Review: Incase Grip Protective Cover for iPad

On May 17, 2010, in Recommendations, by Rob Levandowski

Since I got my iPad, I’ve been a bit worried about dropping it.  The aluminum back doesn’t give one a lot of confidence; while I’ve not dropped it yet, it sometimes feels distressingly like it could slip out of one’s grasp.

It seemed like a silicone slipcover would be just the ticket.

[amazon-product]B003JNHMC4[/amazon-product]I bought the Incase Grip Protective Cover at an Apple Store. Admittedly, I confused it with the almost identical Incase Protective Cover.  It was the Protective Cover I was really looking to buy.

I have several Incase protective cases, and I’ve been happy with their design and construction.  But…

The Grip Protective Cover isn’t just a straight silicone slipcover.  It adds two humps near the top and bottom of the iPad.  They provide a bit more heft to grip the iPad when it’s held in landscape orientation.  Some may find they help in the normal portrait orientation, as well; I find them sort of awkward.

There are two major flaws with the Grip Protective Cover:

  1. The humps add weight.  A noticeable amount of weight.  With the cover on, my wrists complain more quickly and more loudly about trying to hold the iPad one-handed.
  2. It doesn’t fit tightly enough.  If you hold the iPad in portrait orientation with your hand about halfway up the screen, your grip will tend to peel the Grip Protective Cover off the side of the iPad.  It could stand to be a good deal tighter.

There’s also the common flaw to silicone slipcovers for any iPod or iPad: although you can use a docking cable, you can’t use a dock without removing the cover.  This is especially true for the Grip Protective Cover; the humps eliminate any question of docking.

I’m not impressed with this product.  My objection to the humps are my own mistake, but the loose fit is a problem.  I recommend passing on this product.

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