Starts at $60
I must admit up front - I love Vaja cases. I've owned several for my various gadgets - a flip case for a Sony Clie NX70v, iVolution cases for 2 iPods and a Treo 600, a horizontal pouch case that I used for my Treo 680, and a classic case for a Blackberry 8700c. Despite this history with Vaja cases, I will do my best to be objective in this review.
Vaja announced the iPhone pouch cases shortly after the iPhone's release. They are offered in 3 styles - the Classic, Retro, and Urbana pouches, available in either vertical or horizontal orientation (although now that I check their site, the vertical cases no longer seem to be available - could they have been discontinued so soon?). I chose the Retro style (I love the accent stripe) in the vertical orientation. I would have preferred to have the horizontal case, but this orientation is NOT available with a belt clip, only with a belt loop. I'm really not sure why Vaja doesn't offer a belt clip for any of their horizontal cases, but I am deeply disappointed by this. How hard can it be?
I've normally seen Vaja offer their cases in a few "stock" colors so you can order one and receive it sooner rather than waiting for a customized one (customizing takes from 10 to 15 days, depending on the product). However, these new iPhone cases must all be ordered as customized since there are no stock ones from which to choose. For me, choosing colors is a bit of a balance - since I tend to upgrade my gadgets pretty frequently, I'm conservative and choose more standard color combinations so they have appeal to a wider audience when I put them on eBay. I was a little more daring than usual this time, mostly because I expect to have my iPhone for some time and expect the case to stay with it. I chose the Aniline leather (it's smoother and shows less natural grain than the other option, Vitelino leather) in black, with an orange (technically, it's Golden Ochre) stripe. This combination roughly matches my car (black metallic exterior with terracotta leather inside) and is currently one of my favorites.
The front and back of the case:
Vaja offers two types of clips - the Rivet Clip system or the Ultra Clip. The Rivet Clip system is pretty neat - it consists of 3 pieces (including the fixed nub on the back of the case itself) and can be affixed to a variety of objects if you buy additional pieces. The standard pieces included with the case are the belt clip attachment, and the clip itself that attaches to the belt clip attachment and to the nub on the case. Other pieces you can purchase allow you to clip your case to a bag strap using a fabric pin attachment, a fixed place like a car's dashboard using an adhesive plate attachment, or to anything with a hook attachment. The Ultra Clip is more like the standard belt clips you see on other cases - there's a large metal nub on the back of the case, the the clip itself is one plastic piece. I chose the Rivet Clip system instead of the Ultra Clip - this clip offers more free rotation of the case and I find the nub on the back of the case to be less obnoxious than the one required for the Ultra Clip. It's a bit pricey, though - it adds $20 to the overall price of the case, but is well worth it in my opinion.
(A quick note on the Rivet Clip - I misplaced (though I'm still hopeful it's not permanently lost!) the belt clip portion of the Rivet Clip system and was almost resigned to ordering a new one from Vaja for $20... until I thought to Google "Rivet Clip" and found the company that actually makes these clip systems (you can find their site here). And then I thought to try to look for them on eBay and hit paydirt. I ordered a replacement clip system for a total of $6.00 shipped. That definitely beats Vaja's price hands down. Unfortunately, the availability of the clip systems and accessories at good prices doesn't preclude the need to still pay $20 to Vaja to get the clip nub added to your case when you order it, but it's nice to know there's a cheaper way to get replacements if you need them.)
I placed the order for my case on July 4 and received it via FedEx on July 23. It came in two boxes - the case itself in one, and the Rivet Clip basic kit in the other. Opening a Vaja package is always a nice experience - the scent of quality leather wafts gently out of the box and you feast your eyes on a hand-made case in your chosen colors. Symmetry and neat stitching are the order of the day with Vaja - you do get what you pay for.
The flap top and front of the case is lightly padded with what feels like a very dense foam material. The back of the case is stiffer than the front - I'm guessing this reinforcement in the back is necessary to support the Rivet Clip. The one thing that bothers me a bit is that the bottom corners of the case are open. But, without these openings, I would not be able to push up on the bottom of the iPhone to reveal enough of the top to pull it out from the case, so this is probably necessary. In the first week or so, the case fit very snugly, but this has loosed up some over time to the point where I can pull the phone out by gripping the top without needing to push up on a bottom corner anymore. Overall, the case and adds less bulk than expected to the phone.
Various views of the case with the iPhone inside:
As with any case, it takes some a little time to develop the "manual habit" to smoothly remove it from the case with ease. My greatest fear, which will apply with just about any case I get, I think, is that I'll lose my grip on my iPhone as I'm removing it from the case and it will go tumbling to the floor in slow motion as I yell in anguish. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I start having nightmares about this. (It's times like these when I think I really need to get out more.)
Note that you cannot use the headphones while the iPhone is in the case - there is no hole in the top to allow you to do this. This is really a case for strictly carrying the iPhone around on your belt or in another bag, or for using it with a Bluetooth headset.
The aniline leather of this case shows more grain than I've seen previously in other aniline cases I've had. And it's shinier than expected. Despite this, I still like it - it's stylish enough that I got comments on the case alone at work, though it's not at all flashy in a tacky way in my opinion. The Rivet Clip works as designed with no issues. All stitching is neat and there are no loose strings anywhere. All leather edges are smooth. The interior is imprinted with a repeating pattern of "Vaja" lettering and leaves no marks or scratches on the iPhone.
I will say my case is not 100% perfect (which I did expect since most of my previous Vaja cases never had any issues). It looks like the "female" portion of the magnetic snap is not perfectly centered on the case (I tried to illustrate this with the following pictures) so that the top of the case isn't totally symmetrical when closed. Given what I paid for the case, I am almost tempted to send it back, but I'm not sure if that's a little too OCD or not. What do you think? Click here to send me a message, or click the Comments link under this blog posting on the home page.
In summary, it's a lovely case (minor asymmetry notwithstanding). As always, Vaja cases are on the expensive side, but the quality is there. My case cost $80 ($20 of this was for the Rivet Clip option), plus $17 for shipping. If you like high-quality cases and don't mind paying for that quality, I definitely recommend Vaja cases.
Related reviews:
Vaja iVolution case for iPhone
Proporta Maya Pouch case for iPhone, iPod touch, and more