Tech Product Review

Last year I got an iPad Air, but never got around to buying a case for it. I know that eventually, I'll want to travel with it and it's not the kind of thing you can just toss in your purse unprotected. I was really hesitant to shell out the money for an expensive case like the ones they sell at the Apple store, so I went on Amazon in search of something more affordable. They had a wide range of products at different price points, but I found one that was on sale for $4.99 that had a ton of great reviews (I'm always skeptical of things that are too good to be true, so I recommend really poring over the reviews).

It's called A Fintie Apple iPad Air Folio Case (Get it here.) The product info says that it is "synthetic leather," (read: faux leather) but for my price point, I knew I wouldn't get the real deal, nor do I really care. The inner front cover is microfiber, a soft, fuzzy material that functions to protect the screen. The front cover has a magnetic closure, which is very nice and has just the right amount of magnetism to really keep it closed. It also has a stylus holder, but does not come with a stylus (to be honest, I didn't know you could use a stylus with an iPad, whoops).

With the front cover open and tucked behind, it will lay completely flat. The cover adds very little bulk. Also, all of the buttons are perfectly accessible, and the key cutouts are in the proper locations. An added bonus is when you close the cover, your iPad automatically sleeps, and when you open the cover, the "enter password" screen pops up. I'm not sure how this works, but it's a nice feature.

I also wanted a cover with a built-in stand for hands-free movie watching. The front cover folds around and tucks into a slot in the back cover so that the iPad sits upright. It sits at a nice high, almost vertical angle which means it would easily fit on those teeny airplane tray tables. So far I have zero complaints, and it's well worth the cost.

 The other item I picked up on Amazon was a Caseology Slim Fit Bumper Case for my Samsung Galaxy S3 (they also make them for the S4, the Note 3, and the Note 4, and I would imagine they make them for the iPhone as well).

This one is the lime green color, but I had the turquoise mint color previously. The turquoise mint is a little girlier, and both colors have a subtle sparkle that is hard to see in the pictures. I don't think it's so pronounced that a guy wouldn't be able to confidently use this case. I purchased the case here for $8.49. I got a solid year out of the last one before the color flaked off in certain places. It was hardly noticeable, but I'm anal when it comes to things like that, so I decided it was time to replace.

As you can see, it really is very slim. I love that it doesn't add extra bulk to the phone. It's very light, slightly pliable, with a hard, sleek rubber feel (it's made out of thermoplastic polyurethane, whatever that is, and I will say that it borders on slippery in case you prefer a more gripp-able phone cover) and has cutouts in the right place so that the buttons are all easy to reach and the charger and headphone cutouts are plenty big, so there's no problem plugging anything in while the case is on. 

Overall, I highly recommend both of these items. The prices really can't be beat, and the quality has proven to be excellent for any price point. Scoop them up while you can!