Quick and elegant phone cases - review

* UPDATED 4/6/14 to include details of leather case *

Sizing and positioning an
image for a four-way case
on the website

Phone cases can be a handy present for those 'can't think of something to buy for people' - especially now that they can be personalised with photos. To date I've used the general purpose printing firms like VistaPrint for this, but I've just had a go with the dedicated case company Mr Nutcase (no, really),
and was very impressed with the result.

Because it is dedicated to one purpose, the site is very easy to use. There are apparently hundreds of pre-conceived designs available on there, but I can't really see the point, as it's far more fun to use your own photos. After selecting the type of phone (a huge list available) and case (more on that in a moment) there are 14 different layouts - or at least there were for my iPhone 5 - from a single image taking up the whole of the back to complex designs which incorporate up to two dozen of  your images. 

Pictures are imported painlessly and positioned and sized on a clear layout of your phone using simple on-screen dragging process. The result was one of the simplest online design apps I've used. Then a couple of clicks to pay and the order was under way. I received the result in the post just two days later, which can't be bad.

Leather case - front

There are three case types (again, at least for the iPhone) - a lightweight slimline plastic case, a wraparound case, and something I've never seen before, a leather flip case with your image printed on. The originality of this makes it particularly appealing... more on this later.

To compare with existing products I went originally for a lightweight case - like other photo cases I've seen before, the contrast was not quite as good as a photo print, but the result was pleasing, well-finished and a perfect fit for the phone.

Inside the
leather

However, as the leather case was rather different I went for one of these too.

It is quite striking, particularly with a full front image (as before you can choose all sorts of layouts, but I thought simple was best). The picture reproduction is good considering it's leather.

The other side is simple white leather with a magnetic flip closure - simple and elegant with visible stitching.

Leather case - back

Inside the phone is clipped firmly into a plastic holder, which gives you full access to the front, microphone and speakers when the case is open (there are holes for the audio jack, control buttons and camera). As always with a flip case, there's a compromise with practicality because of having the flappy bit hanging down when you use the phone - but it looks very good, feels good in the hand and should offer a high level of protection against droppage. And who can resist a The Quantum Age phone case?

All in all, a good, easy to use online service that delivers one thing very well. You'll find it at www.mrnutcase.com