Review: Sena Lateral Pouch.


When I bought my Sprint Mogul, it came with a case.  It was a decent and functional case, but nothing special, and I always intended to replace it with a much nicer case.  The problem I quickly found, however, was that few companies make custom cases for the Mogul.  Maybe it is the sliding keyboard design, I don’t know, but I have had a terrible time finding a case for it.  So, I stuck with the included case.  Like I said, it is by no means a terrible case.  It works perfectly well, but is far from stylish.

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I was poking around the Internet a few weeks ago when I came upon Sena cases.  Now, I have long known about Sena cases for their brilliant work designing cases for the Axim line of PDA’s, so I decided to see what they had available.  Unfortunately, there was no custom designed case, however, I did find the universal lateral pouch which I immediately determined to review.

The construction of the lateral pouch is phenomenal.  The main portion of the body is a single piece of leather, shaped into a "U".  Your device will settle snuggly into the body of this "U" shape.  Additionally, since it is a single piece of leather, there is no need to worry about the body splitting at the seams, as I have seen happen to cheaper cases. 

The bottom of the case has an opening in the middle.  You can insert your finger into this space to slide your device out of there case. 

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A separate piece of leather is woven across each side of the IMG_9725case.  This seals the openings at either end, and also ensures the case is flexible enough to secure any device you might wish to use.  

 

These panels were even flexible enough to secure the Mogul, but also could expand to fit the Axim without any threat of being overburdened.

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The top is obviously opened in order to allow you to insert your device.  Across the top, however, is a leather flap which secures to the front of the case via a magnetic enclosure. 

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I absolutely loved this magnetic closure system.  Many cases, including the one which came with my Mogul, utilize a snap or semi-magnetic snap.  Snaps can be very difficult to secure, especially as the leather ages and stretches.  With the magnets on the Sena case, all you have to do is drop the flap and it is secured…Every Time!

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The rear of the case bears two small pockets, designed to carry SD cards.  Of course, since most mini and micro SD cards come with an adaptor, they should easily fit in these pockets as well.  These pockets were extremely tight, meaning there was no danger of your cards falling out at any time.  Additionally, when the cards are inserted fully into the pockets, the top of the card is flush with the top of the pocket, minimizing exposure to something snagging your card and pulling it out, not to mention the elements.

The back of the case also contains the attached belt clip.  The belt clip on the Sena case is pretty standard  A piece of springy metal built into the leather, which will clip onto your belt.  I found, however, that the belt clip was just a tiny bit too small, meaning there was a danger of it falling off of my belt if I sat wrong.  Although it did fall off once or twice, this was not a common occurrence.  Just enough to make me paranoid about it.

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The most important part of a case, however, is the padded interior.  This is what makes the difference between your device being held snugly in place, and jostling it around like your poorly packed nick-knacks in the moving van of life.  [Hey, you try taking a good picture of the inside of a case.  It isn't as easy asyou might think.] 

The padding on the Sena case is perfect.  The velvety-soft interior wraps around your device, securing it within the padding it contains.  This ensures that when (not if) you inevitably drop the case, your device will be held securely and padded from impact.

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I have been using this case for a few weeks now, and I absolutely love it.  Not only does it look great, but I am always confident that my device is secure from damage in the case, no matter what accident might befall it. 

Like I said at the beginning, however, this is a universal case and is not custom fitted to the Mogul.  This means that it is a little too big for my Mogul, making it somewhat difficult to fish it out of the case at time.  While I do wish Sena would design a case specifically for the Mogul, this slight inconvenience was far outweighed by the incredible comfort and protection the case offered.  Sena has long since built a reputation for designing stylish cases which offer an upscale, quality appearance, along with exceptional functionality.  The Lateral Pouch case certainly lived up to this reputation.

Vital Stats:

Name: Sena Leather Pouch

Available From: Sena Cases

Price: $39.99

Tested: Brown

Many other color combinations are also available.

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  4. Review: Sena LeatherSkin for iPhone 2G/3G
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4 Comments

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pedah
Nov 19, 2007

I really like that you included the shots of the axim fitting in there!


xdalaw
Nov 19, 2007

Hi Doug-
I have and love this case, too. I bought the black and red one for my Treo 700Wx. For that device, it held it nice and snug while wearing a Sena leather skin.
When I bought my Mogul, I wanted to use it again, but it had stretched a bit too much for my taste, and the device was a little too loose in the container.
But, when I bought an aluminum case for the Mogul, I realized it would now fit comfortably in the Sena lateral case while in the Aluminum case.
This is perfect for me on weekends, when I want to be protected, but don’t want to keep the case in a pocket.
I’ve had about 5 Sena’s over the years and they’ve become my favorite for a mix of value, quality and style.
–Andrew


dgoldring
Nov 19, 2007

Thanks, guys. Yeah, I had to include that picture of the Axim. :) Sena was one of the best cases I ever found for the Axim. I loved this lateral case, I just wanted to be a fraction smaller so it would fit the Mogul a little better.

XDA. I like your idea of using a metal case over the Mogul and putting that in the Sena. I may have to look into something like that as well.

Doug


xdalaw
Nov 19, 2007

Doug-

FYI, here’s the one I bought and the shop I bought it from. Very pleased with it.
http://www.wirelessground.com/spmoxvmoalca1.html

-Andrew

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