The iPad Pro and Apple Pencil are a formidable duo. The iPad Pro is fast, has a crisp, bright display, and the response of the Pencil on that display is something to behold. I don’t use the pencil much, but I do like to have it with me. If you’ve not seen it, it is smooth, slick, and has no clip or other imperfection to mar the lines of its perfect pencil-ness. (This is an Apple product, remember!) The only thing is, there’s no good way to carry it. I have a case with an elastic loop, but do I really want to dangle the equivalent of a c-note from the side of an iPad while I’m walking about? Fortunately, the team at Lucrin heard the silent cry of our Gadget-loving hearts and has made a case worthy of Apple’s Pencil. I was sent a grey leather model with red stitching to test.
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If you’re not familiar with Lucrin, they make very high-end cases and bags in soft, supple leathers. The Pencil case, like many of their other products, can be customized by leather color and texture, as well as the thread color, to suit your personal tastes. I decided on the smooth grey leather with red stitching myself. Reminds me of my high school team colors! The stitching is even and the edges are tucked in tightly. The Apple Pencil fits perfectly, just tightly enough to hold it in, yet not so tightly that the cap is pulled off when pulling the Apple Pencil out. (The cap stays on via magnets, so it’s not too hard to remove.)
The interior, a suede texture, helps hold it in, I guess. It shows no sign of getting worn or smooth after a month or so of use. It’s made me much less paranoid about taking the Apple Pencil out of my house, and I don’t worry when I place it in a bag. For a $100 accessory, it’s not too much to pay $40 to keep it from needing to be replaced. Since it’s a luxury item, I feel it’s well priced, but other folks may balk at the cost. I think if you take the plunge, you’ll really like the protection and security it gives you for your Apple Pencil.
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Lucrin. Please visit their site for more info.
Product Information
| Price: | $40 |
| Manufacturer: | Lucrin |
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This is a beautiful case, but I don’t see the point in terms of protection. It doesn’t provide any additional rigidity (so the Pencil can still snap in half if you sit on your bag and it’s in the wrong spot) and it doesn’t have an affordance for strapping or attachment (so the Pencil, which as you point out lacks a clip, will still be loose). Furthermore, the magnetic cap isn’t protected from loss. So it seems like all it’s doing is protecting the Pencil’s sides from being scratched, which is pretty much the last thing I’m worried about for the Pencil.
So the case looks great, but am I missing something about its protective utility?
@Andrew You’re right, it doesn’t provide any “anti-snapping” protection, but the slipperiness of the Pencil is also part of the issue with taking it with you. I was worried about it sliding out of a case or pocket. With this case, it has more grip, which makes it less likely to escape from an elastic loop.