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The Prima flip case for the Treo 680 & 750 is inexpensive and looks good. But I've had a much better experience with my Piel Frama equivalent.

The Prima case looks like most other black leather flip cases with a removable belt clip. It has cut outs that allow access to the side buttons, speaker and camera. It also provides full access to the ports on the bottom of the Treo.

The belt clip can be easily removed from the case with a simple push of a button on top of the clip. As a result, you can quickly answer an incoming call.

After the clip has been removed, you are left with a circular button in the middle of the back of the case. Unlike other cases of this sort that I have used, the button is not removable. So if you want use the case without the belt clip for an extended period of time, you have to live with the button poking out of the back.

These pictures show that the designers remembered that the newer Treos have SD card slots on the side. The Prima case allows full access to the SD card slot without taking the Treo out of the case.

The prima case provides no storage in the flap for SD cards or business cards. That is an important feature to me that is available on the Piel Frama alternative.

To its credit, the Prima case is constructed from a supple high quality leather and is held shut by a magnetic clasp. The three sides surrounding the screen are reinforced with a rigid material inside the leather. This gives the case a secure hold of the Treo. There is no need for the strap of leather that most cases have running along the bottom edge of the screen.

The advantage here is that the case does not obstruct your access to the silver hard keys and 5 way navigational pad just below the screen. Unfortunately, as you can see in the photo, the leather partially obscures the delete and enter key, as well as keys on the bottom row. This did not stop me from using the buttons. However, I had to use my finger tips rather than typing more quickly using my thumbs.

I don't often use belt clips. However, whenever I test a case with a belt clip I always try to live with the case for about a week wearing it with the clip to ensure that case and clip are up to the job. Unfortunately, within an hour of wearing my Treo, I managed to break the belt clip when getting into my car. I am thankful that my Treo only fell a few inches onto the car floor. I ended up with a nasty red welt on the side of my waist, probably inflicted by the spring mechanism in the clip as it fell apart.

Looking at the two main components of the clip, it seems clear that the pieces slide together and have no sort of adhesive holding them in place. As a result, I could re-assemble the belt clip. But I view this as a design flaw because it may mean the clip could come apart again in the future.

Generally, I'm an easy to please guy (that's just the way I am). As long as an item does what I expect I'm happy. Unfortunately, I have little confidence in this case protecting my Treo after my experience with the belt clip breaking.

If I was in the market for a leather flip case for my Treo, I'd pay a bit more and get the Piel Frama case I recently reviewed. It had no problems with the belt clip, had a removable button on the back of the case, and provides storage for SD and business cards.

The Prima case costs $39.95, and the Piel Frama flip case is $67.95. In my mind, paying more for the additional security and features is the way to go.

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Prima leather flip case for the Treo 680 & 750

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Reviews by Sion Philips

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