Leaving the store with my iPhone, I knew I needed some kind of protective case.  The store didn’t have a great selection, but the Case-Mate Signature Leather case seemed to be decent enough for a walk-away case.  It’s still the only case I own at the time of this writing, but I plan to get others.

In the box

The Case-Mate came with a screen protector and a small micro-fiber cloth.  Nothing too special, but both nice additions to the case by itself.

Description

The case is leather and adds a little bit of bulk to phone, but I really like the leather feel--you can easily hold onto it, but its not tacky to the touch.  The phone slides into the case from the top, leaving the top buttons, the side buttons, and  (via a cut-down notch) the camera lens exposed.  The bottom leaves one oblong section open for the microphone, speaker, and bottom port.

The leather provides a lip around the front of the phone that covers the bottom just below the home button and covers right up to the edge of the screen sides and top.  At the top, the ear piece and proximity sensor area are exposed by an oblong cut-out.

Inserting and Removing iPhone

The interior of the case is lined in a somewhat soft, slightly ribbed cloth.  The iPhone slides in quite smoothly. and settles into place.  I have noticed, however, that the phone seems to sit slightly crooked in the case.  The top and sides of the screen aren’t directly parallel to the lip of the case, at least with mine.  It’s not that noticeable, but every now and then it catches my eye.

Removing the iPhone is a bit more difficult.  There’s not enough of the phone exposed at the top to pull it out (and you wouldn’t want that much exposure), which means you have to push it out from the bottom.  With only the mic/speaker/port opening on the bottom, there’s not a lot to push on.  I use a finger to push the phone just enough to allow the bottom of the phone to clear the lip of the case at the bottom.  Then I can get my finger under the phone (reaching into the front opening of the case) and push it out the rest of the way.

Protection

This case certainly allows you to lay the phone down face first on a flat surface without contacting the face of the phone.  As noted by the removal discussion above, the phone sits rather snugly in the case--it isn’t going to fall out.  Plus, with the slight bulk of the leather, I’d say there’s a little shock protection on the phone as well.  However, with the top of the phone exposed around to the side buttons, I do worry about scuffing that area of my iPhone.

Last Thoughts

For a case that I bought just to feel safe leaving the store, the Case-Mate signature Leather case has served its purpose reasonably well.  I still like the way the leather feels in my hand, and the protection provided is reasonable for how I’ve used the phone so far.  I am, however, looking forward to purchasing other cases to adorn my iPhone.  More on them when the time comes.