SD TabletWear Advanced Case Review for iPad 2
SD TabletWear are a tablet-accessory manufacturer, and while you probably haven't heard of them before, you may be surprised at how great their cases are, just like how surprises I am! They have a range of cases for the iPad 2 in particular, including their luxury 'LuxFolio' case, their 'Stand and Type' case, as well as, of course, the 'Advanced' case, and you can check those out over here.
In the box, you will find just the Advanced case it self, with no accessories, which is justifiable considering
it's fairly low price point.
The Advanced Case, by TabletWear, for the iPad 2, is a one piece, portfolio style case for the iPad 2. The case as a whole is extremely light, therefore it won't add much weight overall to your iPad, and despite this however, it still feels very high quality, and most importantly, very sturdy.
The exterior of the case is made out of faux leather, that has an ultra-realistic distressed look to it, which I personally really like, as it makes the case appear to be very premium, executive, and most of all, expensive. The leather it self is extremely nice to the touch, and thanks to the distressed texture, it's very easy to grip… meaning you won't be dropping your precious iPad anytime soon. It's extremely durable, and even after some fairly rough usage from myself, it has managed to remain scratch-free, a massive advantage faux leather has over real leather. Finally, the leather it self features some very natural looking creases in it, which is a typical feature of real leather, showing SD TabletWear have really done their research in making their faux leather look real as possible.
The interior lining of the case is an amazingly soft, micro-suede that will be sure to not cause any damage to your iPad's wonderful screen, bezel, or aluminium back, thanks to its amazingly soft finish. The left hand, inside side of the case also has six card slots that can accommodate things like credit cards, travel cards, ID cards etc. A very useful addition to the case, however, I personally would never see myself using it. I do know however, that some people really like this feature.
Installing the case is straightforward, and simply requires the user to lift up a velcro based flap thats connected to the leather bezel protector of the case. The user then has to slide their iPad in (and this is extremely smooth thanks to the soft finish of the micro-suede interior), making sure it is fully inserted. Finally, the user closes the velcro flap, making sure it is firmly stuck to the other bit of velcro, just below the iPad. The case provides a secure fit, that after some rough testing, managed to keep the iPad inside the case at all times. I was genuinely amazed at how strong this velcro flap truly proved to be. Furthermore the case it self adds fairly minimal bulk to the iPad, retaining its slim figure. The case, in my opinion, provides a sense of sturdiness that other cases out there simply do not provide, all in a sleek, slender package. The case stays closed thanks to to a magnetic clasp button that proved to be, again, surprisingly strong, during testing.
The look of the case overall is fabulous. Not only does it look sophisticated, elegant, and classy, but thanks to it's slim profile and use of leather, it looks ultra-conspicuous and understated, meaning it blends in nicely in a variety of setups. Again, the case also has a very premium, executive look to it, with most people who I showed the case to, thinking the case was around £30 - £40 GBP.
The case provides full accessibility to all ports, buttons, connectors, cameras and sensors on the iPad, however due to the larger styling of portfolio cases, don't expect to be able to dock the iPad into an iPad 2 dock, whilst the case is installed. Speaking of iPad 2 docks - a great selection of them, all at great prices, are available over at MobileFun. All of the buttons are easy to access, and thanks to the cut-outs all being relatively large, no matter how you've applied the case, they'll still, always be accessible. The only slight gripe I have is with the cut-out for the large speaker grill towards the bottom left of the case, which is comprised of three, minuscule holes, which blocked a small amount of the sound from coming out of the iPad's large speaker. This didn't prove to be a major flaw by any standard, but do keep this in mind if you use the iPad speaker extensively.
The first major feature, that in my opinion, truly makes this case stand out (being a portfolio style case) , is the integration of the sleep/wake technology that Apple integrated into their Smart Cover case. For those that are un-aware, this feature essentially means, that when the case is closed, the iPad automatically goes to sleep. When you open the case up again, the iPad wakes up. In my opinion this feature it self is awesome, and extremely useful, and the fact that a third party vendor could so quickly implement this feature into their case gets a big thumbs up from me. In actual usage, I found the feature to work flawlessly, with the iPad going into and out of sleep mode, blazingly fast, without any hassle.
The next major feature is something that has been featured on a number of iPad 2 cases on the market, however, in my opinion, is done best, on this case. It's the ability to adjust the iPad for viewing in multiple viewing angles. Whilst most other iPad 2 cases on the market out their offer a mere four to six different possible viewing angles, the SD TabletWear Advanced Case for the iPad 2 offers over TWENTY different viewing angles, offering a level of customization that is so far, not shown by other cases. This is simply done by lifting up a rather large flap the back of the case, and placing it in one of twenty plastic 
ridges on the front of the case. This feature is almost perfectly implemented, and is generally very nice to have, especially because of the wide variety of angles available that are perfecting for watching movies, typing, navigating the device etc.
Overall, as you can tell from what you've read so far, I really do like the case therefore I'm going to be giving it a 9.5/10. It's combination of well made materials, solid amount of protection, handy features (like the multiple viewing angles and sleep/wake function), and general fit and finish, make it one of the most formidable iPad 2 cases on the market. Furthermore it's amazing price-point of £19.95 GBP is truly providing you, as a consumer, value for money. The case it self also comes in a variety of colours, namely: Purple, White, Pink, Red and Black.
The case is available over at MobileFun, over here, for the afore mentioned price of £19.95 GBP. MobileFun also have a great range of iPad 2 docks at competitive prices.
A video review of this case will also be up shortly on my YouTube Channel.
CompHelperKid
Reader Comments (2)
Dang that case is such a good deaL!! imma pick one up
Leather case is just so so for a girl. I would like a crystal bling iPad 2 case for my girlfriend as a gift. Do anyone know about dsstyles.com? I don't know that brand before. Please advise.