Digital Home Thoughts: Vaja IR-21 iRiver iHP-140 Case Review

Compared To...


Figure 8: The competition.

So I got two cases from iRiver directly when I bought the audio player. You see them pictured here (the one on the left if Vaja's). You can tell from the wonderful shine on the Vaja case the difference in quality of the three cases. iRiver sells cases in two colors as far as I can tell, brown and black.


Figure 9: All three cases lined up with the player.

Neither of the iRiver cases are very flattering in looks and the clear part of the case is not very clear thus making the display hard to read. The Vaja has no such problem. Also, you might be able to tell that the iRiver cases look slightly smaller than the Vaja case. That is because they are a little too tight, so it was not only a challenge to get the iHP-140 in there but a major pain trying to take it our without destroying my device.


Figure 10: Left view of all the cases.

The brown iRiver case has an opening on the left like that of the Vaja but the black case only has a slot for the record button. There are three small perforations for the microphone but I find that there is a slight audio quality drop when recording using the black iRiver case. The brown iRiver case and the Vaja case do not suffer from this.


Figure 11: Right view of all the cases.

Similar setup with the right hand side. The black iRiver case makes it hard to operate the buttons on the iHP 140, especially if I try and fiddle with the buttons when the device is in my pocket.

So the brown iRiver case is about the same as the Vaja case; however they spoil it by using Velcro as the closing mechanism instead of a button or a clasp. The black iRiver case uses a button, but like I mentioned above, has other problems. The Vaja case does it right.

Conclusion


Figure 12: Holding the device with the case.

As you may have been able to tell by now, I really like the Vaja IR21. The professional look and feel make the case extremely usable and the snug fit reassures me that my audio player will be safe from any further scratches.