPad. It’s not as secure as some solutions I’ve seen that also use Velcro along with the flap, but it seems to do it’s job and allows only minimal movement of the iPad. All the required openings are present so you’ll be able to use everything without taking the iPad out of the case, including the front and rear cameras.
One of the more unique features of this case is the elastic hand strap on the inside cover. This allows you to have a solid hold of the case when using it with one hand. That was one of the reasons I decided to buy this case. On the inside cover, there is also another little flap that you can open up and it acts as a stand that angles the iPad when placed on it’s back for easier viewing and typing. The flap also includes 2 slots to hold business cards, credit cards, or any other flat item. Handy feature but one I”ll probably not use. One feature on this iPearl case came as shock to me. As stated above, there is a flap on the inside cover that is used as a stand. It seems that the flap is held shut by a magnet that I wasn’t aware about when purchasing the case. It seems that the magnet is in just the right spot where it can activate the iPad 2’s Smart Lock / Unlock feature. This wasn’t something I was expecting as it wasn’t advertised as having it and is a huge bonus.
The iPearl case does have a few negatives, but they may not really matter to some. First off, there aren’t really many ways to prop up the iPad with the case. It either lays flat or at around a 40-45 degree angle with the stand up. Other cases offer positions that are more upright for viewing movies, this one doesn’t. Also, the iPad does move around a tiny bit when in the case so it’s not always entirely centered in the pocket. Again, not really a big deal as it still will not fall out. The iPearl case also comes with a stylus which quite frankly isn’t any good. It sticks too much to the screen to be of any real use and is very cheap looking. For $14.99 however, I can overlook these tiny annoyances and still feel good about my purchase. It doesn’t add much bulk to the iPad, it will protect your iPad from minor drops, and it looks pretty good when closed up.
You can pick up the iPearl case in either black, red, pink, or green for as low as $14.99 on Amazon.
