Hands On Review of the FrappeDesign Executive Folio for iPad

If you have an Apple iPad and you want to carry it around along with any paperwork for meetings and you want to protect it, then you will need a decent carry case. If you want to look professional at the same time as having protection and you want functionality out of your case, then you should look no further than the Executive Folio for iPad from FrappeDesign.

You probably haven’t heard of FrappeDesign before – I certainly hadn’t. Here is how they describe themselves:

We, FrappeDesign was founded by young engineers and business professionals who loves using mac. Over time, we realized that the majority of the accessories available for mac these days are focused mostly on the fashionable looks while the design of its functionality was neglected. Soon after the iPad came out, we knew that it would change the way we work and play and everyone in the business and academic field will love using it. This is the reason why we would love to create an accessory that provides functionality to deliver the best using experience of an apple product, especially the iPad.

Several months were spent in the product development starting from the design, material selection to the production process. During that time, a number of prototype tests were conducted in daily life usage to ensure that the final product meets all of the desired criteria in functionality and its finishing quality.

Here is how FrappeDesign describe the Executive Folio:

For FrappeDesign, a bold design must come with functionality. Our aim is to design an Executive Folio that can enhance the iPad user experience. The design philosophy ends up with Protection, Functions and Fashion.

We focus our design to deliver an amazing protection case that could provide shock resistant and prevent the iPad from any scratch. While the interior and exterior of the case must look professional, modern and elegant, the folio must be able to perform practical functions. Thus, still having a proper size and weight.

The Executive Folio comes in three different colours: Black Espresso, Tanned Orange and Metallic Grey. For this review I opted for the Black Espresso.

What’s In The Box?

The box is more of a carry case for the case itself, made of lightweight cardboard, so if you really wanted to protect the case in transit you could always use the box, although it is a bit of a tight squeeze. It just seems a shame not to use the box.

The only item in the box is the Executive Folio itself.

Using the Executive Folio for iPad

My initial thoughts about the Executive Folio when I removed it from the box was “cool”. It is very lightweight and has that leather smell. Unzipping the case and opening it fully revealed a left section that would hold the iPad in transit and that would also be used as a stand when using the iPad (more on that in a moment). The right hand side had a number of pockets for business cards, paperwork and even a pen holder.

FrappeDesign is stamped on the leather as well.