I have to admit that I was kinda jealous when Lester from lesterchan.net posted that he received a free faux black Fabrix Booklet for simply being a “great supporter”. Thus I was so thrilled when I was presented with a brown “Classic Tan” Fabrix Booklet for review a week or two ago.

Have always been a Fabrix Cases fan since my University days, since they are one of the very few Singaporean companies that make high quality accessories and cases for Apple products (majority of the local ones produce crappy generic China-made cheap stuff that does little to glorify the Apple products that they are used with) and are well-known internationally.

Fabrix Cases have three product lines for iPad, their popular sleeve-type “Magic Sleeves for Tablet Devices”, a 100% Wool Felt Case, and the Fabrix Booklet, a folder-type case. Most of my twitter followers will probably know that for the iPad I greatly prefer the folder-type cases over most of the other cases, for it felt correct to me. The iPad was roughly the size of a dairy-organizer, and can totally replace the need for one. It is not a larger iPod, thus the silicon and plastic snap-on cases that only protects the back is a big no-no for me. In my opinion if you get one of the snap-on back cases you probably need another layer of cover such as a sleeve to totally protect the iPad, and that is one layer too many. Thus my preference for folder-type cases.

Until two weeks ago I have been using the Apple iPad case exclusively (except for a week or two when I was trying out the Macmosphere line of products, which I will write about in a later post) and I totally love it for its slim profile and ability to protect the whole iPad, as well as the ability to angle the iPad up for typing. However I hated the material used to make the case – Microfibre. I have a thing with microfibre surfaces, it just irks me when I touch one. And it is totally a magnet for dust and dirt and one will probably have to clean it often. Thus for this review I will compare the Fabrix Booklet against the Apple iPad case, for the Apple case is a 4.5/5 case in my opinion.

Pros

If there’s one thing that stands out in Fabrix products, it is their great build quality and the Fabrix Booklet is no different. The Booklet is handcrafted and stitched together using premium grade materials – which I will assume to mean the fabrics and the really nice to handle leather that makes up the majority of its body.

It feels really good in the hand and nice to hold and handle, as compared to the Apple case, which irks me everything I hold it up.

The design looks very professional and definitely won’t look out of place in the hands of a businessman, unlike some of the competition’s designs.

The case itself feels very solid, probably due to the reinforced steel plate in its skeleton. It feels hard and adds quite a bit of thickness and weight to the iPad. A con to some, but for those who prefer protection over less weight, this is definitely a pro.

Nice little touches like the magnetic strips which holds the flap and the case together when its closed also helped with the overall experience. It is also possible to make the iPad into a photo stand.

Cons

As mentioned the case adds quite a bit of thickness to the iPad so it is definitely a con for people who wants the slimmest profile for their iPad case. However the majority of the leather folder-type iPad cases are around the same thickness, so if you are considering something similar this should be a total non-issue for you.

One of the reasons why I love my Apple iPad case is because of its ability to fold part of its flap to make the case into a 45 degrees stand so that it’s easy to type on the iPad (Apple states that the case can be placed at a 315 degree angle to make the iPad into a photo stand, but doing that will cause the iPad to fall on its face!) and the Booklet unfortunately doesn’t have this feature, so I will miss it quite a bit. However, it is possible to make the iPad into a photo stand with the Fabrix Booklet, which the Apple iPad case cannot do.

There are also some design quirks which I do not understand. I am not very sure why there’s a separate semi circle cutout on the top part of the frame, when there’s already one at the bottom for the home button. It’s probably for both of your thumbs when the iPad is held in landscape orientation.

Another quirk is that the case actually covers the mic hole on the iPad. The mic hole is located beside the headphones port but the case only allows access to the port. However, covering the mic hole doesn’t seem to reduce its effectiveness, for I could still make calls and record audio properly with the case on.

Verdict: If you are looking for a folder-type case for the iPad and wants a really well made product that protects the iPad, the Fabrix Booklet should be your choice. I have already replaced the Apple iPad case with the Fabrix Booklet for my iPad and I don’t think I will switch back anytime soon, simply because the Booklet feels sooooo good in my hands. Prefer the Faux Black one though.