TLBHD - Thinner Lighter Better

Snugg leather case and Silicone skin for the Apple iPad review

By Andrei Girbea , updated on November 8, 2013

Ever since I got an iPad 2 (don judge, I have an Asus Transformer as well 😛 ) I started looking for some proper case for it.

I did not plan to spend much on it and with offer being extremely limited at that time (early April), I went ahead for a no-name case on Amazon.co.uk that cost me about 10 pounds (plus 5 for shipping). I wasn’t completely satisfied with it but hey, for 10 pounds, you can’t really ask much: it was slim, acted as a stand as well and pretty decently built. So I had that for a couple of weeks.

By the middle of May though I received another case, this time made by Snugg. They actually sent me this case and a bunch of others for me to review, but rest assure, this is a completely unbiased review. If you’ve read my other posts here you know my critic sense is well developed (too well actually) and if something is not the way I would need it to be, I’ll tell you about it.

So, I have the Snugg leather case, the Snugg silicone skin and the Car mount, all for my iPad 2. I’ve been using the skin for a couple of days and the leather case after that continuously. Let’s take them one at a time.

The Snugg leather case

This one is made from black leather and actually feels quite nice. It’s a pretty standard design, a folio case that can act as a stand as well, allowing you to watch a clip of type easily on your tablet.

Comes with special cuts for all of your ports and connectors, plus some soft interior to protect your tablet. So nothing really special you might say, but when compared to my original leather case, this one is superior. First, the quality of the leather used for the exterior is better and those white contrasting stitches really look stylish, but that’s not really important. What matters is the interior padding, made from some kind of velvet/suede material which is actually very soft. It’s also quite thick and I feel like my iPad is quite well protected in there.

The special compartment meant for the iPad is secured by a Velcro strap and I like that you can’t really close it the wrong way, too loose or too tight, as the Velcro strap closure is surrounded by that soft padding and makes it easier for you to fix you iPad inside just right.

There’s also an arm band that should be useful when carrying the iPad around and using it, but I for one haven’t really used this part much. I would have liked more some kind of small pocket on the flip-cover, where I could place a small cleaning wrap for the screen.

More about this one in the video review below:

This case goes for around 30 bucks in the US and around 30 pounds in the UK. And if you won’t trust my judgment on this case (I hope you do though!), head to those sites and see that it is one of the most popular iPad 2 cases, with excellent marks and reviews from buyers.

And a couple of pictures with this case:

The Car headset mount

I have to tell you I only used this accessory once, to test it out, as I travel alone or with my gf most of the time, so there’s no need for anyone to use an iPad on the backseats. It is however a very easy to install mount and works together with the leather case above, which just slides into this one (the clip shows you how).

Costs around 25 bucks which for me is expensive, cause it’s something I don’t need. But if you have kids, buying such a device would be justified and you’ll hardly find something simpler, cheaper or more reliable.

The silicone skin

The headset mount

The headset mount

I received a silicone skin for the iPad 2 as well, also from Snugg. I got the black version which actually looks nice on my black iPad, but you should know that this one is available in a bunch of different colors.

Anyway, it’s very easy to get on, provides access to all your ports and the back is made from some rubber square tiles. They are there for two reasons: provide protection and grip. The last one was a big problem when i got my iPad: that aluminum back is very slippy, but you can easily solve this with a silicone/rubber skin like this one.

Now, I don’t particularly like that the margins of this case flip during everyday use; it’s kind of frustrating, but I guess that’s the case with all such rubber skins, they just can’t make them otherwise.

The Silicone skins goes for around 20 bucks in the US and around 20 pounds in the UK and like the leather case above, it also scored good marks and reviews with buyers.

Wrap-up

I for one love leather cases: they look nice, come with a flip cover for the screen, provide decent protection and can act as stands. That’s all I need and this case from Snugg does all these great for me. Of course, this is probably not the most stylish case out there and it lacks some features that other do (like a pocket or different-angle adjustable stand feature) and you might of course need different things from a tablet cover than I do. But for 30 bucks, I challenge you to find anything significantly better.

The silicone skin and the headset mount are also nice accessories if you’re into such things. I for one prefer the extra functionality of a leather case and have no need for an iPad 2 car mount right now, but if you do, these are top picks, judging by how they look and feel and also by their popularity with buyers around the world.

Disclaimer: Our content is reader-supported. If you buy through the links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.
Andrei Girbea, Editor-in-Chief at TLBHD.com. This project was born as part of my search for capable mini-laptops that I could easily lug around to work, and still provide the performance that I'd need on a daily basis. I'm primarily using such ultracompact devices and have been testing them since 2006.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *