Over the last week, we’ve been checking out seven different leather iPhone 3G cases, almost all of them highly familiar based on earlier versions we’ve seen for the original iPhone. We’re giving each only a brief review, with a short description and opinions below. This review covers Noreve’s Tradition B Leather Case for iPhone 3G ($43-53).
Two factors that have long distinguished France’s Noreve from its many competitors are its use of higher-quality materials and its occasional odd inattention to certain important details when releasing new cases.
As one example, the original iPhone’s Tradition B Leather Case left out holes for the device’s brightness and proximity sensors, crippling its utility as a phone. This year’s version remedies that issue, but has its own little problems.
As before, the Tradition B case is made from leather that has been wrapped around a piece of cardboard backing, and varies in price based on the type of leather selected; the soft, suede-like version shown here is the more expensive one. Sold in 15 colors, Tradition B features an open face for use with the iPhone 3G’s touchscreen, and unlike its predecessor includes front holes for both the proximity and ambient light sensors, as well as bottom holes that allow the speakerphone to work properly.
A magnetic rear clasp—apparently warned against for some reason on the iPhone 3G—holds the top of the case closed.
For whatever reason, Noreve has taken a couple of steps that cheapen this case from its predecessor; there’s no longer contrast stitching surrounding the screen, nor is there an included detachable belt clip and nub system for the case’s back. Consequently, though the price point is a couple of dollars lower than before, you get less in both design and pack-ins for the price; Noreve also fails to include the clear film screen protection that is packed in with most other cases, and continues to leave the iPhone’s top and bottom corners and ports fully exposed, as well as the top and side controls.
Overall Tradition B strikes us as a better than average leather case for the iPhone 3G, but its protection omissions and the small but not trivial detractions from the prior version’s looks and value strike us as disappointments.
