HTC Wizard 8
10 Case Shootout Review Conclusion
If you frequent these parts you can't possibly have not noticed the marathon review we've undertaken throughout the last couple of months. Well, we've now reached the end of this labour of love. All 8
10 HTC Wizard cases have been scrutinised individually and now we'll get down to the main event of running them against each other.
Introduction
Forking out at least 10 per cent of the cost of your device and then putting your confidence in a piece of leather bought from a web shop 10,000 miles away on the back of two photos seems a little crazy. Yet we all do it. Each time we get a new device we scour the web for the first line of physical security to protect our new baby. All too often though I've gambled on a fuzzy photo and wasted my hard earned on some shoddy, badly fitted, fake leather that still sits on my gadget shelf now, adding to the weight that will eventually bring it all crashing down. While there's no substitute for holding a new case in your hand and comparing seven in the flesh, practically this isn't going to happen. Fortunately for me, during the past week I've been posting reviews of cases for the machines based on the HTC Wizard platform. Namely the O2 Mini S, MDA Vario and Imate K-Jam. While I can't dispatch all seven to each and every one of you, I think I might be able to give you a hand deciding on where to invest your money, and faith.
If you've been watching all the reviews over the past 7 days you'll noticed that most of the cases scored between 70-85% and received either a bronze or silver 4WM medal. The problem I had was that while all the cases were good, none were good enough, in my opinion, to use all day every day. There is no killer case. I don't think we've got the case manufacturers to blame for the lack of a killer case, it's more the design of the HTC Wizard itself. A couple of the manufacturers have tried to address this, Proporta with its plastic cover, and Piel Frama with it leather belt, are both innovative solutions. I tried to think of all the excellent parts from each case to say, "hey, this is what your really want" but found that a lot of the features contradict each other.
So far I've reviewed each case seperately, and graded them from their overall "feel", and effectiveness at their particular task. I appreciate this isn't very scientific, but hold your horses, there's more. The final round of the review is a shootout. It's kind of like "it's a knockout" but for cases, without the big orange foam giants and Stuart Hall's crazy commentary. The grading here is going to be a little more scientific than before, taking into account four seperate categories. I'll grade each case on each category and we can tot them all up and see who wins. As an added bonus I'll share a few recommendations with you, suiting each case to a particular usage.
UPDATE:
As you've probably seen from the two additions to the shootout review we've had two scorchers. I have now awarded a gold medal, because I think the Brando Deluxe Leather case is as close as you can get to a case for all occasions, and it is excellent value. If only it was a bit prettier. Talking of pretty, the other addition, the Vaja HT41 Classic case is exquisite, truely the product of a master craftsman.
Clips and Connectors
I'm sure by now you're sick and tired of me bleating on about the plastic clip connectors. Yes? I thought so. However, bear with me a minute because now I can explain myself. Right, the Piel Frama, Noreve and Krusell cases come with their own custom designed clip and connector packages, and these are very good. The Proporta, Boxwave, and Brando cases come with the same generic clip and connector, and these are not so good. Finally I can show you why. With the help of photoshop (simply because I don't have 6 Wizards) I've snapped six cases (only six because the Boxwave and Brando are the same, as are the two Proportas.) hanging from our clothes horse. Now, the problem with the plastic clip is that it sits too far away from your body, which promotes jiggling. You can see from the image that the Krusell, Noreve and Piel Frama cases hang almost straight down, whereas the plastic clip cases are nearly horizontal, because a badly placed centre of gravity. So while the plastic clip is less secure than the metal ones, it's also less confortable to wear.
While I'm on the subject of comfort, you can also see here the case height that it takes on your belt. I personally prefer by far to have a case sitting low as I find high sitting cases catch my elbow. You can clearly see the excellent low positions of both the Noreve and the Krusell cases.
UPDATE:
The Vaja case being an horizontal sitting case has a fantastic sitting position, and the belt loop, being an integral part of the case, is very strong. Brando has improved the connector for the Deluxe leather case, but the clip itself and seating position are still a bit ropey.
Weights
Krusell Handit
Boxwave Armor Aluminium
Piel Frama Imate K-Jam
Noreve Tradition
Brando Workshop Metal Case
Proporta Leather Alu Book Style
Proporta Leather Alu Flip Style
Krusell Cabriolet
Free Manufacturer Case
Vaja HT41 Classic case
Brando Deluxe Leather case
54g
51g
52g
45g
51g
49g
49g
27g
NA
NA
NA
I used digital scales sensitive to .25g to measure these weights so I'm reasonably sure they are correct. The only slight on the results is that all the cases were measured naked, without clips and conectors. Obviously the Krusell cases cannot have their multidapts removed so there would be less of an increase when just a clip is added. I was pretty surprised by the results of this. The Aluminium case definitly felt the heaviest, but there's really very little across the board. I'm also really shocked that the Piel Frama is the heaviest. If you use it without a clip in your pocket it feels the least noticable. I think this might be because it spreads itself well, being less deep. It's obviously no surprise that the Krusell Cabriolet is the lightest, being that it consists of no real front covering.
UPDATE:
I have to put my hand in the air, and take the shame for this one. Unfortunately the super accurate scales I used to weigh the other cases are now super broken, so I could not weigh the new cases.
Aesthetics
This is all about how the case looks, and how well it wears. Slimming lines, quality materials and nice designs will all score big here.
Krusell Handit
Boxwave Armor Aluminium
Piel Frama Imate K-Jam
Noreve Tradition
Brando Workshop Metal Case
Proporta Leather Alu Book Style
Proporta Leather Alu Flip Style
Krusell Cabriolet
Free Manufacturer Case
Vaja HT41 Classic case
Brando Deluxe Leather case
Both Aluminium cases score points for nice materials, but a lack of tapering make the phone look a little bulky. The Proportas, along with the Piel Frama have have a hand made look and mixed colour stitching which you either like or don't. The Krusell is professional enough looking, but is doesn't stand out of the crowd. Finally the Noreve is a gorgeous looking case while the "cheating" Krusell Cabriolet looks cool because it shows so much of the Wizards beauty.
UPDATE:
Obviously the Vaja case scores top marks here, and may have pushed the others back if it had been in the original batch. Ideally I'd like to have given the Brando case 2 and a half, but I'd stated early doors I'd not used half points. Instead I've give it 2, which is probably a touch harsh. Unfortunately the aluminium cases look better and got 3.
Phone Functionality
Device accessiblity is the key here. What can you do with your phone while it's in the case and how hard is it to get at what's not to hand.
Krusell Handit
Boxwave Armor Aluminium
Piel Frama Imate K-Jam
Noreve Tradition
Brando Workshop Metal Case
Proporta Leather Alu Book Style
Proporta Leather Alu Flip Style
Krusell Cabriolet
Free Manufacturer Case
Vaja HT41 Classic case
Brando Deluxe Leather case
Short of putting you phone in a carrier bag under your groceries there's very few ways to restrict its use more than using the free case. The Noreve and Krusell are both hampered by the lack of keyboard usage. The Brando and Boxwave Alu's and the Piel Frama offer keyboard access while in the case, but a little tenuously. Both Proportas have excellent keyboard and port access from within the case once retrieved from your belt. The Krusell Cabriolet once again "cheats" its way to the points by allowing full phone functionality in a second through it's quick draw action.
UPDATE:
There's not a lot of options for you while your Wizard is in the vaja case bar MP3 usage, hence the low score. As I've stated previously though, the Brando gets top marks for being the only case to offer full functionality.
Security
Protection is the name of the game in this category. What's the chance of a drop or a knock being fatal?
Krusell Handit
Boxwave Armor Aluminium
Piel Frama Imate K-Jam
Noreve Tradition
Brando Workshop Metal Case
Proporta Leather Alu Book Style
Proporta Leather Alu Flip Style
Krusell Cabriolet
Free Manufacturer Case
Vaja HT41 Classic case
Brando Deluxe Leather case
The free case fails miserably again here with material like a thin crust pizza. Floppy. No real protection there. The Noreve has exposed bottom corners, a real drop issue, and the Krusell Cabriolet has too much of
its top and screen open for abuse. The Proportas, although covered, seem a bit loose fitting on the flip for any serious stick and have a nasty plastic clip connector. The Krusell Handit and Piel Frama have good
connections, and only drop a point because they can't match the resiliance of the Aluminium cases. Again the nasty plastic connector is to blame for the point dropped on the Boxwave and Brando Alu cases.
UPDATE:
Security wise both cases are pretty good, but can't match the strength of the Alu cases. Hence the score of 4 a piece.
Value for money
This ones easy, are you making the most of your pay check? How much bang are you getting for your buck?
Krusell Handit
Boxwave Armor Aluminium
Piel Frama Imate K-Jam
Noreve Tradition
Brando Workshop Metal Case
Proporta Leather Alu Book Style
Proporta Leather Alu Flip Style
Krusell Cabriolet
Free Manufacturer Case
Vaja HT41 Classic case
Brando Deluxe Leather case
I thought the Piel Frama and Noreve cases were good but a little pricey. The Proporta are maybe a touch over the odds and Krusell cases are a nice price, but you need to buy more clips to make the most of them. Both Alu cases offer excellent value for money, and the manufacturers case? Free? My favourite price!
UPDATE:
£15 is not free, but for what you're getting I still think the Brando Deluxe deserves top marks. The Vaja classic is a superb case too, but it's just a bit pricey, and the most expensive in the review.
Totals
Krusell Handit
Boxwave Armor Aluminium
Piel Frama Imate K-Jam
Noreve Tradition
Brando Workshop Metal Case
Proporta Leather Alu Book Style
Proporta Leather Alu Flip Style
Krusell Cabriolet
Free Manufacturer Case
Vaja HT41 Classic case
Brando Deluxe Leather case
15 - 80%
15 - 80%
14 - 75%
14 - 80%
15 - 80%
15 - 85%
15 - 80%
15 - 85%
9 - NA
13 - 75%
16 - 90%
Erm. Wow. I didn't really expect that. The total points pretty much match up with the spread on the individual review scores. Not much more to say about that really! All very inconclusive. Let's get on to some recommendations instead.
As I said earlier, there really isn't a winner as such of this shootout. All the cases here have their good points and bad points, but more importantly they're all suited to slightly different lifestyles. I'm by no means a lifestyle expert, but I'll have a stab at how I think the individual cases may suit you, and your wants/needs.
Recommendations
Ok, as promised a few recommendations to try and find the case(s) to suit you.
Krusell Handit.
The Handit is reasonably good all round case, functionally, protectively and aesthetically speaking but the Multidapt is the star of the show. If you want to attach your case in your car, bike, work suit, and even business suit there are clips for you available. The Krusell range is especially good if you use multiple devices. Truly multipurpose.
Boxwave Armor Aluminium.
The Aluminium cases are protection incarnate, and as long as you don't bounce around too much are like a second insurance policy. If you're in danger of bashing your device, then you want it to be wrapped in this. The looks are pretty good, and it's pretty easy to get at. Great for use around heavy machinery or for tradesman I'll bet.
Piel Frama Imate K-Jam.
Again, the Piel Frama is a pretty good allrounder, but I found it especially at home in the pocket. The wide, less deep form factor is ideal for a low profile bulge. The Piel Frama is also hardy, and functionally better than most because of the good keyboard access. I really like the Piel Frama case for the unique characteristic of being hand made too. Gives it an air of exclusivity.
Noreve Tradition.
The Tradition is all about style and comfort, with reasonable protection and functionality thrown in for good measure. The great lines and nice clip postition mean it looks the business and you can barely feel it when it's attached. It will take a knock, but I'd advise against dropping. Excellent for the office, will go sweetly with your business suits.
Brando Workshop Metal Case.
The Aluminium cases are protection incarnate, and as long as you don't bounce around too much are like a second insurance policy. If you're in danger of bashing your device, then you want it to be wrapped in this. The looks are pretty good, and it's pretty easy to get at. Great for use around heavy machinery or for tradesman I'll bet.
Proporta Leather Alu Book Style.
The Proportas are another good all round case, nice protection, good looks, excellent access. If you keep your device in your case all day long then there are few to match. I prefer the Book style if you get access to your charger during the day, but the Flip style if it spends most of its time on your belt. Great for anyone but the hardiest of users.
Proporta Leather Alu Flip Style.
The Proportas are another good all round case, nice protection, good looks, excellent access. If you keep your device in your case all day long then there are few to match. I prefer the Book style if you get access to your charger during the day, but the Flip style if it spends most of its time on your belt. Great for anyone but the hardiest of users.
Krusell Cabriolet.
The Cabriolet is for everyone who wants a way of carrying the Wizard without the tell tale trouser bulge and is a little bit conscious of dropping their baby, but likes to use their case nekkid (naked). Again if you want to attach your case in your car, bike, work suit, and even business suit there are clips for you available. The Krusell range is especially good if you use multiple devices.
Free Manufacturer Case.
If you really have no money at all, then this is for you. Alternatively, go to you local supermarket and get a free carrier bag. They look cooler.
Vaja HT41 Classic case.
It's all about style and choice. Easy on the eye but also easy on the features. If you have the money, you could have a Vaja classic for every outfit. It's also pretty hardy, will definitly take a knock.
Brando Deluxe Leather case.
Brando has created the one true case, the case to rule them all, so to speak. It's functionality personified, and with a little TLC from a seamstress could have been the real deal. That aside it's still the best case overall in my book because of the functionality and excellent value for money.
For your delctation all the individual reviews are listed below
Noreve Tradition HTC Wizard Case
Proporta Alu-Leather Book Style Case
Proporta Alu-Leather Flip Style Case
Brando WorkShop O2xda mini Pro Metal Case
Piel Frama HTC Wizard Case
Boxwave Armor Aluminium Wizard case
Krusell Handit Multidapt for HTC Wizard
Krusell Cabriolet Multidapt for HTC Wizard
Brando Workshop Deluxe Leather Case
Vaja HT41 Classic Case
HTC Wizard 8 Case Shootout Review Conclusion
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