Product Review: MapiCases Leather Belt-Clip iPhone Case

What Is It? A multi-functioning leather case designed to join you and your iPhone at the hip, literally. The case’s leather-bound belt clip keeps your phone within reach at all times.

Price and Where to Buy: The Alinda case from MapiCases can be purchased at MapiCases.com for $35. Upgrade to the case-and-cover bundle for $55.

Pros: If your cell phone is anything like mine, it’s been lost, forgotten, or otherwise mistreated (read: dropped in the toilet) at least a few times. And things only get worse when I travel—I am forever digging through an overstuffed bag, feeling around blindly for my elusive iPhone. So for someone who’s prone to misplacing things, this case is a godsend. It’s designed to clip onto your body—so you’d have to work really hard to lose your phone with it attached to your pants. It stayed securely attached, too, even while walking at a brisk pace to my gate.

Cons: The case-and-cover bundle provides the Alinda case and also a matching leather “bumper” for your phone. The bumper presented a few problems for me, however: it made it difficult to remove my phone from the case in time to pick up incoming calls and, with the bumper on, my phone was a bit too unwieldy to slip easily back into the case when my call ended. When I removed the bumper, my phone fit perfectly into the case without any problems and still felt protected.

How It Rates:

• Usefulness: 10/10. This case provides a solution to one of my chronic travel problems. What’s more useful than that?
• Portability: 10/10. It’s small enough to hang on your belt without looking or feeling too bulky.
• Value: 8/10. It’s a bit pricey for a cell-phone case. But it does more than just protect your phone—it saves you precious time while traveling by ensuring that your phone is always right where it needs to be. To me, that’s worth a few more bucks.
• Durability: 10/10. This case is made of high-quality leather and will clearly last for a long time with minimal wear and tear.
• Cool Factor: 7/10. With my phone attached to my hip, I felt a little like a drug dealer wearing a beeper. But for me, it was more important to have my phone at my fingertips than to look super cool.

Final Verdict: Highly recommended for anyone who’s prone to misplacing their iPhone while traveling.

Editor’s Note: Reviews are based on usefulness, portability, durability, value, and “cool factor.” Some review products are sent to us free of charge and with no incentive to offer a favorable review. We offer our unbiased opinions, positive and negative, and will never accept compensation to review a product. If you have any questions or comments concerning our reviews or would like to suggest a product for review, please email us at [email protected].