6 December 2004 16:34 GMT / By Debbie Davies

This line up of iPod mini cases looks almost good enough to eat. Like so many other gadgets this year, The Wallet has had a fashion makeover and is available in three iPod mini colours: blue, pink and lime green. The Italian leather with suede lined protective cover is designed to be practical as well as fashionable. Once your iPod mini has been clipped in, you can open the cover and access the controls. The ear-bud headset is secured by a storage strap when not in use. The tab closure is magnetic which makes the cover easy to open and close.

Given that the publicity shots looked so appealing, we thought we would give The Wallet a trial. Unfortunately, the real thing does not quite live up to the pictures, which we suspect have been touched up. The actual finish of the cover that we looked at was disappointing. The cutting and finish of the leather spoiled the look. It may be made of Italian box leather but don't expect The Wallet to match the quality of Italian leather accessories. In fact it is not made in Italy: it is made in China and designed in the USA.

The design is practical and leaves you free to use your iPod and to store the headphones. But to secure the iPod mini, you need to use the white clip, which spoils the colour co-ordination. It also makes the iPod mini too big to carry in your pocket.

Verdict

You should probably see this item for yourself before deciding to buy it, since we found the publicity shots to be misleading.

Score

Review Recap

Made by

Acme

Price as reviewed

£35.25

The good

Designed so you can access your iPod in the wallet and store the ear-bud headset

The bad

Bulky and poor finish

Quick verdict

This product looks great in the publicity photos but when we saw the real thing we were disappointed by the poor finish

Score

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