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Many, many years ago, I and my
colleagues at Palmtop magazine were
laughed at for doing a multi-page review roundup of cases for Psion palmtops.
The criticism was that cases were so ubiquitous, trivial and (fairly) cheap
that people could surely make up their own minds. But at the time, the decision
to review the cases made a lot of sense. Remember, these were the days before
the onslaught of Palms and Pocket PCs, for which cases would blossom at the
rate of several hundred a year. A Psion then, and a Nokia Communicator now, is
much more than an electronic address book, a diary or even a mobile phone. And
the case you keep it in needs to be much more than your average leather pouch,
it has to offer as much protection as possible, while keeping the device as
accessible as possible. And if it can stop you looking like a geek in the
process, then so much the better.
The importance of the 9500
doesn't seem lost on accessory manufacturers either, with a healthy response to
my requests for review samples, and in a surprising variety of designs. It was
always going to be interesting to see how each manufacturer coped with the full
width clamshell form factor and I wasn't disappointed. For each case mentioned
below, I've graded it out of 10 for Protection, Accessibility
(how easy is it to get the Communicator out, how easy is it to use in situ),
Bulk (how well does it do keeping the bulk down) and Style.
It's worth noting that there's
no Quality grading, as ALL the cases reviewed here were finished well in
quality materials. And I've commented several times on whether the Pop-Port is
blocked when the 9500 is in situ in a case, because with it accessible you can
play MP3s into the usual Nokia HDS-3 stereo headset.
Reviewed below are the:
Nokia CNT-628, from
www.mobilefun.co.uk (and other
outlets)
The CNT-628 is one of my
personal favourites here, but only because it fits in with the way I use the
Communicator. It's a very simple design, with a minimalist style, and it's
black, of course. The CNT-628 is effectively a low slung holster, with a full
length flap (with noisy Velcro), a rigid plastic belt clip for vertical
mounting and an extra cutout at the very bottom for power, Pop-Port and
microphone.
There's no pretence at using
the 9500 in this case, you can't even answer phone calls, but then that's not
it's aim. When you want to use the Communicator, you 'break' the Velcro and
then slide the device out. This works well enough, but trying to sort out the
huge area of Velcro and get your 9500 out with one hand isn't as easy as it
could be.
Protection: 5, Accessibility:
8, Bulk: 8, Style: 8. Total = 29/40.
Nokia CNT-627, from
www.mobilefun.co.uk (and other
outlets)
Just to balance things out, the
CNT-627 is my least favourite case here, getting just about everything wrong.
It's a simple (forced horizontal, which I'm never that keen on) pouch with belt
loop, with the usual Nokia NOISY Velcro closure. Curiously, one end of the case
is made up of two poppered straps, for no apparent good reason other than to
increase the case's bulk slightly. The 9500 is extracted by pushing up from the
underside of the case, where there's a cutout, with your other hand grabbing
the Communicator as it emerges. It's almost impossible to do this one-handed.
And one end of the case has a more-or-less full width cover, which means it
will either cover the speaker or Pop-port.
Protection: 8, Accessibility:
3, Bulk: 5, Style: 6. Total = 22/40.
Proporta 9500 series pouch,
from www.proporta.com
Designed along similar lines to
the CNT-627 above, Proporta's case also comes with a forced horizontal belt
clip, but it scores more highly because of the magnetic catch (although the
magnet could have been stronger) and the more intelligent end pieces. One end
has holes in the leather to allow speaker sound out, the other is offset
slightly to allow full access to the Pop-Port.
You still need to use two hands
to get your Nokia 9500 out though, which may be a problem for some people.
Protection: 8, Accessibility:
4, Bulk: 7, Style: 7. Total = 26/40.
Nokia CNT-629, from
www.mobilefun.co.uk (and other
outlets)
A simple leather sleeve case,
of the sort that should come in the 9500's box but doesn't. It's fairly
protective but also fairly hard to get the 9500 out again. And the end pieces
mean that both speaker and Pop-Port are blocked all the time. And there's no
belt mounting option. Overpriced for such a simple case.
Protection: 5, Accessibility:
3, Bulk: 9, Style: 2. Total = 19/40.
Covertec Nokia 9500 Luxury
Leather Case, from www.covertec.com
In terms of design, Covertec's
offering is the cream of the crop here, and not just because it comes in a
variety of different colours. There has been a lot of thought put into this
case and most of it has been fully realised.
One of the few truly in-situ
cases on show here, the case is designed so that you can use the Communicator
in its case and never have to extract it, with the keyboard sliding into the
bottom part of the case clamshell, restrained by a layer of thin but strong
transparent plastic. Surprisingly, it's perfectly possible to type through this
layer, and surprisingly (again) it doesn't seem to stop the 9500's lid latch
from operating. The wrap around top cover is held closed by two small magnets
and it's easy with practice to close the Communicator and case at the same
time. The case top has a window in the same transparent plastic and you can use
the cover phone functions through this. And all round the case there are
cutouts, for power, Pop-port, speaker and camera.
One fly in the ointment is that
you can't easily type with the unit flat on a hard desk. The stud mounting for
the included (vertical, swivelling) belt clip system makes typing impossible.
Even removing the stud itself leaves enough leather structure sticking out that
the Communicator wobbles disconcertingly. The belt clip works really well, with
true one-handed removal and allowance for hanging at any angle.
In real world use though, I
have some concerns about the magnet closure. Several times, the case edge
caught on something and flicked open, followed a couple of strides later by my
Communicator falling out the side of the case. 8-(
Protection: 1, Accessibility:
9, Bulk: 10, Style: 9. Total = 29/40.
Krusell Horizontic XL, from
www.krusell.se
After the initial fiasco with
a Nokia 9500 case that didn't actually fit, Krusell have sent in a couple of
replacement designs. The Horizontic XL is designed along the same lines as the
Proporta case reviewed above. As the name implies, it mounts horizontally on
either the two belt loops supplied or with the Krusell Multiadapt swivelling
system.
The closure's magnetic again
and is rather fiddly to engage with the case on your belt. In addition, the
pressure needed to make the catch 'engage' activates the number pad and
navigator on the 9500, meaning that you're forced to use keypad lock all the
time.
A cutout at the right place on
one end means full access to the Pop-port and power connector, although the
9500's top loudspeaker is muffled slightly by leather at the other end. When
you want to use your Communicator, it's again fiddly to extract it with just
one hand.
Protection: 9, Accessibility:
5, Bulk: 7, Style: 7. Total = 28/40.
Krusell Nokia 9500 Dynamic
Multiadapt, from www.krusell.se
This is a strange design,
really strange. I was expecting a revamp of their original clamshell fold-out
design, but instead we've got a patchwork of elastic, leather and plastic
designed as a simple sleeve for the 9500 when in closed form.
With the 9500 in situ and with
the top press-stud flap closed, the case mounts on the Multiadapt swivel (which
makes sense) or via two extra press-stud belt loops that make no sense at all.
You can't remove these either and they rather get in the way. If you try and
mount the case using the loops, you've then got to undo the press-studs to get
the 9500 up to your ear and then fiddle around doing them up again afterwards.
Every single time. At least the large transparent front does a good job of
allowing use of the 9500's cover phone.
Removing the 9500 to use it as
a palmtop requires undoing the top press-stud and then pushing the Communicator
out of its sleeve by pressing in on the bottom end while simultaneously
gripping and pulling on the phone's top. With the 9500 Dynamic Multiadapt being
a tight fit, this isn't a trivial process and make using the 9500 as a
clammshell Communicator a hassle. Which kind of defeats the point of the whole
exercise.
Sorry, Krusell, but it's back
to the drawing board again.
Protection: 5, Accessibility:
1, Bulk: 7, Style: 7. Total = 20/40.
Nokia Original CNT-24
Vertical Leather Case, still available around the web, e.g.
here
or here
This may seem an odd choice to
include in the round-up, as it's not actually designed for the 9500 at all, but
rather for its predecessors, the 9110 and 9210. The slightly reduced bulk of
the 9500 means that it's a distinctly loose fit, but this is more of an
advantage than a drawback as it means that it's easy to pull the Communicator
out with just the one hand.
The CNT-24 is made of extremely
sturdy leather and it's very protective apart from the obvious small apertures
at top and bottom. The top flap is yet again fastened with noisy Velcro,
although at least the size of the patch is small enough that you can break the
'seal' with one hand.
The belt loop is again
very sturdy, a simple extra layer of leather and seems almost
indestructible. Finally, the aperture at the bottom of the case is large enough
to plug in the Pop-port stereo headphones and (if needed) the mains charger as
well.
Protection: 10, Accessibility:
9, Bulk: 6, Style: 6. Total = 31/40.
Brando Communicator 9500
Aluminium case, from
shop.brando.com.hk
Now here's something different,
with looks straight out of The Empire's copybook - these are the cases used to
house the 9500s used by Imperial Stormtroopers.
You could also use this case to
knock in nails. Brando's case is made from terrifically strong (and light)
aircraft grade aluminum. The Communicator sits inside a Neoprene lining that
fits like a glove. In closed mode, there are cutouts for the numeric keypad,
speaker, power button, camera and Pop-Port. The case is held tightly closed by
a piece of sprung aluminium, and opening it reveals the 9500 ready to go, you
simply open the clamshell in-situ and type away, with the case bottom sitting
nicely flat on the desk.
The concept works a treat and,
for someone working in a rough environment, this case could be the only one
that keeps your Communicator from damage. The metal is super-strong and well
finished all over and the lining should absorb the shock of any sudden drops.
See the 11 out of 10 rating in this area!
However, style is a major part
of the buying decision for any PDA case. Superbly made though the Brando case
is, your 9500 looks like it's in one of those old medieval knight's helmets.
The engineers among your friends will appreciate the security involved, but
general acquaintances down the pub are going to laugh behind your back. There's
also no belt mounting option, which may or may not be a problem.
A great case, but perhaps
destined to realise this greatness in niche applications.
Protection: 11(!),
Accessibility: 7, Bulk: 6, Style: 4. Total = 28/40.
Conclusion
In joint second place, with 29
out of 40, are Nokia's CNT-628, a good holster design only let down by
the over-noisy and over-large Velcro fastening, and Covertec's Nokia
9500 Luxury Leather Case, with super design touches throughout, let down only
by weak cover magnets.
But the overall winner, and the
case I have chosen to house my own Nokia 9500, week-in, week-out, is the
Nokia CNT-24, with 31/40. I want a case that's never going to let me
down by dropping my Communicator, one that will protect it from knocks and the
worst of the weather, one that I can open one-handed. I used the CNT-24 with my
9210i for two years and it's still going strong after six months with the 9500.
The best twenty quid I ever spent.
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