I’ve been a big fan of Peak Design’s ‘Everyday’ cases for a while, but the company’s new Clarino vegan leather option is easily my favourite.
Peak Design sent me one of the Clarino Everyday Cases for the Pixel 9 (which also conveniently works for the Pixel 9 Pro) and I’ve been using it for a little over a week now.
As with other Peak Design cases, the Clarino Everyday case is superb. It feels great in my hand, with the vegan leather providing welcome grip and texture. I found I preferred it slightly to the Bellroy leather case, which feels a bit softer. Overall, the Everyday case seems more durable (which you definitely want in a case).
Unfortunately, I haven’t had the Everyday case long enough yet to see if the vegan leather will develop a nice patina, but here’s hoping it does. Regardless, I prefer the Clarino vegan leather to the nylon canvas option on other Everyday cases I’ve tried. The nylon doesn’t feel as nice on my hands as the vegan leather.
Beyond the Clarino back panel, the Everyday case sports a rubberized bumper and polycarbonate body. Peak Design boasts the case can withstand drops up to two meters (six feet), though I won’t be dropping my phone to see how well that claim holds up. The whole case feels really solid and the rubberized edges offer the right amount of grip without catching on pockets or gathering tons of lint.
Also of note are the anodized aluminum buttons. They look super stylish, but they also feel great and maintain a clicky tactility that makes pressing them feel fantastic. My only real gripe with the buttons is the texture on them makes it hard to distinguish between power and volume just by feel, so it’d be nice if future versions of the Everyday case tweak this so people can tell the buttons apart just from feel.
It’s also worth taking a minute to talk about that metal square on the back of the case. That’s part of Peak Design’s SlimLink accessory system, which allows certain accessories like bike mounts lock into the case to more securely hold the phone. While I’m sure it’s a handy system, I haven’t had the opportunity to try any SlimLink accessories myself.
Beyond SlimLink, the Everyday case supports MagSafe magnets, so anyone in the MagSafe ecosystem can use the case with their existing accessories.
That brings me to my complaints, of which I only have a couple small ones (aside from the buttons I mentioned above). The first small gripe is that the bottom edge of the Everyday case is slightly thicker than the others. It’s not the symmetry that bothers me — though given how angry people can get about phones having larger bottom bezels, I’m sure it will bother some.
My issue with it is it interferes with some chargers and other accessories. I was fine with most USB-C chargers I used, but any thicker ones might be blocked by the case. I also can’t use the Everyday case with the Razer Kishi Ultra controller as the thick bottom edge blocks me from being able to plug in the controller’s USB-C connecter.
My other gripe is with the price. At $79.95, the Everyday Clarino case is pricier than the regular nylon Everyday case ($64.95) and just pricey in general. As much as I like the case, I can’t justify spending nearly $80 on it, or any case for that matter. Frankly, $65 is too much in my eyes.
Anyway, if you don’t mind spending $80 on a case and you’re looking for a durable vegan leather option with a wide range of accessory options, Peak Design’s Everyday Clarino case is hard to beat. You can pick it up for the Pixel 9 here, but there are also options for iPhones, older Pixels and Samsung phones if you like the case but have a different device.
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