Sena WalletSlim Case for iPhone 4S Review

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A wallet. A case. Two things that you have to carry day to day. Why not combine them? The Sena WalletSlim Case for iPhone 4 or 4S, offers nice protection for your new phone while making sure you keep some precious cards with you. There are a lot of wallet/phone case solutions out there. How does the WalletSlim stack up? Find out after the break!

There is the leather bound Twelve South BookBook, which mimics a nice worn heavily loved book. There is the Casemate ID Credit Card Case, which while protective, can be downright bulky. While on the search for the perfect low key and slim wallet case, I came across the Sena WalletSlim Case for iPhone 4 and 4s. On paper, this case seems ideal in keeping some important cards and my phone together. It is touted as being low key, slim, and elegant - adjectives that escape a lot of wallet cases out there on the market today. 

Sena has a reputation for offering high quality leather goods at an affordable price. While other leather case makers out there will strip you of hundreds of dollars for top notch leather cases, Sena offers some very high quality alternatives at a fraction of the cost. The WalletSlim comes packed in a seet through box, elegantly designed to show off the quality of the case. Sena unfortunately, does not offer any other accessories for your phone other than the case.

Taking a look at the materials, you will see that the WalletSlim is made of smooth and supple genuine leather - European Napa Leather to be exact. The leather is soft and malleable, not to the level of vaja cases but pleasant to hold and touch. Sena includes a little pamphlet that informs you that there is a break in period for the leather. The case appears to be a tight fit at first because Sena purposes designed it so. The initial tight fit allows the case to conform to the phone and "to the uses of the user". Sena recommends that you do some "massaging" which may be helpful in breaking in your case. We will see if this is true or not, but for now my daily use has been breaking in the case, and it seems to be settling down.

This is a very nicely designed case. This is indeed a slim wallet case. Protection wise, the case has somewhat of a mixed identity - it protects a lot, but not at the same time. On the front you will see that there are cut outs for ear piece. On the bottom you will see openings for the speakers and the dock connector. Unfortunately the corners of the phone are exposed. I can foresee a nice ding if you accidentally drop your phone on the corner. The same can be said for the top of the phone.

After slipping your iPhone into the WalletSlim, there is a flap that is folded over the top of the phone to snap via a button on the back of the case. This flap goes over the headphone port, but Sena cleverly cut a hole to leave that headphone port open for use. The flap also snaps into place to keep the cards from slipping out. The other side of the phone is left open, and this appears to be for two reasons. First, this leaves the sleep/wake button open and accessible. Second, this leaves the camera open and unexposed for quick use.

The WalletSlim has 2 overlaying pockets to hold 2 cards of your choosing. I found that the card compartments really needed some breaking in. While first using the case, I found that I had to actually remove the phone to get to the cards sitting in the case because the compartments were just too tight. Now however, it has gotten a lot easier to remove the cards and I suspect that it will just take some more time to get the leather softened up and easier to use.

In general, I really like this case. Just a couple of things though - the leather cut out near the ear piece has annoyed me. It just doesn't sit right. I believe that it will take a little more time for the leather to settle down. I am also annoyed at some of the open corners. I realize that this is just the nature of leather made cases and you can't win them all, but I wish there was just a litttttttle more protection. Finally, there are some fit issues. The leather between the vibrate switch and the volume buttons is not properly sized. However, despite these issues, I really like how thin this case is. It looks great. You cannot ask for much more in terms of the design or the quality of the leather. You can pre-order this case for $39.95 before Nov 18. After which, the price will be $44.95 retail for the case. Well worth it if you are looking for something professional and functional.

Senacases.com