iLounge

Company: Capdase

Website: www.capdase.com

Model: Classy Leather Case

Price: $15

Compatible: iPhone

Capdase Classy Leather Case for iPhone

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By Jeremy Horwitz

Editor-in-Chief, iLounge
Published: Friday, January 11, 2008
Category: iPhone Cases

Leather iPod and iPhone cases just keep appearing, and we keep on checking them out in hopes that something new and exciting will rock our world. Today, we're looking at five new case designs from Capdase, CoverCase, JAVOedge, PDO, and XtremeMac; they range in price from $15 to $30 and vary quite a bit in features, but they all are similar enough to prior, competing products that we're only briefly covering each one.

As one of several leather cases to be released under the oft-inaccurate Classy Leather Case name, Capdase’s Classy Leather Case for iPhone ($15) is a playthrough sleeve-style leather iPhone holder with a wide open face and a loose bottom, side, and back design. Unlike most such cases we’ve seen, the case has no internal reinforcement save for its meager face coverage, so it sags a little on the sides and back whether an iPhone’s inside or outside, which doesn’t sound so great, but actually looks and feels like a good leather glove, which is pretty nice and a little unique.

Like most iPhone cases, Capdase leaves holes for the iPhone’s camera—this one, a little too big—headphone port, and bottom; it also exposes the side ringer switch, the area around the Home button, and Sleep/Wake button, but covers the volume buttons. No belt clip or other frills are included; this is just a pocket-ready iPhone case, nothing more. A snap on the top keeps the iPhone inside even when the case is turned upside down.

The Classy Leather Case’s only failings are in its approach to protection. Lacking a screen protector or other sorts of coverage beyond the stitched leather, it leaves iPhone’s entire face open to dust and dirt, while leather around the bottom speaker and microphone cover more of those parts than they leave exposed. Though the rest of the bottom of the case is very accessory compatible, even working with Universal Docks, the consequence can be muffled incoming and outgoing speakerphone sound.

Overall, the Classy Leather Case is a pretty good $15 iPhone holder. It doesn’t have the style of the best options we’ve tested at higher price points, but it’s a nice-enough looking option by Capdase standards to actually merit its name—something we didn’t feel was the case with earlier, same-named iPod nano offerings. Superior protection would have earned it a high recommendation, but given the price and feel of the case, it’s definitely worthy of our general-level one.