Hi all,
This is my first post here, following my upgrade from a venerable Nexus 7 (2012) to a Tab S 8.4 in November. I'm grateful for the numerous posts in the XDA community that instructed me on things such as disabling the capacitive buttons, so I thought I'd share some feedback on a couple of cases for which I don't see much discussion.
I started out with a rooCase Origami that I purchased from Amazon, because I wanted the ability to stand the tablet in portrait mode while keeping a reasonably slim profile. I really liked that the case added minimal bulk to the tablet, but the floppy, multi-fold cover was annoying, mostly because the magnets couldn't hold it closed. Also, the tablet didn't stand too well in portrait mode (tap a little too hard on the screen and the kickstand would give away). So, I returned the Origami in favour of a GearIT 360 spinner (also via Amazon).
The GearIT case has proven to be perfect for my needs. The tablet is very secure in the cradle, but pops out easily when you need it (which is necessary to access the card slots). The speakers, camera, ports, and IR blaster are fully exposed, and the camera is deeply recessed so it'll be hard to scratch the lens. The exterior is a twill fabric that's really nice to grip, and the magnets are reliable for waking the tablet and keeping the cover closed. As well, the cover folds in such a way that the soft inside rarely touches other surfaces (unless you fold it back like a magazine), so it won't leave dirt and debris on your screen. I've also been pleasantly surprised that the case hasn't attracted much cat hair (which is easy to clean off with a sticky roller or tape).
The 360-degree rotation enables you to stand the case in a variety of ways while maintaining a surprisingly slim profile for the tablet, and the best part is that you can properly use all of the angles available to you. With non-rotating cases (such as the Origami and Samsung Book Cover), you sometimes find that the screen will be upside down in landscape mode (when apps only rotate in one direction). You can solve this with an app to force screen rotation, but with the GearIT you just turn the tablet around 180 degrees. This also means that the power/volume keys are always on the top when in landscape mode. One of my favorite ways to use the case is to fold it into landscape typing mode (lowest angle), then rotate the tablet into portrait mode. It's the same effect as propping up one end of the tablet on a book.
After about five weeks of daily use, the case still feels solid. The folds are definitely looser than when I first got it, but that's to be expected given how often they're flexed. The rotating hinge ratchets so that your tablet doesn't swing around at will, and it's still nice and tight.
Perhaps the only thing I don't like is that the chrome trim doesn't match the bronze trim on the tablet. Although if I had a choice, I would have taken chrome over bronze...
Cheers!
Related
Just wanted to share my experience, because there may be some other folks in a similar boat. Instead of a leather/plastic case for my Touchpad, I was more interested in the moleskine/notebook style cases. A couple different places manufacture these style of cases, but I settled on the DodoCase (dodocase.com). As we know, the iPad 1 and Touchpad are very close in size, so I was interested to see how they would compare. Turns out, they're close, but with this type of hard case, not perfect. The speakers are covered, but all the ports are exposed, which is a good thing. The width is fine, however, the height is a bit of a problem. The Touchpad is about 3mm shorter than the iPad1, and the corners are more rounded; so if you slide one end flush with the case, the corners of the Touchpad don't reach into the corners of the case (which is where the grips/placeholders are located).
I'll probably try to add some additional rubber stopper type material to the corners to try and steady it up a bit. The big saving grace is the elastic strap that holds the cover down. If you wrap it around the right side of the Touchpad while it's in the case, it helps to keep it in place. You can then use it pretty effectively in portrait or landscape mode. So, long story short, buyer beware with this style of case.
Smailtronic said:
Just wanted to share my experience, because there may be some other folks in a similar boat. Instead of a leather/plastic case for my Touchpad, I was more interested in the moleskine/notebook style cases. A couple different places manufacture these style of cases, but I settled on the DodoCase (dodocase.com). As we know, the iPad 1 and Touchpad are very close in size, so I was interested to see how they would compare. Turns out, they're close, but with this type of hard case, not perfect. The speakers are covered, but all the ports are exposed, which is a good thing. The width is fine, however, the height is a bit of a problem. The Touchpad is about 3mm shorter than the iPad1, and the corners are more rounded; so if you slide one end flush with the case, the corners of the Touchpad don't reach into the corners of the case (which is where the grips/placeholders are located).
I'll probably try to add some additional rubber stopper type material to the corners to try and steady it up a bit. The big saving grace is the elastic strap that holds the cover down. If you wrap it around the right side of the Touchpad while it's in the case, it helps to keep it in place. You can then use it pretty effectively in portrait or landscape mode. So, long story short, buyer beware with this style of case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reviving an old thread here.
Have been just looking at these whilst surfing late at night looking for styli, some how this came up as well, did you live with the TouchPad in this case for long, how was the experience?
I kept it for a few months, but then switched to one of the official HP cases. The difference in height meant the TP slid around a bit, vertically, and it actually cracked the wood bottom of the DodoCase. Long story short, it looked waaayyy nicer, but just wasn't a secure fit.
I got this (http://www.verizonwireless.com/accessories/shell-holster-combo-for-galaxy-note-4/) at the Verizon store for my AT&T Note 4.
First of all, the s-pen, charging port, and heart rate monitor are all easily accessible with plenty of finger room. The case has a very nice soft touch feel to it and feels comfortable in hand. The buttons are left bare so you can keep the nice clicky feeling. It's completely open at the top and bottom so it allows at least some of those sexy chamfered edges to be seen (some might not like the missing protection.)
Leaving the most unique part of this case for the end... The kickstand. It handles both landscape and portrait orientations but the balance is a tad bit off in landscape (not by much.) The kickstand is nice and definitely comes in handy for watching videos and making video calls.
Not sure about the edges being scratched as I am not planning to take it off anytime soon.
EDIT: I don't use the holster at all.
I really like the Tab S 10.5, but my main only real gripe (aside from the speakers and bloatware) is that its not easy to hold it in portrait mode. One of the long sides has the volume buttons, which somewhat get in my way when I grip that side, and the other side has the capacitive buttons in the middle
Does anyone use a case that makes it easy to hold it in portrait mode?
Thanks!
I don't know any cases in particular but there are some that have a hand strap along with it, I think that will the best for you since you'll be holding it in portrait mode, the strap will really help you and you can just rest your hand while holding it.
Sent from my SM-T805
YMMV, but I got a much better grip on it once I put it in a Otterbox Defender.
I think the ridges let me get better leverage.
It's still not perfect, and depending on how I hold it, I still hit some of the buttons, but it's better.
I also use CM11 and use the on-screen buttons and have disabled the capacitive ones, though...
Hello, just thought I'd share my experiences.
I used the roocase origami for one week, before I've swapped over to the poetic turtleskin which I've been using for the last few days now.
The roocase was OK, but not comfortable in portrait mode for a long period of time, but did cover the screen well. Instead I've now gone to the poetic turtleskin and IMO that is much easier to hold in portrait. It's chunky but got a nice grip to it. The only negative is it doesn't cover the screen, so I may have to look into a screen protector.
I got the T805 LTE.
Cheers
I read comics on mine and so I'm constantly holding it in portrait mode. The solution that I found best was to just do the mod that disables the capacitive and home buttons and uses the on-screen buttons. That way, the buttons move to the bottom of the screen in portrait, the tablet doesn't have any extra bulk/weight, and I can still easily dock it in the keyboard. Your mileage may vary, but this worked great for me.
I recently ordered the fyy case from Amazon and am waiting for it to arrive this weekend probably :]
(sorry no link because under 10 posts)
It has a really nice design, so I hope the build quality is already good. I think this might suit your needs.
EDIT: I just got the case, but my first impressions of it aren't that great....
It has a nice, sturdy outside, but the cover moves around a lot and doesn't feel secure. Also, the fitting for the tablet isn't the greatest, but that might just be a defect in mine. Personally, I don't use the tablet in portrait mode a whole lot, so I don't feel like this would be the best case for me. However, if you feel that the ability to rotate the case into portrait mode is more important and outweighs the fact that it feels somewhat flimsy and has an imperfect fit, go for it. Otherwise, you might as well resort to one of those cases with a strap to hold it in portrait mode or another case entirely.
I received this case from Roocase for evaluation and wanted to share here. As you'll see, the review is not entirely positive. I asked the Roocase people if I could post in a public forum and they said "yes" without even seeing the review. To me this is a good sign of a company that cares what its customers think, and isn't afraid of negative feedback. I haven't changed the review, and while I still think that this case is probably a "don't buy" I will certainly consider Roocase the next time I'm in the market for a tablet case.
I tried to give as critical a review as possible. To me, when a product is titled “executive” it receives an additional layer of scrutiny, especially for an image-conscious businessperson whom might be a target consumer. Thus this review considers of particular importance the looks and usefulness as a business tool.
Here is an Amazon link to the case: http://amzn.to/1Vy5AGv
I received the portfolio in a nondescript cardboard box that was adequately sized to protect the case. The packaging was simple, which is a positive in my mind. I’m not a fan of big unrecyclable plastic boxes. That said, a product called “executive” should probably have a slightly more premium-looking packaging. I suggest reviewing the images, fonts, and content of the current packaging to something matching other, more modern designs.
The exterior leather is adequately solid and the stitching is tight enough to give a premium feel. The only error in the stitching is where the binding strip overlaps itself on the bottom corner at the fold. The error here is small and will probably not be a point of failure, so I’m not overly concerned. The interior stitching left something to be desired. On the inside left, the card slots and pockets have a little too much give, leaving a “pouch” look. Probably useful if one plans to keep a lot of papers in there, but it doesn’t look great when empty. The stitching around the inner tablet was not perfect, but that’s just being nitpicky.
The zipper is tight but the zipper handles are annoyingly large and there is absolutely no reason to use a double-ended zipper since they both need to be completely retracted to open the case. The handles have a small point on both sides of the base that causes the zipper to catch; every second or third time I used them they got momentarily stuck. That said, they feel solid; I’m not concerned that they will break any time soon. Another annoyance is that the zippers hang out even when completely retracted; holding the case against your stomach you end up with the zipper sticking into you (this would be solved by using a single-ended zipper, BTW). Finally, when completely closed the zippers sort of clatter together, not a big deal, but annoying. Besides these points, the zipper looks and feels good and did not have any problem closing the case, even when filled with materials.
The Roocase logo is attractive and nicely embossed in a good place on the cover. I appreciate that you understated the logo and hope you (and everyone else!) will continue to do so. I would not have had a problem with a second logo in the same place on the back, or an embossed logo on the interior.
The pockets on the inside left are adequate, though I personally do not think I’d use them much. They are too small to fit a standard sheet of paper (though this is the size of the tablet, not the case). The credit card/business card holders are of an appropriate depth and held tight to even a single card. The windowed pocket is similarly good, though I don’t see myself using it for anything. It might make sense to have more specific pockets, such as for a particular size of notebook. For me, I’d probably forgo the pockets altogether, or make a single pocket in which a (smaller) notepad could be hung horizontally.
The sides and spine are a perfect combination of rigid and thick and work well for both protecting the device and preventing objects held in the case from impacting on the screen. The overall feel in the hand is satisfying, though, considering the weight of the tablet is so low, it might be nicer to have a little less weight in the case.
The interior tablet holder is, unfortunately, where this case fails. There are several problems. First, the enclosure looks and feels cheap, both with and without the tablet. I personally hate tablet cases that cover the bezel; on the tab s 10.5, one of the more important gestures (swipe in from the right) is actually hindered by the case, which is unacceptable. The interior case should have used the hard plastic/metal corner compression style. As it is, the interior case looks and feels like strapping a bit of cardboard with some loose plastic on the front to an expensive tablet. The Velcro slipped under the bottom of the tablet causes a slight lift, bulging the bottom end of the tablet out. This means that when placed flat on a surface the bottom middle pushed up just enough that the whole thing wobbles when touched, even when using the small integrated lifting mechanism.
The faux leather hangs loosely around the screen no matter how tightly I pushed the Velcro attachment. The exterior case may be leather, but the inner case is clearly not. Pressing buttons on the tablet on the top and side is hindered, though this is a relatively minor nuisance. The port for the charger cable is accessible, but the 3.5mm headset jack is close; my best headphones have a square-ish connector that can’t be turned while the case is on. Both front and back cameras are fine, as is the light sensor. The fingerprint sensor, home button, and two capacitive buttons are fine, but the bezel-covering looks the worst here, sticking up from the screen. The case I received is slightly different than the one pictured on Amazon; they've (smartly) removed the strip of leather above the home/capacitive buttons.
The hand strap is tight and nicely recessed; the material touching the back of my hand was OK but should have been better; if I’m going to hold this thing with a hand strap for any amount of time the material should be a bit less abrasive. The small lifting mechanism on the back is also a nice touch, it worked well and gave the tablet a small lift when placed flat on a table. That said, I’d never use this case alone, and the rest of the case is intended to prop the tablet up already, so I don’t see when I’d be using this. The small lift also is placed just behind the button attachment (discussed below) so that it cannot be comfortably extended or replaced while buttoned in the case. This might actually have been a useful mode for the case; I briefly used it like this and found that it held the top of the case open fine, and provided some top-down privacy on the screen. I think certain business users might have actually liked such a feature.
Beside the bezel-covering faux leather, the single worst feature of this case is the button clasp that attaches the inner case to the outer. When the inner case is placed flat on a surface, the button always touches first, though not excessively. When attaching to the outer case, the button must be pressed very hard; this required placing pressure on the middle of the screen. I did not enjoy doing this. I assume the tablet can handle it, but I won’t be doing it again for fear of damaging the screen or the electronics.
When attached in the full case, the case works well in both landscape and portrait. While more options for angles are always nice, I think the angle you get is pretty good. I found it odd that, when used, the logo is on the table; I don’t like logos, but I’d think Roocase might!
The pen/stylus was a nice though unnecessary addition. It works about as well as most styli, and feels acceptable in the hand, if a little small. The tip feels very cheap. I did notice that it has both black and blue ink pens, but unfortunately you can’t tell which until you start writing. A perfectly good free add-on; nobody is buying this case for the pen/stylus.
The outer case is solid and I’d be confident that my tablet would survive a significant fall so long as the zippers were closed. However, if the zippers were open or if only using the inner case I’m sure that even a small fall would result in disaster. The bezel-covering inner case doesn’t even cover the lower corners of the tablet, which hangs out just enough to be the first thing that would impact in a fall. It becomes difficult, with this description, to even call the inner case a “case.”
In summary, the case looks nice from the outside, though the zippers are a bit annoying. The outer case is sturdy, tough, and would provide exceptional protection from both falls and pressure applied to the exterior. The interior pockets are fine, but I don’t see them being particularly useful given the application and size. Using the tablet propped up was stable in both tablet and portrait orientation, and the angle of the screen was good. The inner case feels cheap, particularly the loosely-fitting bezel-covering faux leather, which made an expensive tablet look cheap and negatively affected both my ability to use swipe gestures on the screen and the 3.5mm audio connector, and caused the tablet to wobble when placed without the outer case on a flat surface. The button clasp is also unacceptable, as connecting it required putting pressure in the middle of the screen. Both of these things would need to be corrected for me to be able to recommend this case to anyone. As it is, I am unlikely to use this case, which is a shame, considering that from the outside it is very nice looking and clearly would provide a lot of protection.
Nice Review, I too got the same Case and haven't done a review yet, as I wanted to get to know it a little and use it as much as possible. I have to say I like the product a lil more than you describe. Somethings I totally agree on. Such as the inner case covering the bezel. A little less would be adequate, But I do notice its soo tight on the tablet, it pulls it one direction causing the left side of the screen to become covered up. I remove it from the outer shell a lot to utilize the hand grip while I'm at work, which I use it to pull up blueprints and what not, so I love that feature.
Gotta say you put more detail in a review than most people. Good job.
I know the keyboard is like a cover, however, I'm not too keen on having the back and camera not protected. So can I buy the official book cover, and still having it "closed" in book format with the keyboard?
I'm interested to know this as-well
No you can't, the keyboard increases the size a bit and the cover will not fit both thickness or width wise.. I have both, I wish you could. Outside of that, the keyboard is as good as any third party keyboard functionally, fits really well and doesn't increase the tablet size as much as most keyboard cases and looks great. The battery lasts quite long and charges fast. There is a button that autolocks the tablet when it is closed against the keyboard which is a bonus.. The keyboard doesn't hinge to the tablet which is a little strange, it just sits in a little groove at the top of the keyboard, but it doesn't put any pressure or torque on the tablet. It does make it easy to use it in landscape or portrait. As there's no hinge, you can't adjust the keyboard-to-tablet angle which is a little disappointing, however the angle itself isnt bad. Overall I would recommend it....
But I agree, the camera bit is a bummer
I got the OEM book cover and sent it back. When sitting in it's upright position it wobbles around vary easily when touching the screen. It also collapses out of that position easily because the only thing holding it up is a weak magnet. Not worth the money at all.