Nexus 7 Poetic Case Review

A few days ago I finally had a case delivered for my Nexus 7. I say finally because I’ve had the device for over a month now and been without a case the whole time. I start Uni next week and plan on using my N7 for taking notes in lectures, so a sturdy case is a must have to keep it nice and safe in transit. I’ve had the case since Monday now so have decided to do a bit of a review.

Deciding on a Case
When choosing a case there were a couple of things I was looking for:

1. No Bezel Coverage Please. I didn’t want a case which covered the bezel of the device right up to the edge of the screen. The main reason being that I think it ruins the sleek look of the N7, but also, it may get in the way of touch input when touching the outermost parts of the screen.
2. Protectiveness. There are some cases out there which look the part but will only protect the device from light knocks and scratches. An example is the official Asus case. I wanted a case that can withstand some quite hard knocks and drops.
3. Cheapish. Finances are a bit tight for me at the moment, as they always are in the first Semester, so price was another big point in my decision process.

The Chosen One
So, with these points in mind I hit amazon and looked for a case. As well as using Amazon I also used r/nexus7 to check out what people were saying about various cases. Anyway, in the end I decided on this Poetic Case.

It fits my criteria perfectly! It has no leather covering the bezel of the device, it looked pretty tough, and it cost £13 which seems like a reasonable price.

This Poetic case can also be found with some different brand names (I believe there is an identical one branded as IVSO) most of them pretty much identical in appearance and price. It has the smart lock thing incorporated into its design too which is pretty cool. Another cool feature is a hand strap, which you can put your hand through when holding the device in one hand whilst playing a game, leaving your other hand free to tap and swipe away.

First Impressions
Fit
One of the first things I noticed about the case was how nicely the Nexus fits into it. It is a snug fit which is more than tight enough to hold it in place, but not so tight that it feels like the device will break before the case let’s you take it out. The device is held into place via 6 brace like things which come up from the back of the case: one in each corner, and then two more which help keep it in place when using the stand.

Here you can see the 6 “braces” holding the device in place. The four corners, and then one on the top and bottom which help keep the device in place when using it stood up. Note: The other black thing on the right is a stylus holder!

Stand
The case stands up in quite an unusual way; at first I thought I’d been given a faulty one because I didn’t understand exactly how it works. Here’s a picture to illustrate what I mean:

You can see here that the back of the case folds and the device rests into a ridge on the front cover.

Basically, you take the left side of the device (when held vertically) out of the corner holders and then bend the back of the cover so that you can then place the side of the device into one of the ridges on the inside of the front cover. This might seem like a bit of a faff, especially considering most other cases just have the front of the case fold up under the back of the device to stand it up, but when you consider how little you’ll be doing this you realise it’s not really a problem. Although the case does stand up, it only stands in landscape and not portrait. Some cases do offer both landscape and portrait standing options, although I think the only reason I’d want to stand the case in portrait it if I’m reading an eBook or PDF and want to view a whole page at a time; other than this landscape suits most needs, for me at least.

Smart Cover
The smart cover feature is a pretty cool feature similar to what you can get for the iPad. When you shut the cover, a small magnet let’s the device know and the screen is locked and turned off. Then, when you open it back up, the magnet being taken away turns the screen back on, just like magic! I’m glad this case has that feature as it’s only a magnet so it can’t be that much expense, and I don’t think I’ve seen many cases (no matter how cheap) that don’t have this feature.

Toughness
The braces that keep the device in place seem like they’ll offer a decent bit of protection against light drops, the only downside is that parts of the device are left bare around the sides which leaves those sections open to scratches from keys/loose change/whatever may be in your bag at that time. If you get this case I’d recommend not keeping it with anything that could scratch it. Despite this, the screen is still well protected from pretty much any kind of damage; the cover is sturdy and soft on the inside so the case itself won’t scratch the screen.

Summary
To summarise: this case is excellent, not just for it’s price, but in general it’s got everything I could want/need. Not only does the case look the part, but when holding it feels sturdy, and I’m confident that if/when I have an accidental drop it will protect it’s precious cargo more than adequately! If you’re in the market for a case I’d look no further, you should get this case whether it be the same brand or another.

Looks great I think! The black strap you see can be used to hold the device in place better when you have the front cover folded behind the device and not using the stand. It works OK but covers a little bit of the screen.