The PS Vita is my new toy. It was a gift from my wife and let me tell you, it’s amazing how fun this little thing is. I already had a PS3 and a PS4 along with a subscription to PlayStation Plus so it only made sense to get me a PS Vita over a Nintendo 3DS. Now, with any new gadget I get, my first priority is always to find protection for it. I’m not clumsy with my stuff and I’m usually really careful, but I like having a little bit of insurance for that “just in case” moment.
Now, the first case I bought for the PS Vita was the official Sony PS Vita Carrying Case. It wasn’t that great. It did what it said it did, but it was just to chunky and didn’t allow you to hold any games or accessories. It also didn’t feel like it was very protective if I were to have dropped it. Well, a few days later of using that, I received the WaterField PS Vita CitySlicker case from sfbags.com. When it comes to cases for the PS Vita, this may just be the Bugatti of cases. To make a long story very short, the CitySlicker is the last and only case I will ever need for the PS Vita and the only one I would ever recommend despite its slightly high price tag.
Design and Build
The WaterField PS Vita CitySlicker Case is a padded pouch with a genuine leather flap to keep your PS Vita secure when inside. The entire case is constructed of ballistic nylon along with a double layered leather flap and leather game card holders. The rear of the case has a stretchable pocket for storing things like cables or in-ear headsets and is kept shut with a self-locking zipper. There’s even area in the pocket to hold extra memory cards secure. The interior is lightly padded and lined with a soft, scratch free liner that will keep your PS Vita secure, safe, and protected.
Everything about the WaterField CitySlicker screams high quality and I’ll explain why in detail. For starters, the materials used here are not cheapy. The ballistic nylon is very strong and looks like it will stand up to some heavy abuse.
Then there’s the double layered genuine leather flap that is that keeps everything shut, and we all know how strong leather can be. It’s not the type of material that will rip or degrade, even with age. In fact, leather only gets better with age. Not only that, the smell of real leather is intoxicating. The flap is held secure with two buttons instead of something like Velcro. That’s means that opening the flap is a lot quieter than if it were Velcro, and that this case looks really stylish and high end.
The game cartridge holders are also made of leather that have been rolled at the edges for added strength. Even the zipper on the back pocket isn’t your average type of zipper. This one has a self-locking mechanism that keeps the pull tab from flapping around. Honestly, the attention to detail on this case is simply amazing.
Usage
Basically the WaterField CitySlicker is a pouch for your PS Vita. You just slide your PS Vita into it and then fold the leather flap down and button it down to keep it secure. The leather pockets for the games are also secured under the flap when closed and you can hold up to 5 game cartridges here. One of the complaints I read about with pouches is that they can push up on the thumbsticks and not many people like this. The CitySlicker though, at least mine, seems to have ample space here, enough for the thumbsticks to sit correctly.
The rear pocket is stretchable so you’ll be able to carry around your charging cable and even an pair of in-ear headsets. What you can’t hold is the giant PS Vita charging block. In this pocket, you can also hold 3 PS Vita memory cards in the included slots inside.
The CitySlicker does seem like it would protect your PS Vita from small drop though I’m not one to try that out right about now. It will protect your system from scratches and bumps, mainly it will keep your screen and rear touch panel scratch free. When everything is in the case and all buttoned up, they remain securely in place and you don’t really have to worry about anything ever falling out of it or opening accidentally. The buttons are very strong and take a bit of force to undo.
Final Thoughts
With most devices, I usually go through tons of cases before I find that one perfect case, and sometimes I never even get to that point. However, with the PS Vita, I’m amazed that I’ve only had to go through 2 cases before finding one that I truly love. The WaterField CitySlicker Case is the only case I will ever need for my PS Vita and the only case I will ever recommend for it. I only wish I had discovered it sooner. It’s one of the nicest looking cases I have ever owned with any device and has all the features you would want in a PS Vita case. It has room for not only your PS Vita, but for both games and accessories and it’s not overly bulky either.
I got mine in the brown/black combo and the look of the distressed brown leather is simply amazing. There’s just something about brown leather that makes almost anything look classy and expensive, which it should because the WaterField CitySlicker is not cheap. This is probably one of the most expensive PS Vita cases you’ll find, coming in at around $50, but you know what? It’s worth every penny in my opinion. You get a high quality case that will last you as long as the lifespan of your PS Vita, if not longer, and you’ll get a product that looks like no other PS Vita case out there.
You can get your own WaterField CitySlicker over at sfbags.com, their official site. You will have your choice of either black/black, kiwi/black, orange/black, brown/black, or camel/black color combinations.
