First Look: SwitchEasy Nude for iPad

Following up on its earlier release of similar cases for iPhones and iPod touches, SwitchEasy’s Nude for iPad ($30) is a glossy hard plastic shell bundled with a bunch of extra items: color-matched headphone port and Dock Connector protectors, screen film, a cleaning cloth, film applicator card, and a video stand. SwitchEasy actually includes two different flat-folding video stands — one white, one black — plus two headphone port and Dock Connector covers in case you lose one. Six colors are available, including translucent black and completely clear. Measuring 1mm thick, Nude is amongst the thinnest protective shells available for the iPad, and the $30 asking price is extremely aggressive.

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.

Arriving later than its rivals, Nude has the advantage of extra development time, which SwitchEasy obviously used to polish its shell to near-perfection. The speaker holes are precisely cut out, as is the microphone hole, and all of the other side controls and ports have U-shaped grooves that are tightly contoured to their exact measurements. If you’re planning to use only Apple headphones and Dock Connector cables, this’ll be no issue, but the accessory holes are going to be tight for larger options—Apple’s Camera Connection Kit just barely connects, without securing entirely. That’s the only major knock on this otherwise side, top, and bottom-protective design, which comes with a ton of pack-ins, including two separate video stands and screen film, and is available in a number of colors. A minor issue: the glossy finish shows scratches.