I have come across some weird materials when testing cases for the iPhone, and iPad. Now I can add one more: ostrich. I have no prior experience with leather from this large bird, but I am really impressed with the quality and strength of it. The pouch is also lines with cow skin to increase the strength further.
The Pull case is a classic pull strap pouch. The pull strap extends with a flap above the case, simply pull on the flap to extract the phone. One pull will get almost half of the phone out, which is great. It makes it easy to see the time, title of the track played or incoming caller without more than a tap on the screen.
There is one flaw to the design though that draws the impression down significantly. The pouch lacks clear indications of which side is back, or which is the front. Inserting the phone will often be impossible as I get it on the wrong side of the strap. This is really annoying, and could have been avoided by either having a logo on one side of the pouch or pull strap. I am concerned that with repeated wrong phone insertions the pull strap mechanism will be destroyed. It is made from a single leather piece that the strap passes through.
This is a really tight fitted pouch that adds a minimal amount of bulk to the phone. All the seams are well made, and seem really durable. It is soft to the touch, and has a cool texture due to the ostrich skin. There are small bumps where the feathers used to be, and this pattern is highly irregular. It attracts some attention, but not always positive. Some of my friends actually finds it to be quite repulsive seeing such clear connection to the dead animal. To me that is a minimal concern, and I like to see the connection to nature in the products I use.
The black crocodile version.
For protection it works quite well. The pouch covers all but the top of the phone. It could have been a couple of millimetres higher to grant full protection. As the case is rigid, and has both ostrich and cow skin to add layered protection.
When the phone is within the pouch there isn’t much functionality open to the user. You obviously have access to the silent button, and the headphone socket when inserted bottom down. If upside you have access to the charge socket, and speakers. There are no speaker cut-outs making it hard, but not impossible to hear incoming calls. Most pouches come with cut-outs, but on the other hand that exposes the speakers somewhat. I personally prefer to have proper sized cut-outs for convenience.
My biggest concern with the Pull case from Piel Frama is the fact that there is no way of telling that it is made by an established leather manufacturer. There is no logotype or branding whatsoever.
The packaging has the cool Piel Frama logo.
I find this to be really sad, as Piel Frama has got a truly cool bullhead logo not far from that used by Chicago Bulls of NBA fame. A large bullhead on the front, or a small logo on the pull strap would have enhanced the look of the case.
The Piel Frama Pull case is a cool pouch made from ostrich and cow skin. It protects the iPhone 4 well, and has a great fit. The pull strap is hard to reset as there is no telling which side is back, and which is the front. There are no speaker cut-outs, but that is not as bad as the lack of a logotype or brand name on the case. I hope to see an update where Piel Frama showcases the beautiful logotype with pride.
Final Rating
Pull case at Pielframa.com €57
The Pull case is also available in black Crocodile leather, and seven different colored leather versions.
