Yesterday I received from iPad2.ro a black leather SmartCover case that I hastily put on the iPad 2 tablet. As you can see in the image above, everything that was said about the fact that the SmartCover cleans the screen of impurities and dirt is totally untrue. Notice those beautiful stripes on the screen? They appeared after I installed the cover and closed/opened it several times. From an aesthetic point of view, the screen looks worse after you put a SmartCover cover on it, but this little shortcoming can be solved very easily with a little skill and a utensil for cleaning screens.
Well, let's move on to the product itself. SmartCover is a cover for the iPad 2 tablet that has 21 magnets mounted that "connect" to another 10 magnets mounted in the iPad 2 tablet so that the cover is perfectly aligned on the screen of the tablet. Everything is calculated to the millimeter so that the cover covers the entire screen right up to the edge where there are other magnets that lock/unlock the tablet when you cover the screen. Since I have this cover I can say that I have forgotten how to use the Lock button because all I do is put the cover on the screen and take it off the screen and the tablet turns on/locks itself. When you take the cover off the screen, the screen will be very dimly lit because the part with the light sensor is covered, but after you take the cover off the entire screen, it will return to the normal brightness setting.
Although it's great not to press the Lock button every time, the SmartCover case has a very big shortcoming, it's heavy. It is only 130 grams, but believe me you will feel this weight when you put it on the tablet. iPad 2 is light, not very light, but light enough that you can hold it in your hand without getting muscle fever. As soon as you put the cover on it, you will feel that you will have a "stone" in your hand, but in time you will get used to it and you will bear the weight for the advantage that the cover offers you.
The advantage of a SmartCover cover is that it can be rolled up and turns into a stand for your tablet. Maybe at first you won't be very impressed by this function of the tablet, but believe me, you will have reason to support the tablet when you are in bed and when you hold it in your hand, you have extra security. Using this system you can put the tablet on a desk and type with semi-easiness if you leave it lying down or you can pick it up and watch a video clip or make a short presentation. I like how Apple designed this case and the magnet system in it is strong enough to keep the tablet attached to the case even when you only hold the tablet by the SmartCover case.
Some of you are probably worried about the way the cover attaches to the tablet and the way the magnets affect the internal components. I can tell you that the tablet has not been scratched at all, for now, but if you put the cover on you will not be able to remove the SIM card from it. As for the magnets, I have more discussed once about how it affects or not the internal components of the tablet and I recommend you to read that article.
It doesn't clean the screen, it adds a noticeable extra weight to the iPad 2 tablet, it makes you forget that you have the Lock button and it is extremely useful in the daily work of the tablet, but is it worth the money? I would say that it deserves it because it is elegant, it has a very well-developed clamping system that does not affect the structure of the tablet, it has an extremely useful closing/opening system and allows it to be used as a stand for our tablet. If I had paid $69 for this cover, I would not have regretted the money spent for a second, and for me anyway, SmartCover is an accessory that will not leave the iPad 2 tablet unless it breaks.
I thank those from iPad2.ro for the cover. Soon a full review of the iPad 2 tablet and I hope to do one for the HDMI adapter as well. I will post some pictures a little later. Now all that remains is to look for a bag to be able to take the tablet with me "in the world".
