Because of the relentless competition in the smartphone market, we are in the middle of a race to come up with the device that feels the most “premium.” One could argue that functionality has been left aside in favor of fragile but better-looking materials. Glass and metal backs are now almost the standard on new, high-end devices (and even some mid-range ones), but they can break, dent, or scratch very easily.
However, who can deny the beauty of devices like the Samsung Galaxy S8 or the HTC U11? These materials are here to stay, so we have to embrace them. It is our job to protect our devices, either by nursing them or by slapping a case on them.
Thankfully, we’ve left behind those early days in the options we had were basically reduced to generic TPU silicone cases that looked horrible (although they did a good job in protecting the device).
Nowadays, several companies are doing cases that combine materials (such as silicone with plastic), have fancy (or personalized) designs, or provide protection against even the biggest of phone abusers (like Otterbox products).
Others have gone a little bit further and have been experimenting with materials such as wood and leather. One of these is the Dutch designer label Mujjo, which specializes in premium leather cases. If you have a Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8+, then this might be one of the most stylish choices your hard-earned money can buy right now.
Packaging
Even though most people just throw away the packaging and concentrate on the case (which is a perfectly valid way of approaching life), I love to examine cases a bit further because they tend to show how much weight the company puts into attention to detail. Sure, you can have a plastic case wrapping up your product and call it a day, but why should you do that when there are so many better ways?
Being a brand that focuses heavily on looks, Mujjo opted for the better way. The whole case is completely black, but it has a “door” on the front that you can open in order to see the case itself. This door is even held by a (hidden) magnet so that it doesn’t move around.
The inner compartment has a small opening on the side so that you can feel the full-grained leather. If you slide the whole thing downwards, then you can access the case. It might not be that important to a lot of you, but first impressions count, and Mujjo did a great job in getting it right from the start.
Appearance
From the moment you get your hands on the case, you can feel that this is no ordinary case. First of all, like other leather cases, the Mujjo leather case is extremely light. Samsung has done an awesome job this year to make their devices as light as they can, and it is a shame when a case makes a phone feel like a Nexus 6. I mention this because I normally use a wooden case on my S8, and I can definitely notice the added weight that it provides.
Another fact that is immediately apparent is how slim the case is. It is slimmer than a plastic case I have for the S8! This is no accident: this is exactly what Mujjo aims for with all of their cases. The case covers the top part completely, providing a couple of millimeters to protect the phone from drops and scratches on the screen when laid face down.
Speaking about the leather itself, Mujjo claims that all of their cases are of “premium quality full-grain leather” that goes through a tanning process and is treated with aniline oil. I made some research about it so that you don’t have to. These seemingly complex terms mean that the leather is dyed so that it retains the texture that characterizes leather. If it was painted in a normal way, then the leather would lose some of its details and the result would just not look as good.
This is why, with a Mujjo case, the leather has a very detailed and fine-grain surface when you look closely to it, and feels incredibly smooth and soft to the touch when you hold the phone in your hand. Even the cutouts along the bottom, the camera, and the buttons feel extremely polished.
Having a leather case in a phone means that, unlike plastic or glass, the case will show signs of age after a few months. In fact, the peculiar way I hold my phone means that the leather is already a little bit darker on the top left corner. The signs of age are definitely something I’m looking forward to and is something that leather lovers will surely appreciate.
Finally, I just want to mention that the inside of the case is not made of plastic (like I thought it would be), but rather of a very soft-feeling microfiber material. This is good news for the fragile glass back of my S8 and adds to the overall quality and attention to detail that the case tries to project.
Functionality
Instead of opting to cover the buttons and the bottom region, Mujjo decided that it would be better to cut out that part and leave the buttons and ports unobstructed. This means that, except for the corners, the whole bottom part of the phone is easily accessible (good news for people with weird headphone plugs).
Also, owners of this case will not have to deal with the loss of button sensitivity that comes with a case that fully wraps around the phone. I have a plastic case with weird cutouts that makes it a burden to operate the buttons (especially the power button, you know, the one that you use the most), so I appreciate a lot not having to fight against my device in order to turn it on while I’m using the Mujjo case.
Of course, the downside of this approach is that the phone is less protected than with a case that covers the phone all over the edges. Sure, the Mujjo leather case provides great protection on the corners and along the top part of the device, but if you drop your phone and it lands on the bottom part or in the area close to the buttons, then you can wave your screen goodbye.
On the upside, it provides basically the same protection on the sides of the device (the regions that have no buttons nearby) than other cases I’ve used. There’s not much more that can be done to protect the edges of the S8, so Mujjo’s approach is as good as it gets.
Conclusion
Mujjo is trying to associate its brand with high-quality, luxurious leather cases for mobile devices. From what I’ve seen in this case, it lives up to the high expectations that one might expect from such a company.
Thanks to the beautiful, premium-quality leather they use, combined with superb design and attention to detail, the Mujjo leather case for the Samsung Galaxy S8 is easily one of the best ones you can get for your device at this moment. You may end up giving up a bit of protection in the process, especially in the bottom area, but the trade-off is a stylish case that enhances the looks of your already-beautiful S8.
The case can be bought from Mujjo’s website for approximately $50 in case you own an S8, or approximately $56 if you’re the proud owner of an S8+. The case can be bought in Saddle Tan or Black colors. It doesn’t matter if you are in Netherlands or in Ecuador since Mujjo ships worldwide.
Hopefully, Mujjo considers selling these cases for more devices, since, right now, if you don’t own either a current-gen Samsung flagship phone or a fruit-branded, courageous device, you are out of luck. Now that the new Pixel devices are out, maybe we could see cases for them? A man can dream.
To browse Mujjo’s offerings and buy their cases, check out their website.
