Review: $10 iPad Case From eBay

Got your shiny new iPad and want to protect it just a little bit? That’s what I wanted, plus I felt that the back of the iPad was too slippery for me to feel comfortable when using it as an e-reader. Putting the iPad into some kind of leather’ish case not only protects it, but also adds a better grip when handling the iPad with just one hand.
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You can either pay top dollar for a Snugg case or similar (I’ll get one of those in a few weeks so I’ll post another review then) or you can opt for a $10 synthetic leather case from eBay like this one (if the auction is no longer available, try to do an eBay search for “Leather Stand Up Case Cover Wallet for Apple iPad” or look at the seller i-saver).
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On this particular iPad case, the auction does say it’s PU leather meaning it’s synthetic leather and you shouldn’t expect real leather for the price of just $10 anyway. However, the price taken into consideration, I think this is a pretty good case.

It has built-in magnets in certain places so that it closes quite easily and will stay closed. The backside has a flap, also with magnets, under which you can put the front of the case to use it as a stand in two different angels, like you can see on the pictures.

This cheap case has two downsides. One is that it’s synthethic leather and it shows, as you can see on the picture below of the corner, it has already started to come off after just a few weeks worth of use. I don’t expect it to become a huge problem and I might just have been unlucky. Second, when you open up the case and put the front side under the flap, it creates a few pleats, shown on the other picture below. I don’t know for how long this fake leather will be able to last, but I’ll be sure to let you know if this becomes a problem anytime soon – after all, I open and close my iPad case many times throughout the day.

Other than that, I think it’s a decent case because of its low price. You get easy access to all connectors and switches so you have full functionality of the iPad even when it’s in the case.

If you prefer to buy quality at first and get it over with, you might need to look at some of the bigger brands and not “made in China”-eBay products. I prefer a case, like this one, over a sleeve, since I’d get instantly annoyed by having to pull the iPad out of a sleeve each time I want to use it. So, to sum up, this is a rather cheap iPad case that does what it promises and also protects the screen quite well (yes you can put a glass of water on it, but who would wanna do that…). I’m a bit worried about the “leather” that seems to be falling off one of the corners already and whether or not the pleats will cause cracks in the leather eventually. Rating (3 out of 5 apples):