Tuff-Luv Traditional Leather Case Cover and Stand For Amazon Kindle 3

This pricey case is thoughtfully designed and very nicely finished. All ports and buttons are accessible including, for some weird reason known only to the designer, the hinge cutouts to the left of the Kindle which are used for holding the reader in a book-type case. These surplus cutouts, plus the welcome and useful speaker cutouts, are also the only ones not stitched around; all other cutouts and edges are fully stitched. The stitching is beautiful, even and evenly spaced from the edges; lovely work. The leather appears to be calf, of such an unblemished even grain that the innocent might mistake it for plastic until it wears a little; a wallet of this quality leather is likely to cost more than this case! The test of this case isn't the appearance right now when it is shiny new but how long it will last; I chose Tuff-Luv because owners reported sturdy usage, and because of the lifetime warranty.

The push-out strut at the back works to stand the Kindle up on a table at a good reading angle in portrait mode but it doesn't work to stand the Kindle on the table in landscape mode, which a little shaping and displacement of the strut positioning might have achieved. The folded-back front flap is not as stable a support for the Kindle in landscape mode as the strut is in portrait mode. To be fair, however, Tuff-Luv does sell another model of leather flip case (the Multi-View) with a strap that buttons it into a pyramid which should be stable in either position, and if this facility is important to you, go for that model. I chose the classic model because mine will mainly be handheld and I think this design is nicer. The strut at the back has a strap of some unappetizing shiny material, presumably because leather would have been too thick. The strut when not in use fastens with two solid poppers.

A new design feature is little retainer strap -- called a "Tuff-Flap"! -- at the *top* of the Kindle, so that it cannot by some unimaginable accident pop out of the top of the case and fall on the floor. Nice. However, I can see that the leather on the outside will wear over this retainer; I don't mind; I'd rather have the security, and the point of leather is that it wears slowly and well. This strap might also serve to fix a security lanyard, for the paranoid Kindle owner only.

The strap and popper to fasten the main flap is off-centre, almost to the side of the case, because the popper on the back had to be placed so as to leave room for the standing strut. When closed it obscures the charging light but there is nowhere else to put it and by looking at an angle you can still see the charging light. When open this strap can be folded back and clipped back onto the case, to form a Kindle-mitten which is very comfortable and secure to hold by inserting four fingers with your thumb free to operate the controls. These are superb ergonomics. And right there, unless you're a vegetarian, you know you made the right decision buying the leather case; it just feels so much better than plastic.

Besides the soft outer leather, there's a stiffening layer, and plumping-out padding between the stiffening layer and the outer leather, plus an inner layer that could be more, coarser, leather or perhaps polyurethane; presumably it is rough-textured to act as an additional retainer, perhaps just for a tastefully varied appearance.

The way Tuff-Luv's flip case is designed to extend past the edge of the Kindle, and to secure the Kindle, there is no possibility that the Kindle can drop onto any edge or, worse, corner without some shock-absorption from the leather. On the other hand, the temptation would be to drop the Kindle snug in its Tuff-Luv case into your bag or pocket top first, and then, if it rains and you open the bag or put your hand in the pocket, rain will fall straight into the open ports along the bottom of the Kindle. Once more, if that bothers you, Tuff-Luv's Multi-View design offers an alternative by folding over the bottom and ports of the Kindle rather than over the top as the "Tradional" flip case here described does. I plan to take my Kindle 3G on my bike as a crude sort of GPS but I'll just drop the whole thing, flip case and Kindle together, in a common plastic bag from the kitchen, same as my camera, if it rains really heavily, and in light rain just remember to drop it into the handlebar bag open side down.

Tuff-Luv's Traditional flip case takes the voice and music capabilities of the Kindle 3 seriously. Instead of just a few pinholes in the leather over the speakers, the full size and shape of the speakers are cut out and a speaker grille of some silver-weave material is inserted. There is definitely no muffling of the sound.

If there's a downside to the Tuff-Luv flip case, it is that so much leather, and rich-looking (and presumably protective) padding and stiffening make the appealingly slender Kindle 3 three or four times the girth it was au naturel. But then, that's the point, to protect it. You can't have it both ways, and the whole Tuff-Luv encased Kindle is still only the size and weight of a slender paperback or a hefty wallet, a long way short of most people's filofax-type organizers. The Tuff-Luv, compared to the more decorative book-type Kindle covers, seems almost an industrial artifact, a high tech item hidden behind all that director-class wallet leather, so it could easily have been heavier; I in fact expected it to be heavier.

I really wondered about buying such an expensive case for what is now a commonplace piece of electronic equipment but I'm happy; I think I got value for my money. The pleasure of handing the Tuff-Luv case will remain long after the price is forgotten.

--For information on variants of this case that perform different functions, see also the comments on this review from a representative of the manufacturer.

--With thanks to 'Combat Wombat' and 'kered' for kind agreement to use tips (lanyard, clip-back) and a pun ('kindle mitten') they came up with independently.

This is a really super cover which frankly the pictures do not do justice to. The case has a great feel to it and the Kindle fits very snugly in it's pocket. The additional retaining fastener just provides a little more security.
The finishing and stitching is of a very high standard so there are no rough edges to irritate your hands while reading. The embossing is really excellent.
Overall it roughly doubles the thickness and weight of the Kindle but in my view makes the whole thing feel more sturdy and certainly more "safe".
The stand is quite useful if you are sitting at a desk when reading and it's a shame Amazon put the USB port on the bottom rather than the side which would allow the stand to be used while charging or transferring data.

Delivery was within a couple of days of ordering and the packaging sufficient to protect the case.

With respect to the price, there are cheaper sleeves available but the style and overall quality of this cover, I believe, justify the price.

This is my second Kindle case the first was very inexpensive and thin in a synthetic leather, book cover style design with elasticated straps.

I have now switched to the Tuff-Luv case, which whilst much more expensive is much better quality.

I like:
The secure fitting and velcro flap
The design to allow access to all the controls (including oddly the Kindle mounting points for a "Kindle" case)
The clean looking front
The leather
The comfortable feel when held
The Fliptop notebook opening
The speaker cut-outs
The price for what you get
The fact I can stand this on my lap without opening the flip out stand
The magnetic closure on the front

I don't like:
The bulk of the flap at the back
The press stud fastening for the flap (I wish they'd gone magnetic like the front cover)
To a certain extent the thickness of the cover

However it's a nice bit of kit and I'm glad I've got it.