Review: iLuv Pocket Agent iPhone 5/5S Case

The iLuv Pocket Agent is a great minimalistic case for the iPhone 5 and 5s.

iLuv Pocket Agent – Front

The Pocket Agent is a book-style case that has an attached cover lined with micro-suede that folds over the screen. A pair of tiny magnets on the edge of the cover help keep the case closed against the screen like the iPad’s smart cover protecting the screen from damage in your pocket.

iLuv Pocket Agent – Back

The leather has a great feel and has a thin but sturdy backing. The backing on the rear of the case is much thicker than the front cover, and both provide good impact protection. I may have wanted to see the same thin panel on the rear of the case to shave off a few millimeters of thickness.

iLuv Pocket Agent – Bottom

The Pocket Agent uses leather to wrap the phone in place instead of plastics. It saves weight and gives the phone a very clean and unified look.

iLuv Pocket Agent – Buttons

Cutouts give access to the camera, power button, mute switch, headphone jack and sync cable. The volume buttons are covered, but their positions are stamped in the leather and are still useable. One neat feature of the case is even when fully closed, a cutout in the cover for the ear piece allows you to keep using it.

Unfortunately, it seems that the cutouts on the front of the phone aren’t quite exact on the front of the phone. The screen cutout is slightly shorter than the screen and covers up the lower edge of the screen. With the design changes in iOS 7, it’s now much harder to use any controls on the button edge, especially in the Music app.

iLuv Pocket Agent – Open

Also, when placed as snuggly as possible, the cutout for the home button is slightly too high and cuts off the bottom of the button. This makes it slightly harder to use the Touch ID system of an iPhone 5S. It still works, but it requires a pretty dead on finger placement to work as the bottom part of your finger won’t touch the sensor.

Since the case uses leather to hold the phone in, it saves a lot on the thickness and weight of the case, but it comes at the cost of leaving the corners exposed. It would be difficult, but I would love to see the leather sides wrap all the way around the corners.

Overall, the Pocket Agent is a great minimalist case that feels great to hold and has plenty of style.

You can find the iLuv Pocket Agent on their website for $39.99