May 30, 2007

When it comes to cases for your Windows Mobile device it seems that there are a dizzying number of companies offering them today.  While most of these cases are pretty good and protect your device well, others are either poorly made, poorly designed or simply do not fit your device well.  The UK based company Porporta recently sent me two cases to try and review and I must say, I'm quite impressed!  Not only are these cases well made but they fit my device - in this case an O2 XDA Atom - perfectly.

The first case is the Proporta Aluminum Leather case, or Alu-Leather case as it is often referred too.  The case has a flip-up style cover which protects the front of the device which is snuggly held in the case by the custom formed leather base.  As you look around the case, all of the silver stitching on this black leather case is uniform and tight, a sign of good quality workmanship.  On the front of the case's flap, the Proporta logo is imprinted into the leather and the button closure for the strap to keep the flap closed is located at the bottom.  The back of the case is smooth except a small screw in the center.  This screw can be removed and the removable belt clip can be attached.  You will see in Figure 2 I have already attached the belt clip base to the case.  Finally, along the bottom of the case is the single wide leather band that snaps the font cover tightly around the device.

Figure 1:  The Proporta Alu-Leather Case Front...  Note the Uniform Stitching

Figure 2:  The Back...

Figure 3:  The Wide Leather Closing Strap

When you open up the case, the inside of the front flap is where you see how this case gets its name.  Inside the flap is a thin sheet of aluminum, part of which you can see towards the middle of the case with the proporta.com branding.  By adding this aluminum sheet, Proporta has given the front of the case great rigidity and added protection for your device but, because it is aluminum, they have not added any real weight to the case.  It is a simple addition that makes this case stand out from others.  You'll also see on the inside of the flap two MiniSD slots for additional card storage while on-the-go.

Figure 4:  Inside The Front Flap

The inside of the case is lined with soft leather with the base flaps that hold your device in place extending nearly halfway up the sides of it.  The base itself is a snug fit, particularly when you first start using the case, but does stretch a little over time - no so much though that the device becomes loose inside it.  As with other aspects of the case, the stitching is tight and uniform around the base.  The base itself has all of the cutouts required to access the buttons on the device.  In this case, for my O2 Atom, the base has an oval cutout to access the send/receive buttons, D-Pad and action buttons.  On the bottom of the base I can easily access the USB connection as well as the reset button.

Figure 5:  The Base of The Proporta Case

Figure 6:  Base Access to The USB Port, Headphone Jack and Reset Button

Finally, the back of the Alu-Leather case is smooth with an optional removable belt clip.  The base of the clip is screwed into the back while the clip has a quick release button to easily slide the case off of the clip, leaving it attached to your belt.  The mechanism on this is smooth and worked quite well in my testing. 

Figure 7:  The Optional Belt Clip Attachment

Overall it is hard not to like this case from Proporta.  It does not add any weight to speak of to your device although it does all a bit of girth to it as any case would do.  When the case is new you may find it a bit difficult to close the strap to button down the front flap.  This does loosen up with only a few uses as the leather stretches but may cause some concern that the case won't fit your device.  It does - just remember you are dealing with real leather which needs to be stretched.

The Aluminum Leather case from Proporta is $34.95 and comes in two styles - the flip case which I have reviewed here as well as a book style which opens to the side.  The only difference beyond the obvious is that the book style does have cutouts on the back for your device's digital camera (if applicable).  The flip style does not as the top would end up covering the camera once it is opened and folded over the back.  Proporta offers this case for a wide range of devices and their website is well designed making it easy to find this case and other accessories for your Windows Mobile device.

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