Poetic HardBack Protective Case for the Google Nexus 7 Android Tablet by Asus

by Poetic

• HardBack for Google Nexus 7 7-Inch Tablet features and all in one design with ultra thin hard plastic tray for protection the back of your Google Nexus 7 7-Inch Tablet
• Soft microfiber interior lining offers anti-slip protection when roll back cover is in typing position, and adds much needed scratch protection for your screen
• Flip out spin design adds multiple viewing positions while in landscape mode
• All ports, buttons, and camera is perfectly exposed for un-hindered use while your Google Nexus 7 7-Inch Tablet is protected
• Made for Google Nexus 7 7-Inch Tablet. Made by Poetic

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B008IEGS9W
• Item model number: HardBack-GoogleNexus7-Black
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (272 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,534 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 2012

Product Description

Color: Black/Gray

HardBack for Google Nexus 7 7-Inch Tablet features and all in one design with ultra thin hard plastic tray for protection the back of your Google Nexus 7 7-Inch Tablet Soft microfiber interior lining offers anti-slip protection when roll back cover is in typing position, and adds much needed scratch protection for your screen Flip out spin design adds multiple viewing positions while in landscape mode All ports, buttons, and camera is perfectly exposed for un-hindered use while your Google Nexus 7 7-Inch Tablet is protected Made for Google Nexus 7 7-Inch Tablet. Made by Poetic

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome case, but... July 26, 2012

By Patrick

Color Name:Black/Gray|Amazon Verified Purchase

you can not fold back the cover and hold like a book because the magnet will put it to sleep which really sucks.

Other than that, everything is great, no ports are blocked, opening for speaker and loop for stylus.

Edit: Poetic is aware of the magnet problem and is shipping out a new one for free and I get to keep the original as backup! Awesome case, awesome customer service! 5 STARS!

Edit 2: Just got back from vacation, and tested the new case...unfortunately the new case magnet does nothing...

and the new placement of the stylus loop just gets in the way of the volume buttons...dropped to 3 stars...

I'm going to contact Poetic and hopefully they will send me a new one that works.

Edit 3: Received my third case today and third time is the charm! Everything is fixed! Great product and seriously great service!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent case, but it has a major flaw (replacement on the way) July 27, 2012

By Joshua

Color Name:Black/Gray|Amazon Verified Purchase

Poetic have always made nice cases, and their quality does not disappoint. The Nexus 7 fits nicely with the case. All the ports have cutouts, including the speaker on the bottom-back. The landscape mode works well, too. You may need to break in the case and its creases a little at first so that the case can stretch to the 45 degree angle without the case pulling it back. Otherwise, it's not that big of a deal. There is also an elastic loop by the power and volume buttons for a stylus. If you don't use one, the loop can get in the way, but you can just tuck it under the tablet.

My main concern, however, is the magnet for the auto-wake and -sleep feature. The magnet does its job, but it does a bit too well. Closing it works perfectly, but if you fold the flap all the way to the back to hold it like a book, then the device will auto-sleep. It will auto-wake again when you flip the flap again. You essentially can't use the portrait mode with the flap flipped all the way to the back, which in turn makes the hand strap useless.

If it wasn't for this defect, I would easily give this case five stars. Everything else is top notch, so I do hope there will be a second revision. Poetic do have wonderful support, so I will update this review, when necessary.

EDIT 1 (07/27/12): Customer service has already replied in under an hour of the review posting. A revision is being shipped as replacement. Great service as always, Poetic! Bumping to four stars. Will keep updating.

EDIT 2 (07/29/12): Customer service confirmed that the replacement will arrive on Friday (08/03) at the very latest. Since I get to keep the original case, I decided to take out the magnet. I filled the empty spot and glued it. It doesn't matter if the spot is hardened by the glue since the strap will be between the magnet spot and the tablet. Just be gentle when you cut into the case. It is possible to damage/poke the leather on the other side. While doing so, I noticed the material quality of the microfiber interior lining. It didn't rip easily with a sharp knife and it definitely flexes with sharp impacts. I'm not about to go drop my tablet to test it, though! Just a friendly info. Bumping my review to five stars for now. I will do another edit on the top when I receive the replacement.

EDIT 2.5 (08/03/12): Replacement has not come yet. I could have mistaken "next Friday" as 08/03 instead of 08/10. We'll see. Meanwhile, I'm happy with my original case after removing the magnet.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Case Overall August 4, 2012

By James E Johnston

Color Name:Black/Gray|Amazon Verified Purchase

I really like the case design overall. Most of the Nexus 7 cases out there are overly bulky. This one wraps nicely around the edge of the case, and fits snugly. It is still a little thicker than I would have like, but I can deal with it.

As many reviewers have stated, there are some issues with the auto sleep/wake magnet. Thanks to the great customer service of Poetic, before my cover arrived, I was notified that I would be receiving an updated version. There were some good things and bad about the new case. I had to modify the magnet positioning myself to get it to work right, and cut out the stylus loop. There seems to be a good warranty on this item, so if it doesn't work right you might be able to request an additional replacement, but I didn't bother, since mine is working great now.

The first cover arrived, and I did notice that the magnet was too powerful as was stated in the email I got from them. I did like the overall design, and everything was very accessible, except half of the speaker was covered. I found that if I pulled the cover far enough when I had it open, it would not put the 7 to sleep, but who wants to force their cover open when they are trying to read or whatever.

When the second one arrived, I did notice some design updates. Some good, and some bad. The first I noticed was the stylus loop. They made it larger, so it should be more durable, and hold a stylus more firmly than the original, but they moved it so it obscures the volume rocker now. The speaker port is now perforations that expose the whole speaker rather than a slot that covered half of it. I didn't notice any sound quality differences, but the smaller holes seem like they would protect it better. Also, on the inside of the flap there is a small black strap that I can only think is used to hold the flap to the case when you have it open. On the original, this was a very thin strap that rode right on the edge of the screen, but didn't block it. On the new one, it is a thicker, sturdier strap, but it blocks about 2mm of the edge of the screen. Maybe that is not what it was intended for, but now I am really confused about its purpose.

The magnet itself was an issue. I could not get it to trigger the magnetic switch on the 7 no matter where I placed it. Finally I decided to just go ahead and pop a few stitches to see what the deal was. I noticed that they fixed the issue of the magnet being too strong by casing it on one side in nickel or something to attenuate one of the polarities. The problem was that the attenuated side was inside of the flap. I flipped the magnet over, and it was working much better. I toyed around a bit to find the best placement, then put a dab of glue to keep it in place. Now that function works perfectly.

I tried to see if I could do something similar with the old case, but the magnet is glued in there pretty good, and I couldn't get it out very easily without risking damage to the materials.

Hopefully they fix some of these design/quality issues for future purchases, since the case itself is pretty darn nice. In the meantime in true Android fashion, if you want it to work better, you can hack it. :D