Krusell Classic Sony Ericsson T610-T630 Case Review

Product Requirements:
Device:
Sony Ericsson T610,T612,T616,T628,T630
 

Official Product Photos and Description from Krusell:

"Made in carefully selected buffalo leather and designed to fit 100% to each
individual phone. A key feature on the Classic cases are their tight fit, that
makes even very small phones look extremely good in their Krusell case. Forget
about bulky misfit cases."

Introduction:

When I first got my Sony Ericsson T616 phone, I was really impressed by the
design, but soon discovered that carrying it around loose was not such a good
idea; the screen could easily get messed up, and the battery cover had a
tendency to get a bit loose when I pulled it out of my pocket. Sony Ericsson
made a basic case for the phone, but it was clunky and fairly generic.

When I got the opportunity to review the Krusell Classic case for this phone, I
jumped at the chance, as I had heard very good things about Krusell, and I was
looking forward to seeing what a custom designed case for this phone would be
like.

The Case:

Krusell has a reputation for designing high quality and highly customized cases
for a wide variety of different phone and PDA models, and once I got my hands on
this case I could see why. The leather it is made of is beautiful and has a very
nice and soft feel to it, and the stitching, buttons, zippers and Velcro
throughout the case are all very durable and have stood up to a lot of wear and
tear.

The main zipper on the back unzips just enough to let you open the case enough
to squeeze the phone in. The phone is a very tight fit in the case, and it is
clear that this case was designed to fit the phone like a glove. I’ve only
noticed one defect of sorts in my review case, and that is that there is an area
in the upper left hand corner of the case (where the leather and plastic meet)
that seems to be slightly distorted. This seems to have resulted in a problem
that causes the phone to not exactly fit right (if you look at the second photo
above of the phone in its case, you will see that it is slightly offset,
particularly the opening in the plastic front for the joystick). I tried
numerous times to shift the phone while I slid it in to get it to line up
better, but the little nub of plastic that is sticking out seems to make this
difficult. While this bothered me initially, I have since gotten used to it, and
I consider it a minor a problem. I would chalk this up to a rare problem though,
as it seems like most of these cases fit the phones just fine. Just make sure
that when you buy one, you can return it just in case the case does have any
sort of defect.

The front of the case is made out of a clear plastic covering, with cutouts for
the joystick and the earpiece. My biggest concern with this case was that the
plastic would make the keys harder to press. Fortunately, it turns out that the
keys are still quite easy to press even with the plastic covering, and I’ve
encountered only a handful of incidents where I accidentally pressed another key
than the one I intended to press. My other concern was that it might cause the
screen to be less readable, but this was also unfounded. The plastic has
remained perfectly clear even after months of typical wear and tear.

The phone also continues to function perfectly while in the case, as the
openings for the speaker and receiver allow for uninterrupted sound quality. The
reception of the phone while in the case also seemed to be just fine.

The left side of the case includes a cutout for the volume and camera buttons.
This cutout is covered with a similar plastic material as the front of the case.
These buttons are also generally easy enough to press. In this image you can
also see how the zipper only goes down about half the length of the phone.

The right side of the case is generally unremarkable, and the main thing to note
is the small cutout area for the mMode/Internet button, and the way the zipper
covers about 3/4ths of the length of the phone.

The bottom of the case includes a cut-out area that lets you connect a charging
cable and hands-free set without having to remove it from the case.

At the top of the case, there are additional cut outs for the power button and a
plastic-covered cutout for the infrared port. I don’t have any Infrared devices
so I wasn’t able to tell if the plastic covering affects performance of the
infrared signal at all, but I can at least tell that they provided enough room
so the entire infrared panel is not hidden.

The back of the case is really ingenious, for a couple of reasons. The first is
the multidapt system, which I will explain in a moment. The other is the clever
design that Krusell came up with to provide access to the phone’s built in
camera. The covering on the back can be flipped down to provide full access to
the camera lens and the tiny "mirror" that Sony Ericsson provides for framing
yourself in a self-portrait.

The covering is secured in place by a combination of two snaps and some Velcro.
This provides a very reliable covering that will not come loose when you don’t
want it to. When you snap open and pull the covering away from the Velcro, you
can flip the cover down and snap a photo. You will sometimes have to make a bit
of effort to keep the cover down with one of your fingers while snapping a
photo, but it isn’t difficult. The opening for the lens and mirror is perfectly
designed, and it allows for you to take a clean shot without any part of the
case covering up part of the shot.

This is one of the most ingenious solutions I’ve seen, as it seems that other
cases designed for this model of phone have either tried to solve this problem
by just leaving the camera lens exposed at all times (thus subjecting it to dust
and other possible damage), or leaving it covered all the time (thus requiring
you to remove the phone from the case if you want to take a photo). Given the
nature of camera phones, often being used to take a picture at the spur of the
moment, Krusell’s solution is one of the best I’ve seen. It keeps the lens
protected while also making it quick to unsnap and pull down the cover and take
a shot.

Having covered the camera access features of this phone, I will now cover the
other part of this case that I found to be ingenious…

Multidapt:

Krusell has also made a name for themselves with their unique "multidapt"
system. Essentially, this is a system that makes it very simple to attach a wide
variety of clips and attachments to the case.

My review unit came with a standard belt clip and a swivel clip.

With the multidapt system, you have a standard host that you can clip various
adaptors to.

If you decide you want to use a standard belt clip, you just slide the clip into
the multidapt adaptor.

Then, if you want to use it with a swivel clip, you simply remove the belt
clip (by simply sticking a pen or pencil or paperclip into the clip to detach it
from the multidapt system), and then slide the swivel adaptor (pictured in the
upper left hand corner of the above photo) into the Multidapt slot.

With the swivel adaptor in place, you can then easily slide the case into the
swivel belt clip (which has a very nice quick release button to quickly remove
the case from the swivel belt clip).

Aside from these two clips, Krusell makes a wide variety of accessories for the
multidapt system, including straps and holders to mount your device in your
vehicle (you can see a complete listing of the multidapt accessories Krusell
makes at here).

Frankly, the multidapt system is one of the most impressive case technologies
I’ve seen, as it gives you a tremendous amount of flexibility in how you use it.
I’ve come across many cases that I liked but just wished they came with a
different type of clip. With the multidapt system, you don’t need to choose. I
am partial to the excellent swivel clip design, but I also love having the
flexibility to quickly remove it and put in the normal belt clip if I need to.

Conclusion:

I am very impressed by the Krusell Classic case, and the reputation Krusell has
is clearly well deserved. The amount of effort put into the design and
implementation of this case was clearly worth it. You can tell Krusell put a lot
of thought into it, and the multidapt system and the snap-off covering for the
camera make it just about the perfect case for the Sony Ericsson T6xx series of
phones. I really appreciate the fine details in this case and how perfectly
tailored it is to the phone’s design and functionality. My only disappointment
was that my particular case seems to have a slight defect, but it seems like
most of the cases do not have problems like this. And frankly, even with that
slight cosmetic issue, the benefits of this case far outweigh any possible
defects. For anyone who owns one of the Sony Ericsson phones this case is
designed for, this case seems to be one of the best options out there.

Krusell does not sell the case and accessories directly, so you will
need to
buy them from a retailer.

NOTE: Krusell makes two models of their case for the T6xx series, product
numbers 82131 and 82137. The 82131 case was originally designed for the T610,
T612 and T616. Krusell later modified this case for the T628 and T630 and
released a new model, 82137. The only difference in the cases is the location of
the cutout for the little mirror next to the camera lens, but they are otherwise
identical. How important access to the mirror is will depend on how useful you
find it. It is a nice little gimmick of the T6xx series phones to help frame
yourself in a shot that you take of yourself, but it isn’t that
critical once you’re used to the camera phone. Krusell has confirmed that any of
the T6xx phones will still work fine in either model, but if the cut-out for the
mirror is important to you, you will want to make sure you order the appropriate
product number. Usually most on-line retailers list the 82137 as being ONLY for
the T628 and T630, while listing the 82131 as only for the T610, T612 and T616,
although some properly list both cases as accommodating all of the phone models.
 

Price: $24.99-29.95
(standard spring clip included, swivel clip sold separately)

Pros: 

High Quality Leather
Excellent Hand Made Construction
Multidapt System
Custom Cutouts Provide Easy Access To Buttons and Openings Snap/Velcro Cover to
Protect and Provide Easy Access to Camera

Cons: 
Minor defects in case might result in phone not fitting perfectly