Finding the Best Leather Phone Holster
So you’re looking to buy a leather phone holster, but don’t know where to start. We wanted to lay out a handful of basic questions to ask yourself when making the decision of how to best protect your phone.
We’re of the thinking that leather is the ultimate material for protecting your phone and keeping things stylish at the same time. Not so sure yourself?
Take a look at the questions below and you’ll end up asking yourself “why doesn’t everyone use a leather case?” to protect their increasingly expensive cell phones.
What size phone holster do I need?
This is a fantastic question and the answer is that it depends entirely on your phone case. Most manufacturers will include dimensions and some will even go so far as to explicitly say which size and model phones the cases are designed to accommodate.
In general, you want the case to fit your phone snuggly. If an exact snug fit isn’t in the cards for you, you need to evaluate your options.
Is the case too small?
This is the worst-case scenario and you will not be able to use this holster without permanently altering it. While this can work, you will be disfiguring your leather phone holster in a way that will render it unusable in the future.
Is the case too big?
Again, this isn’t ideal, but it is a much better place to be in compared to the alternative of the case is too small. In the event that your case is too large for your specific model of phone, you can simply use the case as is if the difference in size is small.
If the difference is more pronounced, you can always resort to using some sort of filler (scrap fabric works very well!) to fill out the gaps. The most important thing to be aware of if you plan on filling out the space is to not cover any critical buttons of the camera.
Is this case going to work at all?
The unfortunate truth is that even the best leather phone holsters won’t look right on a phone they are not designed to carry. Fortunately, there are cases available at just about any price. If you love the case, but the phone is too small, consider holding onto the case until you upgrade to a larger phone that is sized better for the holster.
The best part about leather is that it is built to last. The average lifespan of a cell phone is 3-5 years, while high-quality leather accessories and phone holsters can last a lifetime with proper care.
What type of leather should I look for in my phone holster?
All leather starts as an animal pelt. What happens between the field and the shelves can take on any number of forms. Phrases like “genuine leather”, “full grain” and “top grain” are thrown around. You’ve likely also heard of synthetic products like patent leather, which has a glossy finish, and “pleather” which looks like patent leather but isn’t leather at all.
There is a tremendous amount of information online that discusses the differences between these types of leather, and we encourage you to seek out this information. For the purposes of selecting the best leather phone holster, the most important thing to look for is that what you’re buying is in fact real leather.
There are lots of “composite” leather materials, and essentially what you are getting there is scrap pieces from different hides that are ground up and melded together. This is similar to how paper is made, and the end product is just as fragile.
Your leather accessory should come from a single hide as that’s where it gets much of its strength from. If it has protected the internals of a 2,400 lb cow, I’m sure it will have no problem protecting your iPhone.
Are leather phone holsters stronger than plastic?
As we now know, not all leather is created equal. Similarly, not all plastics are created equal. They range in quality and strength pretty dramatically. There are industrial plastics that can withstand the weight of a car full of muscle-bound professional wrestlers and there are plastics designed for disposable items that will not make it through multiple uses.
In the case of consumer products, most of these plastics will range in the middle. While they will cost less than a leather phone holster, chances are they will also need to be replaced much sooner. This brings to mind the old phrase:
Buy it nice or buy it twice!
The fact is if you have two products, and one is twice as expensive as the other, but the other will need to be replaced three times in the life span of the other, then it makes more financial sense to buy the more expensive case.
Also, the most expensive case tends to look, feel, perform and age better than the inferior non-leather phone holster.
Where can I buy my leather phone holster?
A quick internet search will point to the fact that there is no shortage of places to purchase a wide variety of leather phone cases. There are many factors to balance when picking the right one. The most important of these factors are price and quality.
1. Price
We don’t see much of a point in paying more for a protective case than the device it’s protecting, so designer goods or high-end leathers like shell cordovan won’t make a lot of sense for 99% of users.
2. Utility
Phones are still expensive! You don’t want the cheapest (or second-cheapest, or third cheapest…) option to protect your primary point of contact with the outside world. Your phone is an investment and so should your phone holster, just not quite as large of one.
When it comes to balancing quality with price, we love love love the Sotille Handmade Leather Phone Holster from Embrazio.
Embrazio is located in Boulder, CO, and was founded by a husband and wife team that yearned for authentic leather products that normal folks could afford.
These are the types of phones holsters you can pass down for generations to come. The best part is, they will only look better with age!
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