Kavaj Tokyo Case quick review w/pics

MrXiro · Sep 25, 2014

I picked up the KAVAJ "TOKYO" case from Amazon.

Great quality case! The interior of the case is coated in that matte, soft touch material usually reserved for the exterior of plastic cases. The bad photos on the website (and on Amazon) really do not give this case justice. The exterior portion is a really soft genuine leather. It looks really nice and definitely looks, feels and smells of leather. With the case on the iPhone 6 is now about the same thickness (possibly slightly thinner) as a naked iPhone 5/5s. It feels super thin and light... not much different than holding the phone naked. The corners are protected but the top and bottom are left wide open as are the cut out for the buttons. This is definitely a minimalist's case. While I bought this case for the card slots, I kind of wish they offered it without the card slots now, as they don't look bad in anyway but now I kind of want a flatter back. The pockets do off a little bit of extra cushioning for the back of your phone though.

The pockets are nice and tight. I put in my drivers license to test it out and I definitely see the slots getting looser over time if you cram a lot of cards in there. But for now nothing falls out and it looks nice and flat with the card in there. In case you wanted to know about 3/4 of an inch of the card sticks out in the back.

Overall this is a great buy and after doing some research it turns out that KAVAJ is a well known German leather case company and only recently (2013) broke into the US market. They probably could have easily charged up to $50 for this case. My order was $25 with 15% off and free shipping so it ended up being a great deal!

I think it prefer it over the Apple case mainly because it has a hard Polycarbonite "skeleton" inside the soft leather skin. Also to note I have a Skinomi front skin covering the glass 100% on and the case never touches any of the glass areas so any front skin is safe from peeling up.

MrXiro · Sep 25, 2014

I can post more pics tonight if anyone wants to see more. Sorry for the blurry ones. I took the pics with my soon to be retired iPhone 5S.

zlin9596 · Sep 25, 2014

please do

Mercury7 · Sep 25, 2014

I like it.... Would you say the polycarbonate is more sturdy....rigid tan the apple leather case..... Do you feel like it would reinforce well for the bending issue?

MrXiro · Sep 25, 2014

Mercury7 said:
I like it.... Would you say the polycarbonate is more sturdy....rigid tan the apple leather case..... Do you feel like it would reinforce well for the bending issue?

definitely would reinforce the bending issue. It's a stiff case and has little give.

Mercury7 · Sep 25, 2014

Been looking... They have one that appears to be the same case but has a folio flap called Dallas.... That might be pretty nice.... As usual though folios usually get in the way during use..... Price is definitely right for such a nice case

Mercury7 · Sep 25, 2014

I wrote them and asked if it was possible to do special orders.... I think the dallas case for the 6+ would be my dream case if they could cut a hole in the front cover so that it did not block the camera when you flipped it....and sew magnets in to the back also so the flap will lay flat along the back when in use..... now that would be perfect!

D3lta · Sep 25, 2014

This looks like a great case. Could you fit 4 cards in the slots? It's unfortunate the 6 Plus version doesn't come out until the end of October.

davistld01 · Sep 25, 2014

Thanks for this to the OP. I have one ordered and on the way! I've been looking for a front-pocket wallet that won't get in the way of my phone. Voila!!

MrXiro · Sep 25, 2014

D3lta said:
This looks like a great case. Could you fit 4 cards in the slots? It's unfortunate the 6 Plus version doesn't come out until the end of October.

I'm sure you can... but you'll be stuck with 4 forever since it'll most likely stretch out the leather. I'm going to stick with just 2 or even 1 card. My ID card is twice as thick as my drivers license so if you can fit one of those in a single slot then of course it can fit 4 cards (2 in each)

Sadly my plan to use it for my access card at work failed. I'm only guessing but I think the NFC interferes with the RFID in the card. It will not allow me to access my work while in the case. Not the case's fault. mostly likely the phone.

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davistld01 said:
Thanks for this to the OP. I have one ordered and on the way! I've been looking for a front-pocket wallet that won't get in the way of my phone. Voila!!

You're welcome... I actually bought this and a sleeve case and was going to return one of them. I was dying to carry the phone naked with only a protective skin on back. But this case feels nice and thin so that sleeve (which turned out to be awful) is going back. I honestly don't feel the case is much thicker than a naked phone and the portion where the camera cut out is just barely clears the camera but less than 1mm. It's as flush to the camera lens as I've seen on a leather case for sure!

foreplay · Sep 25, 2014

how raised is it over the glass?

MrXiro · Sep 25, 2014

foreplay said:
how raised is it over the glass?

None at all. It stops as the glass curves and clips onto the metal portion of the phone. If it were positioned higher it would have touched the glass and any full screen protector you put on would peel up.

Mercury7 · Sep 25, 2014

btw here is a direct link to the dallas for the plus that I requested to have modified .... even if they will not I think maybe I could make the mods myself....however it would be nicer if they could do it.
http://kavaj.com/iphone-6-plus-5-5-case-dallas-black/

MrXiro · Sep 25, 2014

Mercury7 said:
btw here is a direct link to the dallas for the plus that I requested to have modified .... even if they will not I think maybe I could make the mods myself....however it would be nicer if they could do it.
http://kavaj.com/iphone-6-plus-5-5-case-dallas-black/

Make sure you order it from Amazon... there is a coupon for 15% off on the product page.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...s2&tag=wwwkavajcom-20&linkId=6RSVKHXEQS6NAH6H

Pigs · Sep 25, 2014

Mine came yesterday also from Amazon. I don't yet have a 6 to go in it but I will agree that this is a beautiful case and a an absolute steal with the discount. I had a Spigen Slim Armor on my 5 for two years and preordered a Spigen Neo Hybrid for my new 6 but after holding both in my hand the Spigen is going back.

Super slim and minimal and will hold the two cards I need everyday. Won't replace my wallet but will be great walking around the Fall Festivals the next couple of weeks.

penars · Sep 25, 2014

The only thing I don't particularly like about this case is that the top is open. Otherwise, looks good and for roughly ~$20 I might give it a shot!

MrXiro · Sep 25, 2014

penars said:
The only thing I don't particularly like about this case is that the top is open. Otherwise, looks good and for roughly ~$20 I might give it a shot!

Yeah I agree... but when you hold it it actually makes sense from a uniformity point of view. It would come off odd to me (though apples official case has the top enclosed) to have 1 side of the phone feel "leathery" and the other side be cold aluminum when holding the phone in landscape. Not a huge deal but just lacks uniformity.

I think I'm ok with it as the biggest point of the case is to protect the corners and the back from scratches.

badman89 · Sep 26, 2014

MrXiro said:
I picked up the KAVAJ "TOKYO" case from Amazon.

Great quality case! The interior of the case is coated in that matte, soft touch material usually reserved for the exterior of plastic cases. The bad photos on the website (and on Amazon) really do not give this case justice. The exterior portion is a really soft genuine leather. It looks really nice and definitely looks, feels and smells of leather. With the case on the iPhone 6 is now about the same thickness (possibly slightly thinner) as a naked iPhone 5/5s. It feels super thin and light... not much different than holding the phone naked. The corners are protected but the top and bottom are left wide open as are the cut out for the buttons. This is definitely a minimalist's case. While I bought this case for the card slots, I kind of wish they offered it without the card slots now, as they don't look bad in anyway but now I kind of want a flatter back. The pockets do off a little bit of extra cushioning for the back of your phone though.

The pockets are nice and tight. I put in my drivers license to test it out and I definitely see the slots getting looser over time if you cram a lot of cards in there. But for now nothing falls out and it looks nice and flat with the card in there. In case you wanted to know about 3/4 of an inch of the card sticks out in the back.

Overall this is a great buy and after doing some research it turns out that KAVAJ is a well known German leather case company and only recently (2013) broke into the US market. They probably could have easily charged up to $50 for this case. My order was $25 with 15% off and free shipping so it ended up being a great deal!

I think it prefer it over the Apple case mainly because it has a hard Polycarbonite "skeleton" inside the soft leather skin. Also to note I have a Skinomi front skin covering the glass 100% on and the case never touches any of the glass areas so any front skin is safe from peeling up.

I own two Kavaj cases for my iPads, and I think that Kavaj is a great company, but I honestly find this case to be quite ugly. The credit card slots on the back are unappealing to me (moreover, I have no use for them). But what's even more ugly is the gaps on the side (for the lock / volume buttons). I think I might have to go with the Apple leather case instead -- Apple's case is far more minimalist.

Perhaps you could post some more pics in better lighting to try to convince me otherwise? I would love to be convinced, because as I said, I really like Kavaj. Cheers!

MrXiro · Sep 26, 2014

badman89 said:
I own two Kavaj cases for my iPads, and I think that Kavaj is a great company, but I honestly find this case to be quite ugly. The credit card slots on the back are unappealing to me (moreover, I have no use for them). But what's even more ugly is the gaps on the side (for the lock / volume buttons). I think I might have to go with the Apple leather case instead -- Apple's case is far more minimalist.

Perhaps you could post some more pics in better lighting to try to convince me otherwise? I would love to be convinced, because as I said, I really like Kavaj. Cheers!

Well since you don't like the cut outs and the slots, I could hold a full lighted photo session with an SLR and probably won't change your mind about it. I'm also not trying to convince you to buy one. I just saw that there were 0 reviews on this case so I put one up to be helpful, I don't work for Kavaj nor do I sell cases for a living. It's up to you if this case is a contender for your money. I took my pics at like 5am yesterday and wrote the review really quickly before work, that's all.

I like the case more than any previous cause I've owned on my past iPhones. I don't mind the cut outs, I also don't drop my phone ever so I'm not too concerned about those little bits that are exposed. I was debating this case or just using a skin from DBrand or Slickwraps... still deciding actually.

Since I've yet to actually see the official apple case up close in my hand I can't say anything about it. But from watching videos I know the Kavaj has a stiffer PC backing and the bottom is still exposed on both phones. Also, though it's only been 2 days of use for me there is no bubbling on this case like a handful of Apple Cases reported on this site.

Mercury7 · Sep 27, 2014

I would still love more pics if you ever have time.... perhaps holding it....even a video would be nice if you have a place to upload it..... Im still getting the dallas but from what I can tell the dallas is identical except for the folio flap..... I took back my leather apple case today and this is on the top of my list still....

Mercury7 · Sep 27, 2014

One more quick question/request ....was reading the reviews of the modal folio...a cheaper folio for best buy....they said the cutout for the camera was too small and it cause issues when using flash...would you mind taking some photos with flash on to ensure this one is ok.... they appear to have gone with a minimal opening for the camera and flash too.... which probably is ok since its so thin but just wanted to be sure

Mercury7 · Sep 27, 2014

still want the info and pics but thought I would let you know I just ordered

..hope I am as lucky as you and dont have to wait till the end of October

badman89 · Sep 29, 2014

MrXiro said:
Well since you don't like the cut outs and the slots, I could hold a full lighted photo session with an SLR and probably won't change your mind about it. I'm also not trying to convince you to buy one. I just saw that there were 0 reviews on this case so I put one up to be helpful, I don't work for Kavaj nor do I sell cases for a living. It's up to you if this case is a contender for your money. I took my pics at like 5am yesterday and wrote the review really quickly before work, that's all.

I like the case more than any previous cause I've owned on my past iPhones. I don't mind the cut outs, I also don't drop my phone ever so I'm not too concerned about those little bits that are exposed. I was debating this case or just using a skin from DBrand or Slickwraps... still deciding actually.

Since I've yet to actually see the official apple case up close in my hand I can't say anything about it. But from watching videos I know the Kavaj has a stiffer PC backing and the bottom is still exposed on both phones. Also, though it's only been 2 days of use for me there is no bubbling on this case like a handful of Apple Cases reported on this site.

I'm sorry if I came across as too demanding, or if I was treating you as if you were a Kavaj salesman. That was not my intention. I understand that you're just a regular guy, but you specifically said:

"I can post more pics tonight if anyone wants to see more. Sorry for the blurry ones. I took the pics with my soon to be retired iPhone 5S."

That's the reason I thought it would be reasonable to ask you for pics.

davistld01 · Oct 1, 2014

Just got my Kavaj Tokyo case in the mail, and I must say although I've been using the Apple OEM leather slim case for my iPhone 6...the leather on the Tokyo feels much softer & supple than that used with the Apple product, which feels pretty slippery until it gets time to "break in".

I'm going to try the card carrier today with just a drivers license, credit card & a $100 bill, and see how it goes. That's pretty much all I'll need today...so we'll see. Looks good overall, and is a great deal at the price.

MrXiro · Oct 10, 2014

Mercury7 said:
still want the info and pics but thought I would let you know I just ordered ..hope I am as lucky as you and dont have to wait till the end of October

Hey Sorry... I never came back to this thread. Did you get your case yet? It's been a busy few weeks and I sort of forgot about this thread.

I wish this site would notify you when people post on a thread you started.

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Mercury7 said:
One more quick question/request ....was reading the reviews of the modal folio...a cheaper folio for best buy....they said the cutout for the camera was too small and it cause issues when using flash...would you mind taking some photos with flash on to ensure this one is ok.... they appear to have gone with a minimal opening for the camera and flash too.... which probably is ok since its so thin but just wanted to be sure

The opening looks to be the same size as the Apple one, in fact it might be slightly "taller" cause I can see the antenna line break at the bottom edge of the cut out. The width looks exactly the same.

I'll see what I can do about pics. I restored my 5S to sell so I'll need to find a different camera to use.

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davistld01 said:
Just got my Kavaj Tokyo case in the mail, and I must say although I've been using the Apple OEM leather slim case for my iPhone 6...the leather on the Tokyo feels much softer & supple than that used with the Apple product, which feels pretty slippery until it gets time to "break in".

I'm going to try the card carrier today with just a drivers license, credit card & a $100 bill, and see how it goes. That's pretty much all I'll need today...so we'll see. Looks good overall, and is a great deal at the price.

How's it working out for you?

Kavaj Tokyo Case quick review w/pics

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