Pros: A highly professional-looking leather iPod shuffle case.
Cons: Rendered virtually unusable as advertised and designed because of a too-small headphone port and no Control Pad access through the hard case body. Doesn’t include a clip, which would be the only way to practically use the case outside of a pocket.
On the rare occasion that we rate a product with a grade of C- or lower, we tend to provide an extended description of our reasoning, followed by a helpful suggestion or two as to how such grades can be avoided. Given the impressive build quality and looks of a collection of new iPod mini and shuffle cases from Kroo, we weren’t expecting that any of them would score in this range, but as it turns out, one did. Despite its looks, the Soho Leather Case for iPod shuffle ($18.99, available for $10 and up) is actually so bad that we would recommend against its purchase. There are two reasons: the headphone port hole and your access to the iPod shuffle’s controls.
It’s easy to elaborate upon the case’s good points: it looks like an even higher-class version of Pods Plus’ Leather Case for iPod shuffle [url=https://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/comments/pods-plus-leather-cases-for-ipod-shuffle-ipod/](iLounge rating: C+), which sells for a slightly higher price and exposed a lot of the shuffle’s body to possible scratch damage.
Kroo’s leather looks sharp – our red sample looked like it was ready for a fashion boutique, beautiful in fit and finish on all edges. (Seven or eight colors are available, ranging from various reds and pinks to greens, oranges, yellows and black.) The iPod shuffle feels very well-protected inside, with the sole exception of its USB cap, which because of the flap design is exposed on its sides. A soft (“suede texture”) felt-like interior material is shuffle-safe. And in addition to precision stitching, the case is reinforced on all of its sides with cardboard.
Kroo’s hard protection is so strong, in fact, that you can’t access your shuffle’s controls in any way when it’s inside the case – either the front for volume, tracks, and play/pause, or the back for power and playback modes. This isn’t a problem in concept, assuming you get your shuffle perfectly set up and then stick it into the case.
But practically, it’s a serious problem because of the case’s tiny bottom-mounted headphone port. It’s really tiny – the size of the iPod’s own port – and consequently Apple’s headphones pop out of the hole almost instantly when they’re inserted.
Frequent iPod shuffle users will recognize the problem with this right away. Pull the iPod shuffle’s headphones and the shuffle automatically pauses. To unpause the shuffle, you need to use the controls. To use the controls with the Kroo case, you need to remove the shuffle.
