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Spain, Madrid
1 Level
717 Review
46 Karma

Review on Heavy Duty IPad Mini 5/4 Case With Pen Holder, 360° Swivel Stand & 3-Layer Protection by Pao Novakovic

Revainrating 3 out of 5

Just OK, not great. A bit chunky and clunky.

This is just OK, not great - I'm a bit suspect about every review (other than mine) being 5 stars.First, the good: Product is pretty much as described, and generally functional. It does have a decent hand-strap on the back (which is the most important feature), the little kick-stand generally works (though it has limited functionality, see below). The case seems rugged and should take minor dings and hits in stride. It's not expensive, it shipped and arrived quickly. Worth noting: there is no screen protector - which I think is the right design choice. If you take care of your expensive devices, you don't need (and don't want) anything on your screen. "Screen protectors" (in my opinion) are only appropriate for careless users or small children, who can't be bothered to take care of their devices.So far, so good.The disappointments: It's a bit bulky and clunky, at least to my tastes. The iPad Mini itself is quite slim and an elegant little tablet - one of the iPad Mini's best features is it's thin, smooth, minimalist design. This case makes it feel bulky and chunky, and a bit cheap. The case includes multiple layers, two hard plastic layers and a silicone/rubbery layer sandwiched in between. This just seems to add more bulk than is necessary. The top layer extended about 1/4" above the surface of the screen; that's how it provides some protection for the screen, but it's a lot more than needed (I've seen and used other cases that just barely rose above the screen).The hand strap on the back is pretty well designed and well implemented. It does swivel 360 degrees. Unfortunately, it swivels too freely - on other cases I've owned, the swivel mechanism (which also swiveled 360 degrees) clicked into positions spaced every 30 degrees or so. This one has teeny, tiny clicks as you swivel it, but it does not click into place - more problematic, it does not remain at any angle of rotation that you choose.it will continue to rotate back and forth much too easily. It would work much better if it remained at the angle you choose. This could be improved greatly and pretty easily.About the kick stand: yes, it works, but I could only get it to click into a single position, so there was only a single viewing angle. Also, it was more difficult than it should be to click into place and also to then release (so it could then fold back flat). This too could be greatly improved if they made it so that one could choose multiple positions/viewing angles), and because it's hard to click in/out of the single location, I suspect the kick stand will break pretty quickly.Instructions: The instructions are bad. I know, you really need instructions? Yeah, for the initial setup, you do. The instructions just say to "release the 8 clamps" but there is no hint of what or where these "clamps" are.I spent 20 minutes hunting for them, eventually just forcing the thing apart, almost breaking it. (The "clamps" they refer to are actually just some hidden plastic "tabs" which you can't see until you tear the thing apart.instructions are obviously written by a non-native English speaker; hey, I don't speak Chinese so thanks for translating to English, but you need a better translation and there should be a diagram that shows where these "clamps" are - they're hidden and really difficult to find).Overall: this isn't a bad case, it's not horrible. I think if I was going to hand an iPad to a 4-year-old, it would probably work as well as any other I've seen. But it has a few features that are weak and make the user experience clunky. It's certainly not elegant.I continue to look for a nice, minimalist case that's thin, elegant, and includes a rotatable hand-strap and kick-stand on the back. One company used to make these but has abandoned the Mini. I keep hoping someone will start selling something better. Hope this is helpful. Good luck.

img 1 attached to Heavy Duty IPad Mini 5/4 Case With Pen Holder, 360° Swivel Stand & 3-Layer Protection review by Pao Novakovic



Pros
  • The kickstand is a little ify but other than that it’s great
Cons
  • The case is quite bulky, which may not be ideal for those who prefer a more minimalist approach to their technology