Pros

• Exceptional quality
• Holds iPad securely
• Provides good protection
• Excellent style

Cons

• Lacks easy pull out method
• Not as many customization options as the rest of their range
• iPad exposed along top of the case

SFbags are based in San Francisco and they design and manufacture their own brand of bags and cases right there in the city. One of their most unique selling points is the ability to custom create your product right to the finest detail whether it be the addition of a shoulder strap, design of the flap or even what style the trim should be. With the launch of the iPad 2, they’ve created a new version of their popular Smart Case. We’ve been great fans of SFbags, giving them a near perfect score in our last review of their SleeveCase for a 16″ notebook.

Here’s what we thought of the Smart Case.

Style

Not to be confused with the official Apple Smart Cover, the Smart Case is essentially more a sleeve than an actual case and is therefore primarily designed to carry your iPad on your travels rather than be used as a conventional case. It follows along Sfbag’s line of fantastic high quality products made by hand in their home town of San Francisco.

A range of 6 different “earthy” colours are available to choose from. We went for the bold flame design but the colour range is very solid ranging from a very classy pearl white to a business like black case. As on many of their products, the Smart Case features a very high quality brown leather trim to the side as well as adding some character to the overall product with a leather loop at the bottom.

What you’ll also find as standard with the Smart Case is a stretchy low profile black pocket on one side, useful for storing recharge cables or other bits and pieces you may wish to carry such as headphones. Unlike their other products, this pocket comes as standard and isn’t an added extra. This will come to some as a bonus as pouches are usually an added cost or as a negative if you prefer to have it plain on both sides.

The stitching is excellent as always being discreet and out of sight. We really liked the zip zag pattern along the bottom. Not a big thing you notice initially but it certainly helps to break up some of those more monotonous straight lines that other cases conform to.

Whilst it’s not difficult to reach in and pull out the iPad, you will end up fingerprinting much of the top portion of your iPad. It would have been nice to include maybe a strap to pull the iPad out as is fairly standard in mobile phone sleeves but this is more a minor complaint.

Protection

Of course there’s no point having a great looking case if it doesn’t do the job it’s supposed to do and protect your precious iPad. Fortunately the smart case comes with a rigid insert along it’s high impact multi-layered padding. Whilst it’s roughly an inch in thickness with the iPad inside, you can feel every bit of that inch being put to good use and as a whole benefits the protective ability of the Smart Case.

The underside of the sleeve is especially tough and just by feeling it, you can tell just how heavily reinforced the sleeve is. Great piece of mind if you’re worried about putting down the iPad in it’s sleeve too roughly or if you’re prone to banging one of the corners too hard when putting down the iPad.

Because of it’s perfect fit, we do have to mention that the top of the iPad is pretty much perfectly level with the top of the sleeve. Although it’s great that they’ve made it this accurate, there’s not enough protection over the top. If you turn the sleeve upside down and touch it down with the iPad inside it, the contact with the surface is with the iPad and not the sleeve.

Unlike many of the other cases that Sfbags make, there isn’t the option to have a lid or a flap. My personal preference is that sleeves look better without a lid or flap however in this case, the iPad is perhaps too exposed being virtually level with the top lip of the Smart Case. Not only does it leave it a little too exposed to the elements but dropping the iPad with the Smart Case on “it’s head” will be like dropping a cover less iPad.

Conclusion

We’ve always been big fans of Sfbags here at TUS and they continue to produce fantastic products time and time again. Not only does the Smart Case look like one of the strongest sleeves out there in terms of style but it also offers a decent amount of protection. We’re giving this sleeve a definite recommend.The Smart Case is available for both the original iPad and the iPad 2 as well as a version that’s a little larger to allow for an iPad 2 with the Smart Cover fitted to it.

The iPad Smart Case is available for iPad and iPad 2 for $59.99 from SFbags.

TUS Rating

Style:	5 of 5
Protection:	4 of 5

Overall: 4.5 of 5  

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