Cygnett Alumni Canvas Case for the New iPad 3 Review

Published on May 8th, 2012 | by Scott Schaen in Accessories, Reviews, Tablets

The Cygnett Alumni Case for the New iPad 3 is a portfolio style case, attractively designed out of canvas fabric. The Alumni Case is a very usable and protective case that features a magnetic smart cover to auto-wake iPad.

The design of the Cygnett Alumni case is pretty basic, yet still quite attractive. Considering there is no built-in stand, there is not much to it. It’s a portfolio style case with an inside pocket, and a frame that iPad slides into. iPad 3 slides into the frame through the side; there is a tab that slides under iPad to keep it secure. All ports and buttons are large and very accessible. There is a large hole on the back for iPad’s camera.

The Alumni Case consists of a couple different materials. The outside covers are covered in a rough and durable canvas fabric. There is a silver rubberized tag on the front that’s branded with Cynett’s logo; it’s a pretty nice accent. The binding around the outside of the case is soft leather (or faux-leather), as is the inside cover and frame.

The front cover has magnets, which keeps the case closed. The magnet also functions as the auto-wake feature for iPad. It unlocks iPad when opened and locks it when closed. The inside cover has one pocket for storing letters and small documents.

The appearance of the case is really nice looking, especially with the fluorescent colors. I like that it’s simple; sometimes portfolio cases get too caught up with stands, that the in-hand usability is hindered. The case is quite protective; it had reinforced covers. It even comes with a screen protector. With that said, there were a few pitfalls of the Alumni case. The canvas fabric may be durable, but it gets dirty quickly. I keep my Canvas case with iPad inside my backpack, and it collects a lot of fuzz. It pretty much requires a lint-roller. All of the ports and cutouts are good, but there’s a lot of wiggle room inside the frame for iPad to move around. The magnetic auto-wake doesn’t always work, but it actually works more often than most other cases.

All-in-all the Cygnett Alumni Case is a really nice looking portfolio case. It’s protective and feels good in-hand. It’s pretty lightweight and has a really nice form factor. However, there is no stand, and keeping the cover takes a bit of maintenance, but other than that we enjoyed using it. The Cygnett Alumni Canvas Case for the New iPad 3 is currently available in a bright blue/cobalt (pictured), green/jade, pink, or black for $49.99 from Cygnett.com. This is a bit pricey for what it is.

The Good: Nice Looking, Fun Colors, Smart Cover, Includes Screen Protector, Light, Sleek, Protective

The Bad: Gets Dirty, No Stand, iPad Has Wiggle RoomGoogle+

Tags: ipad 3, new ipad