Best Tablet Cases for Travel
The original was a roundup of iPad cases from the first couple of years of the product. The category matured, and the advice is now short enough to be worth stating plainly.
Decide what the case is for, because the answers conflict.
- To work on: a keyboard case. It is the only accessory that changes what the tablet can do, and it is worth the weight if you write. Check the hinge holds the screen at a usable angle on a tray table, which is the actual test.
- To protect: a plain folio with a hard back and a magnetic cover. Cheap, light, and covers the realistic threats, which are scuffs in a bag and being sat on.
- To read and watch: the thinnest cover you can find. Weight is the enemy of a device you hold for two hours.
Do not buy a heavy rugged case for travel unless the tablet lives on a building site. They roughly double the weight, which is the main reason people stop carrying the tablet at all.
For water, a plain roll-top dry bag beats any waterproof case: cheaper, works for the phone and the camera too, and you can see the screen through it well enough to read.
One airport note that has changed: at checkpoints with modern CT scanners, tablets and laptops often stay in the bag, so the old checkpoint-friendly designs are not worth paying for. Where older scanners are in use everything comes out regardless.
Part of the guide to gadgets and power.