UltimateAddons EVA Hard Armor Protective Case

I recently upgraded my much-loved Sony Reader to the new model and am absolutely loving it. I still maintain it has much better functionality than the Kindle, and more importantly can read a variety of formats easily found for *coughcough* free online (if you know where to look!), and am really pleased with it. The only problem is that with electronics becoming smaller and lighter they can also feel more delicate and I am terrified of breaking it whilst carrying it around. While the old Reader had a built-on case, it seems you don’t get these things for free any more but I was keen to find one a little sturdier that would take a knocking if necessary.

After some searching I decided to get one that might not look too pretty but would be the sturdiest, as even though I use my Reader constantly I don’t carry it around that much now that I’m not using public transport. So I really won’t be spending that much time looking at the case anyway! I ended up choosing the UltimateAddons Hard Armour case as I wanted something that would be a hard shell rather than a sleeve and I especially wanted something that would zip all the way around so nothing could fall into the case and scratch the screen.

Although it claims to be for my specific Reader (PRS T1), I’ll be honest, it is pretty big which if you were going to be carting it around in the case quite often would be a bit of a bummer considering this is supposedly the smallest and lightest ebook to date to have a “full size” (eg 6 inch) screen. I was worried that my book would rattle around inside although there are two elastic straps to hold it in place and, although they aren’t that snug either, it can’t come to any harm once it’s zippered in.

The case itself is made of a rubbery material with a sturdy zip and soft felty interior. The outer is indeed quite solid without being completely rigid, so it’s easier to slip into a bag but will still absorb knocks and I daresay dropping although that hasn’t happened to me yet! The outer is wipe clean and looks fairly smart although I would much prefer if it was flat rather than having the odd shapes that are moulded in. It’s not a huge deal, and it’s all black so you don’t notice it a lot, but it seems random.

Inside the Reader settles behind two elastic straps although as I mentioned the interior of this case is really big. I think even my old model Reader would fit in here so I think it would house almost any ebook. I daresay you could read whilst the book was in the case behind the elastic, but for me that would be too bulky to hold.

On the other side of the case (which lies flat when open) is a mesh pocket which can be used to hold accessories or odds and ends of paper, tickets, passport etc, and a smaller pocket which flips up. On one side are little slots for SD cards, and the other is a normal pocket where I keep a microfibre cloth to polish my screen. I also usually keep the stylus from my Reader in the mesh pocket or slotted through the elastic. The smaller pocket is covered with a soft faux-leather material and helps to pad and protect the Reader’s screen and stop it from moving around when the case is closed.

I’ve used this a couple of times for travelling so far and it has kept my Reader in perfect condition even when crammed into little corners of my bag. I also like to keep it in here, unzipped, when I’m not using it to keep dust etc off the screen.

I’m pleased with this case. It may not look the most stylish, and there are definitely some really slick-looking cases out there, but it does what it’s supposed to do and was a fair price at £12. You can find these on Amazon or eBay or a daresay several other websites, shipping was really quick from seller GPSforless on eBay. I wish that there were more colours available maybe, but as I don’t spend a lot of time looking at it, it’s money well spent.