Of the different variations of folio-style cases available for the iPad mini, one of the most prevalent combines a hard plastic shell with some form of folding lid. Today, we’re looking at three recent variations on the theme: Incipio’s LGND ($30), Maroo’s [ii] Series Protective Cover ($50), and Toffee’s Slim Folio ($70). As the full-sized version of [ii] Series Protective Cover ($40) is essentially the same as the smaller model, we’re also including it in this review.
LGND for iPad mini takes after—you guessed it—Incipio’s case of the same name for iPad. Coming in four different colors, it utilizes the same shell we’ve seen on many of Incipio’s folios.
This means it’s lacking button coverage, and while the left and right edges are properly covered, the plastic stops short of the top and bottom. We’d love to see the company finally extend the coverage all the way to these surfaces, protecting as much of the iPad’s metal body as possible.
The nubuck suede lid actually wraps around from the back, where a large panel of it covers most of the shell. We like the way the material feels, but found that it scratches up pretty easily. The cover can be folded in on itself into two different stand positions, with magnets holding them together.
Those magnets also lock and unlock the iPad’s screen, and are strong enough to hold the lid against the tablet.
Of these cases, LGND is the most aggressively priced, making its small issues forgivable. It’s one of the least expensive name brand folios we’ve seen for the iPad mini, and really quite good—worthy of a strong general recommendation. [ii] Series Protective Cover is also quite nice, although the price differences between the two sizes are confusing. Were the costs reversed, it’d be easy to say that both models are worthy of a B+. At $50 though, the iPad mini version is reaching the point of too expensive, earning it a general recommendation; the iPad version is a comparative bargain.
