I've said it before, but I love cases, covers, and bags as much as I love gadgets. I've been on an iPad 2 cover kick lately, and I have one more to tell you about. iFrogz makes cases for a variety of Apple mobiledevices, headphones and audio gear, and cables. They sent me an iPad 2 Summit Case to try out.
Most pictures in this review can be clicked for a larger view.
The Summit case weighs 13 ounces on my digital kitchen scale. It measures about 9.5" long X 7.35" wide X 0.65" thick. It does add weight and thickness to the iPad 2.
The Summit Case has a polyurethane exterior, but it has the look and feel of leather. There is no branding on the exterior of the case. The black stitching blends in with the black polyurethane, and the stitches are even and straight. The Summit is a folio-style case, and it has no closure to keep the cover closed. The exterior is available only in black, at least for the models now available. The faux leather has a sheen, but it's not glossy. The exterior is rigid; I don't know what the reinforcing material is. It should add screen protection.
Inside, the case is lined with a medium-gray fabric with a very realistic-looking suede texture. There's an iFrogz label sewn into the seam on the cover. You'll notice the front cover has three "grooves" running vertically; these work to convert the Summit Case into a stand.
The iPad 2 is held in a polycarbonate core that cradles the back of the iPad 2 and snaps just over the edges of the device. This core is available in black, blue, green, pink, and white. The case I received has a medium blue core. Inserting the iPad 2 into the core seems easy, but you need to make sure that the rim of the core is snapped securely over the edges of the iPad 2. I found out the hard way that I didn't have mine completely snapped into the case. Luckily the iPad 2 landed on the sofa beside me instead of into the floor. Once it's snapped in, the iPad 2 is very secure. It took a bit of effort to remove the iPad 2 when I wanted to photograph the empty Summit. The core will add protection to the back and sides of the iPad 2.
I often find book-style covers hard to use because of the weight of the iPad 2 makes it hard to hold vertically. I tend to use my iPad 2 horizontally, and the front flap often is in my way with many of these covers. You can fold the Summit's front cover completely back, so you can hold the iFrogz Summit horizontally quite easily..
The core has cutouts for all controls and connectors and the back camera. I didn't have any trouble using any controls, and I could plug in headphones and the charging cable with no problems. There's a grid over the speaker that doesn't seem to interfere with the iPad 2's sound.
The front cover has a magnet under the sueded lining, so it can sleep/wake the iPad 2. Because there is nothing to hold the cover closed, it can open and turn on the iPad when you're carrying it around.
Most folio-style cases I've tried also convert into a stand, and the front of the case attaches to the back with a hinge of some sort. The front usually only attaches to the back at that one point, and the whole case has an extra decree of "floppiness" when you're trying to hold the case like a book. iFrogz has a cure for this floppiness. First of all, the flap that attaches the front to the back is much larger than used in many other cases. Most of the back is covered with the faux leather, and only a small amount of the polycarbonate core shows as a color accent. Inside, the spine-side of the core is attached to the faux leather exterior with a strip of Velcro. The core is held tightly against the PU back piece until you rip open the Velcro. It's not a very loud rriiippp, though.
Once the Velcro is open, you can prop the edge of the core into the grooves on the front cover. The Summit works well as a horizontal stand in these three positions. I found it worked well as a typing stand for the on-screen keyboard when I skipped the grooves and just "collapsed" the stand.
The iFrogz Summit is a nice option for people who want a folio case that converts into a horizontal stand. It's well made with design details, like the Velcro, that some cases overlook. The black polyurethane exterior is sedate, and the polycarbonate core allows you to go as business-like (black) or as wild (pink) as you like. At $60, it's priced well, too.
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