iLounge

Company: PDAir

Website: www.Pdair.com

Models: Sleeve Type

Price: $28

Compatible: iPod touch

PDair Sleeve Type Leather Case for iPod touch

By Jeremy Horwitz

Editor-in-Chief, iLounge
Published: Monday, December 10, 2007
Category: Cases - iPod touch

Only three months after the iPod touch's release, there are lots of fabric and leather case options out there, so we're moving through another collection of nine options today to help you acquaint yourself with the great, good, and nothing special offerings. Four of the nine cases also come in versions for other iPod models, which we detail briefly alongside them. This review is for the PDair Sleeve Type Leather Case for iPod touch.

The Sleeve Type Leather Case ($28) is a step down from the two best leather cases we’re reviewing today, but it’s currently tied for PDair’s best leather option for the iPod touch. Like Case Mate’s Signature Leather Case and U-Suit, it provides play-through access to touch’s screen, without using a face-covering lid like PDair’s other iPod touch leather cases—instead, there is an integrated clear plastic screen protector which stops short of the Home button, and leather around the rest of touch’s face and sides. PDair offers Sleeve Type in six different colors with a plain leather, and includes a plastic belt clip and matching plastic nub in each package.

Sleeve Type’s positives are that it covers roughly as much of the iPod touch as the other cases here, has considerably better accessory compatibility than some of our top picks, and doesn’t sell at a premium: it’s a little less expensive than the $30 cases that rated higher.

But the higher ratings are justified by multiple factors. Color options aside, Sleeve Type doesn’t look as good as the others, and feels cheaper than both cases: they’re not hard-reinforced, the integrated screen protector is mediocre, and the overall design—similar to Incase’s precision-made Leather Sleeves, with contrast stitching—is bland, not beautiful. It offers comparable protection, exposing more of touch’s bottom corners but less of its top, thanks to an eh-quality top tap and rear snap.

Thanks to its play-through design, Sleeve Type is a better than average leather case for the iPod touch, but it doesn’t look and feel as worthy of nearly $30 as the hard-reinforced leather cases we’ve tested. Consider it if you like the colors or strongly value bottom-of-iPod access, and don’t mind downgrading your iPod touch’s class a little in the process.