First Look: Belkin Grip Vue for iPad

Sold in five colors, Belkin’s new Grip Vue for iPad ($50) is a semi-hard plastic translucent case that flexes just enough to let you stuff the iPad inside, protecting its entire back, sides, top, and bottom save for the headphone port, microphone, speakers, Dock Connector port, and screen switch. While the glossy plastic shows scratches, it protects so much of the iPad — save for the screen — from taking damage that it’s easy to like, anyway, particularly in the pure clear colored version. The $50 asking price without screen protection is on the high side, though.

On May 13, 2010, iLounge published The Complete Guide to iPad Cases and Protection, a multi-page comparison of over 70 different iPad cases and film protectors, sorted by genre. The following details were added to this piece by that comparison article; please click on the link above for additional comparative discussion of similar protective options.

On pure sex appeal, Belkin’s Grip Vue scores high: this precision-molded TPU plastic case obviously had an early assist from Apple, as it was in stores on day one and has perfectly aligned holes for everything from the iPad’s microphone port and speakers to flush—too-flush—button covers. It’s shiny, sleek, and available in different colors—we’re not huge fans of the purple one, but you may be. Apart from the question of whether the glossy texture may make the iPad too slippery in your fingers, the big issues here are the price, the lack of screen protection, and the really really too small port holes, which are just barely large enough for Apple’s cables, preventing even the iPad Camera Connector from fitting. Tailoring is so tight that the screen lock switch is hard to flip, and the case has a tendency to peel at the sides of screen protectors, though they can be put back on without a major issue. This is a nice case, and one of the best-looking out there, but a little bit of extra work would have made it great.