RooCase Origami Review

RooCase Origami: A Unique Folding Case/Stand Combo

(Continued from: My Quest for the Ultimate iPad Air Stand)

Here you can see the RooCase Origami folded into a landscape orientation stand.

Most of the time, I like to use my iPad propped up, either on my lap, or a pillow, or a table. Propping up didn’t work too well with just the Apple Smart Cover. It only gives you two viewing angles–upright, for viewing, and flat, for typing. Also, it only acts as a stand in landscape orientation and it’s not very secure as a stand.

So about a week after receiving my iPad Air, I found the RooCase Origami on Amazon. At the time, it was the only stand/case combination I could find for the new iPad Air–and since it was only about $10 shipped at the time, I decided to give it a try. Since it was a full case, my Smart Cover was set aside for a while. RooCase was offered in several nice color options, so of course, I chose red. It is a nice, bright, pure red, similar to the Apple Smart Cover red.

RooCase Origami is a full-body iPad case and cover that folds into a stand for multiple positions.

The case portion is a soft-touch plastic which the iPad Air snaps into. All the openings were a perfect fit, and it offers good protection with substantial corner padding for potential drops. The attached cover has a flap-style hinge (no metal parts) and offers a couple more folding options compared to the Smart Cover, allowing to stand in portrait and landscape orientations. It’s also available in a version for the iPad mini retina.

Here’s what I liked and didn’t like about the RooCase Origami, and why I ultimately moved on from it:

I liked:

Magnetic on/off capabilities functioned well.
It is durable and protective.
Very inexpensive.
Many color options.
Could be used as a stand in one portrait position and three landscape positions.

I didn’t like:

The viewing angles were never quite right for me, and I often had to put something behind it to get the angle better.
It adds significant weight to the iPad Air.
The back case plastic material became stained from rubbing against other materials.
The inside of the cover often picked up dirt from folding it into the standing positions.
The red color was not carried through to the inside of the cover flap, which is gray.
The cover was permanently attached and could not be pulled off and set aside.
Could not be held comfortably with one hand for long periods when it was not possible to prop the iPad up.

Eventually I got tired of constantly having to fiddle with the viewing angle, and I went looking for other options. The Gripster for iPad Air was still “coming soon” but I thought the ZeroChroma Solo stand was worth a try.

Next Up: ZeroChroma Solo