Review: Mophie Workbook for iPad
by Tim Chaten
November 8, 2010
Mophie has been in the case business since the iPhone launched. The problem that Mophie cases have addressed in the past was power. The iPhone and iPod touch have weaker batteries than the iPad and an iPhone battery case is a great thing. The iPad is a bit different. The iPad has a huge internal battery and power really isn’t a big problem under most circumstances.
What Mophie brings to the table with this product is a very nice enhanced iPad case. The Workbook was sent to us last week and after a few days of using it here are our thoughts.
The first item to note: build quality is excellent. It is a level or two above the Incase Convertible Book Jacket we reviewed recently. It really feels great in the hand. The case is available in a wide variety of colors. Mophie is also going to be adding more color options in the future. Currently the case is available in three configurations: black body/black strap, orange body/black strap, and white body/gray strap. In the works are gray and brown bodied cases.
The case can be described as an Incase Convertible Book Jacket on steroids. Mophie has taken the good things about the Incase and made them great!
The case itself is thinner, lighter, and uses velcro in a very cool way. The strap is designed to keep the iPad cover closed when not in use.
Velcro is what really makes this case great. The case utilizes Velcro to keep the iPad inside the case. It does this in almost exactly the same way as the Incase design. It's very easy to put the iPad into the case as well as take it out.
Where Velcro really comes in handy is in propping the iPad up into different viewing angles. The Incase design uses different "crevices" to limit the iPad to four different viewing angles. The Mophie case has two Velcro strips underneath the iPad which attach to the cover of the case. The underbelly of the case cover is a very soft velcro attachable surface. It is pure genius how this is done. The great thing about using Velcro to do this is you do not have to worry about picking up the iPad and losing your angle. The design flaw in the Incase Convertible Book Jacket is that every time you pick up the iPad it loses its stand. The Mophie Workbook stays put. The Velcro is a very sturdy method for propping the iPad up and in place.
One important thing to consider with this case is the orientation you like to use your iPad in. Just like the Incase design, this case is not portrait mode friendly. The Incase Convertible Book Jacket actually does portrait mode better than the Mophie case. The Incase felt like it is a hardback book when held upside down. The Incase had that nice binding feel when held that way. The Mophie Workbook and portrait mode do not mix.
Many people never use the iPad in portrait mode, but if you do like portrait mode, this case is not for you. Landscape mode with this case is an absolute joy. The different viewing angles make this our favorite landscape case yet.
The Mophie Workbook really is a fantastic case. We fully recommend it for an at home or secondary case. The case continues to impress us with its build quality and innovative use of Velcro. Velcro is such a cool material and it is great seeing companies like Mophie using it in clever ways like this. We would still love to see Mophie do a battery case for the iPad to provide literally endless battery life.
The Mophie Workbook is available from Mophie for $59.95 and includes a one year limited warranty. Mophie is great about replacing damaged products, even if the damage was the owner’s carelessness.
If you are someone that does not use portrait mode this would be a great primary iPad case for at home and on the road too!
The first item to note: build quality is excellent. It is a level or two above the Incase Convertible Book Jacket we reviewed recently. It really feels great in the hand. The case is available in a wide variety of colors. Mophie is also going to be adding more color options in the future. Currently the case is available in three configurations: black body/black strap, orange body/black strap, and white body/gray strap. In the works are gray and brown bodied cases.
The case can be described as an Incase Convertible Book Jacket on steroids. Mophie has taken the good things about the Incase and made them great!
The case itself is thinner, lighter, and uses velcro in a very cool way. The strap is designed to keep the iPad cover closed when not in use.
Velcro is what really makes this case great. The case utilizes Velcro to keep the iPad inside the case. It does this in almost exactly the same way as the Incase design. It's very easy to put the iPad into the case as well as take it out.
Where Velcro really comes in handy is in propping the iPad up into different viewing angles. The Incase design uses different "crevices" to limit the iPad to four different viewing angles. The Mophie case has two Velcro strips underneath the iPad which attach to the cover of the case. The underbelly of the case cover is a very soft velcro attachable surface. It is pure genius how this is done. The great thing about using Velcro to do this is you do not have to worry about picking up the iPad and losing your angle. The design flaw in the Incase Convertible Book Jacket is that every time you pick up the iPad it loses its stand. The Mophie Workbook stays put. The Velcro is a very sturdy method for propping the iPad up and in place.
One important thing to consider with this case is the orientation you like to use your iPad in. Just like the Incase design, this case is not portrait mode friendly. The Incase Convertible Book Jacket actually does portrait mode better than the Mophie case. The Incase felt like it is a hardback book when held upside down. The Incase had that nice binding feel when held that way. The Mophie Workbook and portrait mode do not mix.
Many people never use the iPad in portrait mode, but if you do like portrait mode, this case is not for you. Landscape mode with this case is an absolute joy. The different viewing angles make this our favorite landscape case yet.
The Mophie Workbook really is a fantastic case. We fully recommend it for an at home or secondary case. The case continues to impress us with its build quality and innovative use of Velcro. Velcro is such a cool material and it is great seeing companies like Mophie using it in clever ways like this. We would still love to see Mophie do a battery case for the iPad to provide literally endless battery life.
The Mophie Workbook is available from Mophie for $59.95 and includes a one year limited warranty. Mophie is great about replacing damaged products, even if the damage was the owner’s carelessness.
If you are someone that does not use portrait mode this would be a great primary iPad case for at home and on the road too!
