[Nexus 7 Accessories] NealJ777:
Hello. First of all, this is my first post to XDA, so a little introduction:

I'm Neal and I live in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. By day, I am an IT contractor for the Federal Government.

I ordered my Nexus 7 on Day #1 from the Play Store and I received it in mid-July. My only other tablet experience was an HP TouchPad which I got from the Fire Sale. I say "was" because I sold it to get the ca$h for the Nexus 7. I don't regret my decision at all! :) I was dual booting webOS and CyanogenMod and I ended up using the CyanogenMod side more than the webOS side. :)

Below is a review I wrote for the Caseen DESIGNO case for the Nexus 7. I originally wrote this review in mid-August. I will post an update to the review at the end:

When I pre-ordered my Nexus7 and saw the OEM case, I must admit that I hesitated at first. I wasn't really sure that that case was worth $20, but I wanted something to protect the N7 right away. I wasn't sure when other N7 cases would come to market, so I purchased the OEM case.

The OEM case was not the solution for me. I'm not going to go into details; there are other threads on this matter.

I was attracted to the Caseen case because I wanted something of good quality and not some eBay/Amazon China mass-produced item. Yes, the Caseen is made in China, but it doesn’t look like it was rushed out. The Caseen looks like thought and care went into the design of the case.

I’ve had my Caseen for a little over a week. I really enjoy using it as opposed to the OEM case. I feel that the N7 has more protection. When I still had the OEM case, I went away on vacation and I was afraid of packing it in the suitcase. With the Caseen, I feel more comfortable putting it in a backpack or Messenger Bag.

The case is constructed of genuine leather. The inside is soft and will not damage the screen. All the ports, including the “Sleep/Wake” and “Volume” buttons are easily accessed and easy to press the buttons. Speaking of “Sleep/Wake,” the cover does contain a magnet which will activate the “auto Sleep/Wake” function of the tablet. The magnet will keep the cover in the closed position when not in use.

The cover does have a hand strap, so when you open the cover and bend it over behind the tablet, you can place use the hand strap to hold the tablet in the “portrait” position.

The case has holes on the back along the speaker area to allow the sound to come through. I have looked at other $30 - $40 cases and these cases do not have an area for the speaker. I haven’t tested these other cases, so I do not know how this affects the sound.

The Caseen DESIGNO also has an elastic loop to keep your stylus and the cover does convert into a stand so that you can place the N7 in “Landscape Mode” for both viewing and typing. I have found issues with both the elastic loop and also with using the “stand mode.” I have outlined these issues in the accompanying YouTube video - Sorry, I can't post the video since I'm new. If you want to see the video, just PM me. :)

The other issue I am running into with the case is that it is difficult to swipe down from the top in order to open the Notification Area. This is also demonstrated in the YouTube video. In addition to swiping for the Notification Area, I do find it difficult to access the “back, home, and recent apps” soft buttons when using the N7 in Landscape.

Overall, I do like the Caseen DESIGNO and would recommend it to anyone looking for a case for their Nexus 7. Considering that I am on the East Coast and Caseen is in California, they respond quickly to e-mail.

** UPDATE **

Caseen has come out with a "Version 2" of the DESIGNO case. Basically, the Version 2 has some cutouts on the left and right side of the case to allow for swiping. For example: You can swipe between open tabs on Chrome by swiping left to right or right to left. The case still makes it very difficult to swipe from the top an open the Notification Area. I think Caseen needs to take this into account for future updates.

I hope that you enjoyed my review.

Thank you,

Neal