After calculating the price for a Vaja Grip including shipping/tax/duties/Fedex fees which might have added to close to 150€ I decided to get the Apple leather case, the one for iPhone 6 (olive). Later I luckily got an orange Grip from ebay for 64€.
Grip: The main point why I returned the Apple one (the one I got is like the new S ones). Even after a week of heavy use it felt almost as slippery as the phone itself. The Vaja on the other hand has the grip I was looking for. The cutouts on the sides help a little.
Touch: The Apple one feels soft and smooth and even 'warm', it is nice to touch, so it probably is some kinda genuine leather. Still the Vaja wins easily with its structured feel. The texture of the leather must be deeper than the whole Apple leather thickness. Feels like touching the skin of an animal.
Smell: Apples case hardly smells, and not like leather at all. After holding the Vaja for a while even my hand smells like an italian shoe store.
Look: The Apple case looks OK, but boring. The olive color actually is pretty ugly, but I know the used saddle leather looks nicer. Still too perfect. Vajas case shows more of the phone itself and the metal/eather contrast is sooo nice. Yeah and it does look like it is made by hand.
Bulk: It is unbelievable how the Apple case only adds 2mm total thickness, 1mm on the bottom. That means 1mm for the microfiber, the body and the leather, which must be paper thin. The Vaja adds rather 2,5mm on the bottom and about an additional 3mm total to width and height (compared to Apple).
Fit: The Apple case fits like a glove and the iPhone will never fall out of it. The Vaja is tight, but I experienced that my Vaja iPad case lost some if its stability. It might not become a problem with the smaller phone, but I put in some adhesive tape.
Protection: The higher thickness of Vajas leather (especially on the corners) might help in case of an impact. Whoever is concerned about the front should add a tempered glass anyway.
Accessibility: The mute switch is harder to access with Apples case and the covered buttons take some more force to touch. But nothing to base a decision on. Camera cutout looks more perfect on Apple but nicer on Vaja. bottom access is about the same.
Quality: Nothing to complain about the Apple Case, it is just perfectly (machine) made, but at least natural enough to age nicely.
There is one complaint about the Vaja. They give you the choice of color for the lining leather and I didn't know why. But actually you can see it on the sides. So choose wisely. The problem is, it is just cut rougly and I found my Birch to look really ugly. Not even sure if that would somehow ruin the case I just ripped it out completely. Looks much better now, removes half a millimeter of thickness which I used for the adhesive pads. If you dont like the look of it but fear the metal or plastic parts would damage the phone, it will suffice to cut off a few millimeters on every side.
This might not be a solution everybody likes (resell value) but I dont care, the result is perfect for me.
I don't think I can declare a clear winner by the facts alone. But for me personally the Vaja wins hands down even at double the price. I will probably use it for 3 years, which justifies the price a little. Very curious about how the shiny orange leather will age, will maybe post in year.
Grip: The main point why I returned the Apple one (the one I got is like the new S ones). Even after a week of heavy use it felt almost as slippery as the phone itself. The Vaja on the other hand has the grip I was looking for. The cutouts on the sides help a little.
Touch: The Apple one feels soft and smooth and even 'warm', it is nice to touch, so it probably is some kinda genuine leather. Still the Vaja wins easily with its structured feel. The texture of the leather must be deeper than the whole Apple leather thickness. Feels like touching the skin of an animal.
Smell: Apples case hardly smells, and not like leather at all. After holding the Vaja for a while even my hand smells like an italian shoe store.
Look: The Apple case looks OK, but boring. The olive color actually is pretty ugly, but I know the used saddle leather looks nicer. Still too perfect. Vajas case shows more of the phone itself and the metal/eather contrast is sooo nice. Yeah and it does look like it is made by hand.
Bulk: It is unbelievable how the Apple case only adds 2mm total thickness, 1mm on the bottom. That means 1mm for the microfiber, the body and the leather, which must be paper thin. The Vaja adds rather 2,5mm on the bottom and about an additional 3mm total to width and height (compared to Apple).
Fit: The Apple case fits like a glove and the iPhone will never fall out of it. The Vaja is tight, but I experienced that my Vaja iPad case lost some if its stability. It might not become a problem with the smaller phone, but I put in some adhesive tape.
Protection: The higher thickness of Vajas leather (especially on the corners) might help in case of an impact. Whoever is concerned about the front should add a tempered glass anyway.
Accessibility: The mute switch is harder to access with Apples case and the covered buttons take some more force to touch. But nothing to base a decision on. Camera cutout looks more perfect on Apple but nicer on Vaja. bottom access is about the same.
Quality: Nothing to complain about the Apple Case, it is just perfectly (machine) made, but at least natural enough to age nicely.
There is one complaint about the Vaja. They give you the choice of color for the lining leather and I didn't know why. But actually you can see it on the sides. So choose wisely. The problem is, it is just cut rougly and I found my Birch to look really ugly. Not even sure if that would somehow ruin the case I just ripped it out completely. Looks much better now, removes half a millimeter of thickness which I used for the adhesive pads. If you dont like the look of it but fear the metal or plastic parts would damage the phone, it will suffice to cut off a few millimeters on every side.
This might not be a solution everybody likes (resell value) but I dont care, the result is perfect for me.
I don't think I can declare a clear winner by the facts alone. But for me personally the Vaja wins hands down even at double the price. I will probably use it for 3 years, which justifies the price a little. Very curious about how the shiny orange leather will age, will maybe post in year.
