I have had the opportunity to check out a number of different cases from Noreve over the years, and I have always been impressed by the quality and construction in every one.  Fortunately, the case for the Palm Pre continues this tradition.  The case is a flip case, and is hinged at the top, meaning it folds down across the face of the device.  I am always leery of flip style cases on a phone, but I have to say that I thought it worked pretty well.  When you flip it open, the hinge lies just above your hand, allowing the cover to rest on your hand.

On the bottom, you will find the strap, which has a magnetic snap to secure it to the back of the case.  The nice thing here is that when the case is open, this strap is folded well out of the way.  I have had problems in the past with these straps flapping in front of the screen, and I was happy to see that would not be a problem here.

Around the edges are cutouts and openings for all of the connections and buttons on the device.  Most impressive here, however, was the double hinge on the back.  When you flip open the cover, you may notice that the camera and speaker are covered by the back of the case.  Well that would be a problem…if Noreve had not added the double hinge. 

Just keep pulling the cover open to remove a second flap, revealing easy access to the camera lens and speakerphone.  I thought this was a great feature. 

Unlike most cases, it protects the camera when not in use, but still makes it easily and quickly accessible.  You will also notice the belt clip space on the back, and we will come back to that in a minute.

Let’s go ahead and open the case and see how it works with the Pre.  There are two arms on the sides which hold the Pre securely in place.  What I really liked about this is that it gives the device no lateral wiggle room.  In other words, if your Palm Pre has the dreaded “Oreo” effect, then this will hold it securely in place.

That being said, I did notice the Pre did not seem to rest well in the case.  I finally figured out the problem was that the Pre has a curved back, while the back of the case is flat and hard.  This means the Pre can shift vertically a little easier than I would have liked.

The real problem I had with the case, however, was the inability to charge while using the Pre in the case.  We can start with the Touchstone charger.  While I will agree that it may not be fair to expect case designers to account for the special connections required by the touchstone, it was still a hassle to slide the Pre in and out of the case each time I wanted to charge the battery. 

Likewise, if I plug the pre in using the sync/charge cable, then the side of the case interferes with the cable, meaning I cannot easily slide open the keyboard while the phone is charging.  This is a real problem, since I frequently leave my phone plugged while I am at my desk or working, in order to keep the battery charged. 

If we go ahead and close the case again, you can see that although it is well padded, it does not add an excessive amount of girth to the device.  I thought Noreve struck a pretty good balance here, managing to keep the device relatively well padded (and I ought to know since I dropped it the other day, and suffered no damage).

A minute ago, I said we would come back to the belt clip, so let’s go ahead and do that now.  I am not a fan of belt clips anymore, having lost far too many phones due to broken belt clips.  What I like about Noreve is the belt clip is completely removable.  They even give you a placeholder screw to fill in the hole where the clip would go.

The belt clip which comes with the Noreve case is really nothing special.  Just a standard plastic belt clip, ready for me to break.  If I am going to use a belt clip, I need to know my device is secure, and that is probably not going to cut it.   So, I was pretty happy to find that in addition to the case, the folks at Noreve also sent over their new heavy duty metal belt clip.

This belt clip is really unique.  Instead of the typical mechanism, which requires you to slide it in to lock and push a button to unlock; the Noreve clip has a D-shaped button.  When aligned properly, it will slide right in and then twist to lock.  When you need to access your phone, just spin it until it slides out. 

I like this because I am so prone to accidentally pushing the button which releases the phone.  I was a little nervous that this spinning mechanism would inadvertently spin, releasing my phone unintentionally, but I found it held pretty securely, and did a nice job of securing the phone.

I have to say that I really wanted to like this case.  Noreve has always offered fantastic quality, and it is often extremely difficult to find a nice case for a phone with a slider style keyboard.  Unfortunately, a few design problems, most notably the interference of the case with charging, made this a less than ideal option for my use. 

 What I Liked:

• Fabulous construction
• Extra durable metal belt clip
• Access to all ports and controls
• Extra hinge provides access to the camera

What Needs Improvement:

• Sides block charging cable

Where to buy: Noreve

Price: Case: $51.00

         Belt clip: $17.92

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