At first it seemed silly to spend $60 on a case for my $79 Kindle, scratch that, it is silly. Regardless of the silliness index of the idea, I bought a Kindle Lighted Leather case for my Kindle a couple weeks ago and despite it taking two weeks to ship I didn’t cancel my order.
The real reason I bought it was because I happen to enjoy a lovely book while suffering from near debilitating insomnia (okay, it’s actually quite minor these days), however, my wife does not enjoy the bedside lamp required for me to do so with my Kindle (so very nostalgic, just like a real book). Being the complete and utter tool I am I skipped the cheap clip-on light and I ordered Amazon’s own solution for the problem.
The Good:
Kindle snaps in and fits very snugly in the case. Page buttons are easily accessible.
The light is powered off the Kindle’s battery, so you only need to charge one device. Plus no added bulk.
It does a great job of lighting the entire page (one would assume this to be true, but I was pleasantly surprised nonetheless).
The Bad:
The quality of the leather is so-so, the very first thing I thought of was the cheap leather briefcase my father used to carry around. It also seems to be sadly lacking in the durability department.
Front flap feels rather flimsy.
Call me crazy, but when I purchase a case for a product I tend to want something that protects the screen, and while the Amazon case does have a front flap, it doesn’t offer a magnetic clasp, elastic band, or even a friction based mechanism for securing the flap closed. The $29 Marware case I bought for my Kindle Fire even has that.
The Bottom Line
This is a great case despite being $60. And in all fairness, the price isn’t that outrageous. I wanted a light and I needed a case either way, so when comparing this to $20 for a clip-on light and $20 for a case it doesn’t seem that crazy.