Review: Chunky stylish cover for Paperwhite and basic Kindle
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 18, 2014
The Golla Vincent Cover is a chunkier than usual cover, so right there, you have a decision point. Some people prefer them chunkier, others prefer them slimmer. Sitting on a desk with the Paperwhite inside, if I didn't know, I would have guessed there was a tablet inside.This is stylish in its own right, the cityscape on the outside of the cover and the stylish Golla logos give it more fashionable personality than some of the colorfully loud cases out there.It has a hand-strap so you can hold it single-handed. There is no place to store notes or a stylus or a pen. The cover is on the thicker side, so it may or may not affect any clip-on lights you use. I did not have a problem with the one I regularly use.There is also a strap that keeps the cover closed. If you don't use the strap, it opens up on its own. The strap is part of the design, it sits vertically on a groove on the front of the cover.The straps that hold the ereaders in place have a different approach here. Instead of being at the four edges, they are closer to the center of the cover. However, these straps stretch out more than most cases, so they make up for it. I don't know why it was designed this way. I did not have any problems with straps on the edges with other cases.This is not an advertised feature but I test it on most cases: it cannot stand on its own in tent mode. A few other cases can, although even in those situations, it is not a very stable tent.It works great for the two Kindle e-readers it is advertised for, the Kindle Paperwhite and the basic Kindle. Both can be charged with the Amazon charging cables without issue while they are in the case. Holding the cover folded backwards while reading is fine. You can also use the hand strap if you want to read single-handed without holding, however, in my case, I noticed hand fatigue/pain after more than half an hour of using it in this situation. I don't know if it is me or the angle/design of the hand-strap slot.The hand-strap is on the left side for the left hand, however, there are a couple of tricks if you want to use it with your right hand: 1) you can put the e-reader upside down in the case and rotate the case, so the hand-strap is on the right side, or 2) using the menus  turn the screen upside down - but the menus are upside down too (for the basic Kindle).The following devices are not officially supported, but I tested them anyway: 1) the Kobo Touch has similar dimensions as the basic Kindle, so it fits fine, except the Kobo's power button is partially covered by the top right strap, so you have to manually slide it to use the power button. No big deal.  2) the Nook Simple Touch is wider than most ereaders and it just barely fits in the case. I wouldn't recommend it unless you have this case and have no other case for the Nook Touch. The power button on the back of the Nook is covered since the case is not made for it  3) the Kindle with Keyboard is taller than the whole case, does not fit.  4) the 7-inch tablets are taller and wider, no fit.Smell: most tablet and ereader cases have a smell when you first open them, so I air them out for 2-3 days regardless of the smell. This one had a mild smell as well. I usually let them sit next to a door or window which gets more air flow.Unboxing: the cover is stored in a half cardboard box (the cardboard is on the back and spine only). You need a pair of scissors to cut the little plastic loop thing to open it. The cover has a small foam pad inside presumably to help it retain its form.