Proporta Smart Recycled Leather Case for iPad review

With a range of iPad cases on the market, it’s becoming harder and harder to determine exactly which one you should buy. Into this heady mix comes the Proporta Smart Recycled Leather Case for Apple iPad, a smart and clever case that combines good looks with sincere eco-friendly credentials.

Despite the eco-friendly approach, the Proporta Leather Case for Apple iPad isn’t an Afghan rug-style affair. It’s made from recycled leather in the outside and green hessian woven cloth on the inside, which makes it one of the smartest iPad cases we’ve tested. It’s on par with the Griffin Elan (which is aimed squarely at business executives) but the Proporta Smart has a slightly softer style that we think will appeal more to the non-business crowd.

It even gets one-up on the official Apple case by being made of material that still looks good after a few weeks testing; whereas the Apple case looks covered in dust after just a couple of days.

The case is in the folding-book style that protects both the screen and device. The iPad itself slides into the case via a leather holding strap that runs all the way around the screen bezel. There are holes in the holder enabling access to the buttons, dock connector and allowing the speaker to emit noise. One slight niggle is that the leather holder covers the entire bezel of the device, and because it protrudes slightly it can make touching the extreme edges of the screen tricky.

On the inside of the flap is a small pouch that can be used to hold documents and papers.

A neat touch is the ribbon that clips inside the case. This can be used to connect the rear of the flap with the edge of the case and turns the Proporta Leather Case into a stand that props up the iPad. This enables you to prop up the iPad at a 45-degree angle, which is great for making presentations or just watching videos.

And Proporta is serious about its eco-credentials. The company has enlisted experts from government-funded agencies to guide it through making its products as environmentally friendly as possible. Everything from the leather, to the packaging, to the shipping and recycling of this case has good eco-credentials.

But what we like most about the Proporta Smart Recycled Leather Case for iPad is that it doesn’t play into the traditional Hippy-vibe design of an eco-product, it looks every bit as smart (actually, smarter in most areas) as other cases and Proporta hasn’t compromised anywhere, either materials, design or build quality.