Pros

• High quality finish
• Extra protectors for headphone jack and recharge slot
• Very good all round protection
• Very nice rear styling
• Multiple reading angles

Cons

• Adds significant weight
• Difficult to close

SwitchEasy have been around since 2005 and their products are exclusively made to cover and protect those all important Apple products. Everything from the iPod shuffles to the iPad 2, SwitchEasy is bound to have something to help you keep your gadgets in bright and shiny condition. The Canvas is SwitchEasy’s all in one solution to protect your precious iPad with a unique hybrid polycarbonate/canvas design that adds form to function.

Here’s what we thought of the SwitchEasy Canvas.

Style

Built from a hybrid polycarbonate and canvas, the Canvas fully covers the whole of the iPad with the exception of course for the volume rocker and power button. The exterior is a firm and textured canvas material which does a good job of not only looking modern but keeping mother nature away. It’s a very simple design but brings a degree of elegance to the vast range of full body iPad cases out there.

The rear of the Canvas has the top left lip of the case drop down and leaves the polycarbonate case slightly exposed for that modern stacked look. It comes across really well and for once doesn’t sacrifice protection or form with this design decision. Precision cut into the polycarbonate case is the hole for the iPad camera to peep through and on the bottom is a speaker grill to allow sound to flow out.

Open the case up and on one side is a micro suede interior to protect the screen which also features three functioning grooves which we’ll go over later. We’re big fans of the polycarbonate portion of the case as it tightly holds the iPad in place without covering even a bit of the front face of the iPad. Too many times have we seen the holding part of an iPad case come over the sides and cover parts of the front of the iPad. Perhaps I’m just a purist but in my opinion, having this method of holding the iPad looks far nicer.

We’re not entirely sure of the weight of the case but by our estimation it almost equals the weight of a naked iPad 2. Carrying the iPad around in the Canvas certainly felt heavier than without the case on so you may want to bear this in mind.

Protection

Not only is the Canvas extremely sturdy but it also covers virtually every portion of the iPad. The polycarbonate casing is very rigid and holds the iPad very closely at the edges. If that wasn’t enough, this casing is then wrapped almost all the way round by the canvas material, giving it an almost double layer of protection.

Now there is padding inside the cover, a small amount and if you’re looking to put this case through it’s paces and bounce it around, it’ll probably stand the impacts but we wouldn’t put money on it. If you’re going to be using the case normally then the case will more than hold up. Whilst there is padding, it’s not very much but then if there was, it’d probably be quite thick.

An added bonus is that as well as getting the case, you also get protectors for both the headphone jack and the charging slot on your iPad to stop dust and any other small particles from getting into these vulnerable spots.

Features

Of course the main selling point of the Canvas is the ability to use it in a number of viewing angles. This isn’t revolutionary by any stretch of the imagination as any case in this category pretty much has this as standard. However what sets the Canvas apart from it’s rivals is the cleverly placed grooves in the lid which make a huge difference in holding the iPad in a good position.

The iPad in “mobile” form , stays together through the velcro strap on the back of the polycarbonate case. We really like this solution for speed and ease of use compared to methods that other manufacturers use such as with clasps or straps. Just tug and half of the back becomes free with ease.

Something not advertised on the website but which I found to be the best viewing angle was actually folding the top lid back along one of the grooves in a triangular fashion such as how you see in the second picture on the second row of photos above. It’s the perfect angle for typing and is surprisingly stable without needing any additional supports.

However we were disappointed with the closure mechanism on the Canvas. It works by clamping a stiff lip on the top lid of the case over the side of the iPad to hold it in place. The problem we had was that the lip kept coming short forcing us to really put some effort into closing the lid by pushing it further over to the right in order to get it over the edge of the iPad. We’ve tried to manually wrench the lip wider but it’s stubbornly sticking in it’s position. Unfortunately after roughly 2 weeks of usage, the lip has only slightly eased up and closing the case can still be a little difficult.

Conclusion

The Canvas is a fantastic case for the iPad 2. The reading angles are very good, providing both range and solid functionality. The casing is solid and provides a good all round protection with the headphone jack and charging slot protectors, a nice bonus. However it stops short of the full five out of five due to the significant weight that’s added to the iPad as well as being difficult to close. Still, we’d highly recommend the Canvas for anyone looking for a very good case.

The SwitchEasy Canvas for iPad 2 is availbale for $49.99 from SwitchEasy.

TUS Rating

Style:	4 of 5
Protection:	4 of 5
Features	4 of 5

Overall: 4 of 5  

DISCLOSURE: This product was provided to TUS by SwitchEasy. See Contact TUS page for full details on our review policy.