I’ve said it before, but I love cases, covers, and bags as much as I love gadgets. I’ve been on an iPad 2 cover kick lately, and I have one more to tell you about. iFrogz makes cases for a variety of Apple mobile devices, headphones and audio gear, and cables. They sent me an iPad 2 Summit Case to try out.
Most pictures in this review can be clicked for a larger view.
The Summit case weighs 13 ounces on my digital kitchen scale. It measures about 9.5” long X 7.35” wide X 0.65” thick. It does add weight and thickness to the iPad 2.
The Summit Case has a polyurethane exterior, but it has the look and feel of leather. There is no branding on the exterior of the case. The black stitching blends in with the black polyurethane, and the stitches are even and straight. The Summit is a folio-style case, and it has no closure to keep the cover closed. The exterior is available only in black, at least for the models now available. The faux leather has a sheen, but it’s not glossy. The exterior is rigid; I don’t know what the reinforcing material is. It should add screen protection.
Inside, the case is lined with a medium-gray fabric with a very realistic-looking suede texture. There’s an iFrogz label sewn into the seam on the cover. You’ll notice the front cover has three “grooves” running vertically; these work to convert the Summit Case into a stand.
The iPad 2 is held in a polycarbonate core that cradles the back of the iPad 2 and snaps just over the edges of the device. This core is available in black, blue, green, pink, and white. The case I received has a medium blue core. Inserting the iPad 2 into the core seems easy, but you need to make sure that the rim of the core is snapped securely over the edges of the iPad 2. I found out the hard way that I didn’t have mine completely snapped into the case. Luckily the iPad 2 landed on the sofa beside me instead of into the floor. Once it’s snapped in, the iPad 2 is very secure. It took a bit of effort to remove the iPad 2 when I wanted to photograph the empty Summit. The core will add protection to the back and sides of the iPad 2.
I often find book-style covers hard to use because of the weight of the iPad 2 makes it hard to hold vertically. I tend to use my iPad 2 horizontally, and the front flap often is in my way with many of these covers. You can fold the Summit’s front cover completely back, so you can hold the iFrogz Summit horizontally quite easily..
The core has cutouts for all controls and connectors and the back camera. I didn’t have any trouble using any controls, and I could plug in headphones and the charging cable with no problems. There’s a grid over the speaker that doesn’t seem to interfere with the iPad 2’s sound.
The front cover has a magnet under the sueded lining, so it can sleep/wake the iPad 2. Because there is nothing to hold the cover closed, it can open and turn on the iPad when you’re carrying it around.
Most folio-style cases I’ve tried also convert into a stand, and the front of the case attaches to the back with a hinge of some sort. The front usually only attaches to the back at that one point, and the whole case has an extra decree of “floppiness” when you’re trying to hold the case like a book. iFrogz has a cure for this floppiness. First of all, the flap that attaches the front to the back is much larger than used in many other cases. Most of the back is covered with the faux leather, and only a small amount of the polycarbonate core shows as a color accent. Inside, the spine-side of the core is attached to the faux leather exterior with a strip of Velcro. The core is held tightly against the PU back piece until you rip open the Velcro. It’s not a very loud rriiippp, though.
Once the Velcro is open, you can prop the edge of the core into the grooves on the front cover. The Summit works well as a horizontal stand in these three positions. I found it worked well as a typing stand for the on-screen keyboard when I skipped the grooves and just “collapsed” the stand.
The iFrogz Summit is a nice option for people who want a folio case that converts into a horizontal stand. It’s well made with design details, like the Velcro, that some cases overlook. The black polyurethane exterior is sedate, and the polycarbonate core allows you to go as business-like (black) or as wild (pink) as you like. At $60, it’s priced well, too.
Product Information
| Price: | $59.99 |
| Manufacturer: | iFrogz |
| Pros: |
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| Cons: |
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I have a friend with a very similar case to this one; it might be the same but I cant be certain. Anyway, the quality doesnt compare to the Apple Smart case I use with mine. I prefer the flexibility with the angle of the screen on this one though. the smart case is either too upright or too low.
traded my apple smart ( after 2days of use ) for the ifrogz summit ( black ) costs a bit more but i like it much better than the smart cover . really have no complaints except that with the cover folded back it does block the back camera . otherwise really like this case .
As my Twitter name implies, I am hooked on gadgets. And, along with that, I use screen covers, skins, cases, bags – like crazy. But, my gadgets always look pristine and perfect even though I use them to death. My pick out of these five covers is the iFrogz simply because I don’t have any apparatus that acts like a stand for my iPad 2 but I’d be thrilled to have any one of them. Thanks for the opportunity to win one. I really appreciate it.
@June LaRose Reich You need to leave the comment under the contest announcement post. This one won’t count, sorry!
I have this cover for my iPad2, but for some reason the magnet on the cover doesn’t work to put the device to sleep. I’ll be returning it to the store on Monday…
@mod – please delete this and previous comment. After I posted, I started searching the settings and found I was the problem, not the case. Thx!
Hi, i have the ifrogz summit, but after using it after a few weeks, the corners of the plastic holding the ipad just cracked and chipped off. Don’t get me wrong, i love the case, it has a very good design, but i guess it lacked the robustness side of it. I also take good care of my gadgets, and i’m sure it was not caused by any bumps. I also have a caselogic sleeve wrapping it when i put it inside my bag. Now i’m using a Targus 360, lacks the magnet, but i guess this one is better though.
I bought an IFrogz summit case in green & I love it ! The only problem I have had is that the corners of the green plastic have cracked & 1 corner has broken off. this makes me very sad as I just bought this cover in December! I would like to return it, but I cannot locate the receipt or the original packaging.
Don’t buy this CASE!!! My mother-in-law and I both had our ipads FALL OUT of the case while we were walking with them because both of our corners had cracked. The overall design is great but there are more secure and worthwhile cases out there. DO NOT BUY!
I totally concur with the postings from renji, Karen and Chris. I am on my 2nd iFrogz Summit case in less than a year and BOTH have had the same issue with the corners of the polycarbonate core cracking and eventually losing little pieces. I am extremely careful with all of my electronic devices and I assure everyone that my iPad has never been bumped or dropped in any way. This is CLEARLY a stress related defect in the manufacturing process of this otherwise terrific case. I would highly recommend NOT purchasing this case as you will be satisfied initially but in time I assure you, the corners will eventually crack and chip off.