There ’s a mountain of gear out there for your Apple devices , but how do you know which are worth your time and what ’s not worth your money ? In our Gear We Love newspaper column , Macworld ’s editor in chief tell you about the products we ’re personally using — and love .
Though I ’ve founda number of iPad mini slip , of depart levels of tribute , worth recommending , I ’m a minimalist when it fall to cases for my owniPad miniskirt . Having broken an iPad screen in the past , I wantsomeprotection , but I do n’t want a chunky case that spoil the miniskirt ’s svelte and lightweight design .
Up until recently , that ’s meant a combining of Apple’siPad miniskirt Smart Coverand SwitchEasy ’s $ 20CoverBuddy for iPad miniskirt . The Smart Cover alone is flawed , but when combine with the CoverBuddy — a thin , protective shell for the back of the iPad that fits perfectlywiththe Smart Cover — you get a nice “ case ” that ’s protective without add a band of bulk , and you may easy remove the magnetically attached Smart Cover when , say , you ’re read an ebook in bed .
But one of my complaints about this compounding is that I ’ve never been completely felicitous with the Smart Cover as a stand . When prop up the iPad for cover viewing or onscreen typing , the Cover offers only a couple slant , and it never feel inflexible . A few months back , I start test ZeroChroma’sVario - SC Mini , a CoverBuddy - like caseful with a built - in rack , and it ’s been on my iPad ever since .
Like the CoverBuddy , the Vario - SC Mini is a scale that fits on the back of your iPad mini , covering its back and sides , with an opening along the left boundary for the Smart Cover ’s magnetized flexible joint . But the Vario - SC Mini is considerably more protective : It ’s slightly thicker ; the TPU material is a bit spongier to absorb more impact ; and the case ’s edge continue a bit farther around the front of the iPad to offer some shelter if you put the iPad mini fount - down . The grammatical case is also easier to grip , and it ’s more scratch resistant — after several months of daily utilization , the only minor blemishes are on the stand part of the case , which is made of a more - strict charge plate .
But it ’s that stand that makes the Vario - SC Mini singular . On the back of the case is a rotating disc that hosts a fold - out , fictile stand . The stand ’s stage has 10 positions ( in accession to the break up - affluent position ) , from rough 30 degrees from the case ’s trunk to roughly 120 degrees . Because the entire disk rotates 360 degrees , you may utilize any of these stand positions in both landscape painting and portrait orientations .
Though the stand will fold up if you press unwaveringly on the iPad ’s screen , it ’s stalwart enough for most employment , including onscreen typewriting . And if you employ it in combination with the Smart Cover , the tie-up even cultivate on your overlap — the Smart Cover play as a flat Qaeda for the leg to rest on .
The case allow for all the appropriate cutouts for accessing the iPad mini ’s button , switches , and Lightning - connecter port ( though the Lightning - connecter - port initiative may not reconcile some third - political party cable with bulky plugs ) , and it does n’t becloud the iPad ’s microphones , verbaliser , or back camera . It ’s also easy to speedily remove the case if you want to temporarily go ultralight .
The Vario - SC Mini does have a few drawbacks . Unlike the CoverBuddy , which comes in a reach of colors , each utterly matching its corresponding Smart Cover , the Vario - SC Mini is available only in black . More significantly , the Vario - SC Mini is bulky than the CoverBuddy : It ’s more or less thick — mainly around the standstill halo , because of the necessary extra plastic — and it weigh 4.5 troy ounce , compared to 1.6 ounces for the CoverBuddy .
But with that extra bulk comes a honorable raft more trade protection and an excellent stand . If you ’ve already got Apple ’s Smart Cover for your iPad miniskirt , but you need a bit more protection , you should consider the Vario - SC Mini before you discard out your Smart Cover and shop for a completely unexampled case . And you could ignore the Vario - SC Mini ’s $ 50 MSRP — it ’s availablefrom Amazon , for good example , for around $ 30 .
( take down : I also tested ZeroChroma’sVario - SC iPad Air , the iPad Air version of this case . The Vario - SC iPad Air is very similar to the Mini , and offer most of the same benefits ; however , I do n’t commend it as strongly , as the bandstand is n’t quite as tough . Combined with the iPad Air ’s larger , heavier size , I find out that the Vario - SC iPad Air ’s stand was a turn more likely to fold up when tapping or typing . )
