Review: Marware Premiere Plus

by Bill Palmer

Seemingly every iPhone case maker who dabbles in leather has at least one product like Marware’s C.E.O. Premiere: a leather case that clips horizontally to your belt and closes around front via velcro. When I first tested the Premiere last year, I found it to be one of the more well-done cases of its kind, feeling sturdy, looking good, and offering a ribbon across its front face that divides the surface into perforated and non-perforated leather, giving the entire thing a touch of understated class.



Such cases have obvious advantages, as they allow you to carry your iPhone in plain sight without immediately giving away the fact that it’s an iPhone. This can come in equally handy an environment where carrying a visible iPhone attached to your hip might not be considered professional, or in one where carrying a visible iPhone might not be a safe idea. But the drawbacks have always been just as obvious: you have to remove your iPhone from the case in order to access any of its controls, and once you do, it’s no longer protected from drops or scratches beyond the bundled screen film.



This new version of of Marware’s case, the C.E.O. Premiere Plus, sets about improving that by including a tinted see-through hard plastic shield that snaps onto the back and sides of the iPhone, and the leather case is just large enough to fit the iPhone with the plastic attached. It’s a clever idea, as iPhone users continue to come to the consensus that their device’s back and corners, not its screen, are actually the most vulnerable to impact and scratching. And in my tests I found that it worked well – the plastic shield snaps on and off easily, and the whole thing slides easily in and out of the leather case.



A couple of issues to note. The belt clip doesn’t rotate, meaning you can’t wear it vertically (in fairness, neither do most similar competing products). And while the plastic covers most of the iPhone’s chrome bezel, it leaves a bit exposed, especially on top and bottom. But as prices go it’s a comparatively good deal, as the Premiere Plus is only $5 more expensive than the regular Premiere (without the plastic), whereas plastic shields generally cost $10-$20 on their own. Only currently available in black leather, even thought the regular Premiere also comes in white.

Learn more about the C.E.O. Premiere Plus at Marware.com.