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Review: iPad 2 Smart Cover Hands-On Video

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Apple’s Smart Cover accessory for the iPad 2 brings good looks and smart design to the second-generation tablet, but more importantly, the cover case serves a secondary purpose to show off the iPad 2’s industrial design and turn you into a walking product placement machine whenever you walk around with the tablet.

The case design is simple. There is a metal rail on the left hand side of the cover flap. The Smart Cover covers and protects only the front of the tablet with either a polyurethane or leather material. The inside of the cover is lined with a microfiber material, which Apple CEO Steve Jobs claims to help remove fingerprints on the screen and keep the display clean.

Magnets are on both the left spine of the iPad 2, where the rail on the Smart Cover would attach to, and along the right side bezel of the display. The right magnets serve a clever function, which is to activate the screen when the device senses the magnets from the Smart Cover are no longer in contact with those on the front side bezel of the display. When the magnets come back into contact, the display will turn off and conserve battery life. This way, you don’t need to activate the Sleep/Wake button on your iPad, nor will you have to worry about accidentally hitting the button and turning on your display.

Jobs says–and we’ve experienced it at the iPad 2’s unveiling in San Francisco, California–that the Smart Cover will automatically snap on and align itself so it’s a simple accessory that does what it needs to. The covers are available in a variety of colors. The polyurethane edition will cost $39 while leather will set you back an additional $30 on top of that.

Since the back side of the iPad, which is durable and made of aluminum from a similar unibody construction like the original one, won’t be protected against scratches, users who want more protection can pair Apple’s Smart Cover with a skin or shield, like the Wrapsol or Invisible Shield, to give added protection while maintaining the svelte look of a naked iPad.

The best part about the cover case is that it there are folds along the cover, which will allow you to fold the case ontol itself and wrap it into a triangle or pyramid form. This will serve as a stand, as well, for the iPad when you’re using the second-generation tablet. Tilt it more horizontally and it props the screen up at a comfortable viewing angle when typing at a desk or tilt it up more vertically to communicate via FaceTime or watch movies.

7 Comments

7 Comments

  1. soundsofnight

    03/03/2011 at 7:48 pm

    There is a decent explanation of how the smart cover magnetic sensor works here:

    https://forums.orbino.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=40

  2. Kelley

    03/03/2011 at 11:41 pm

    Curious to know if I store the iPad 2 with it’s magnetic cover in my purse – will it erase all my credit cards?

  3. ZeroCorpse

    03/06/2011 at 5:34 pm

    I really do think this is a marketing ploy to get people to use their iPad 2 unprotected, thus scratching up the back and making it harder to sell in the used market, which will therefore increase sales of new iPads. If all the iPad 2s you find used are scuffed up, why would you buy them at a high price when you can get a new one for a little more?

    Apple has NEVER done anything to make the aluminum on their devices more scratch-proof. Whether it’s the MacBook or the iPod or the iPad, that aluminum is made to be a scratch-magnet, and the only reason they’d keep going with an obviously damage-prone surface is because it makes the secondary market less appealing to users.

    I like the iPad, but I really don’t like the idea of leaving the back naked.

  4. shaniskinny

    04/09/2011 at 4:44 pm

    check out this review on 10 awesome iPad cases https://bit.ly/fHP8hm

  5. Maria Kronenberg

    05/01/2011 at 12:58 pm

    Well written. I agree with zero corpse. Back protection….Protection is limited to cosmetic scuffs. But not drops. Not sure that the cover is any better, much less smarter. I ordered the cover, and to be quite candid; I am not impressed. It does not offer much in protection. I was skeptical about the cover to begin with. Nevertheless, if your looking to protect your investment with a simple cover, we run the risk of inflicting some damage from a simple accident. I had to reassess my needs after a near fatal drop with the speck cover. I ordered a few days ago a leather Mivizu iPad 2 case called the Sense, and I also ordered an Otterbox hardshell. Best, the Mivizu folio is affordable priced at $26.99 against not smart price of $69.99 https://www.amazon.com/Mivizu-Sense-Leather-Feature-ciPD2mvzSMRTblk/dp/B004V0CCQK
    Anyways, for real protection look elsewhere.

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