Passion, it’s one of the key ingredients that serves to separate good companies from great companies. Portenzo is one of the latter. When you handle and use a product from a manufacturer that is passionate about what they do, you can feel it through your fingertips. You can tell someone really put some thought into what it’s supposed to do and the best way to achieve it. Someone actually cared about it as it was being built. Passion is a mainstay of companies that choose tried and true hand-built methods regardless of the time or volume achieved. Without passion, they wouldn’t make it for long.
My dear wife purchased a Nexus 7 for my birthday. It was a nice surprise and I was thrilled. Then began the quest of finding a case. I take care of the things I enjoy using the most so I can enjoy them for a long time. This applies to my wife as well.
I had to have something that will protect the wondrous 7” tablet. I wanted something that was unique, a head-turner. A case that is as stylish as it is functional was the ultimate goal. I read reviews, browsed sites and found the Portenzo. It piqued my interest to say the least. So I hit up the forums where I discovered Portenzo was based in St. Louis.
“St. Louis?!? I’m in the St. Louis area! I wonder if I can see these in person before I pick one up.” I reached out to Portenzo and Lea, promptly reached back. She informed me that they recently moved to a new facility and though they didn’t have a retail store set up, she invited me to come and visit.
I cut out of work early one afternoon and made the short trek to Kirkwood, MO.
The Process
Each case is hand-made. And by that I mean, each case is put together by an actual human of the flesh and blood variety. I ended up ordering a BookCase, it’s built like a hardbound book and uses a plywood frame to hold the Nexus 7. Scott talked with me a bit about the process during my vist.
It starts with that frame. A piece of plywood is taken to a CNC (computer number controlled) mill. It’s a big machine with different rotating tools that can be used to cut wood and metal parts among other materials. They do this step with one of these machines for a couple of important reasons. The primary reason, fit. A CNC mill will produce the same part, each time and every time. That’s how they get the precise fit that coddles the Nexus 7 perfectly every time. The cutouts for the power button and volume rocker are exactly where they should be on each piece.
The frame is then sanded and finished by hand. A person with some sandpaper and sanding blocks goes over each frame and gets rid of all the burs and splinters. They run their fingers over the part to make sure it’s nice and smooth and beautiful. Then the finish is applied, again by hand, to seal the wood and help make it last.
The hard back of the book is cut by laser, again to offer a precise shape and size that can be duplicated every time. Then the materials and fabrics are wrapped and applied by hand. The elastic band is cut and attached and the frame is attached. All by hand. A human hand and eye is QCing the case each step of the way.
The last step of the case’s journey is packaging where the builder fills out a card with a checklist of the features he or she built your case with. Throw in a nice microfiber cloth, package it up and it’s on the way.
The Case
What a case it is. I selected the Black Buckram for my external material and color, inside is the Green Apple with a Green Apple elastic closure. The buckram is a nice durable material, it’s what helps so many hardback books last so long. I’m always a sucker for a nice black and bright green color scheme and this case knocked it out of the park on that front.
The frame is perfect.The wood is smooth to the touch and the finish has evenly sealed the wood without be a glossy, slick eyesore. Access to the micro USB and headphone jack is completely unhindered. Manipulation of the buttons is easy, though I rarely find myself hitting the power button anymore with the auto-wake.
Depending on your options, you may have one or several magnets. My case has, I believe, a total of 7 magnets. One embedded under the interior for the auto-wake, and the other 6 are port of the IntelliStand option. This option turns the case into a landscape stand for watching video, using a keyboard or playing games, and it’s truly a crowning gem for this case. It’s sturdy, easy to use and doesn’t detract from the case’s aesthetics.
The construction is durable, I wouldn’t hesitate to throw it in a crowded backpack and not think about it. It’s built to my taste; colors, materials and options are exactly the way I want them. It’s not close to what I want, it doesn’t have most of the features I want. It is EXACTLY what I wanted for a Nexus 7 case. I love this case, and if you order one, you probably will too.
Wrap Up
The folks at Portenzo have some stuff they should be really proud of. It’s beautiful, it’s functional, and it’s unique, all characteristics that us hard core Android users can appreciate. Most of them come from Art backgrounds, creating is at the center of their very being and it shows. I’m sure we’ll get to see this company and their product line grow.
I talked with them bit about the Android landscape. Scott told me that though iPad was where they started and had been a bulk of their business, the Nexus 7 has shaken things up a bit. Portenzo is now building just about as many Nexus 7 cases as iPad cases. The LG Nexus 4 also came up. With the success of the Nexus 7, don’t be surprised if we see some new cases out for more Android devices.
My dear wife purchased a Nexus 7 for my birthday. It was a nice surprise and I was thrilled. Then began the quest of finding a case. I take care of the things I enjoy using the most so I can enjoy them for a long time. This applies to my wife as well.
I had to have something that will protect the wondrous 7” tablet. I wanted something that was unique, a head-turner. A case that is as stylish as it is functional was the ultimate goal. I read reviews, browsed sites and found the Portenzo. It piqued my interest to say the least. So I hit up the forums where I discovered Portenzo was based in St. Louis.
“St. Louis?!? I’m in the St. Louis area! I wonder if I can see these in person before I pick one up.” I reached out to Portenzo and Lea, promptly reached back. She informed me that they recently moved to a new facility and though they didn’t have a retail store set up, she invited me to come and visit.
I cut out of work early one afternoon and made the short trek to Kirkwood, MO.
The Process
Each case is hand-made. And by that I mean, each case is put together by an actual human of the flesh and blood variety. I ended up ordering a BookCase, it’s built like a hardbound book and uses a plywood frame to hold the Nexus 7. Scott talked with me a bit about the process during my vist.
It starts with that frame. A piece of plywood is taken to a CNC (computer number controlled) mill. It’s a big machine with different rotating tools that can be used to cut wood and metal parts among other materials. They do this step with one of these machines for a couple of important reasons. The primary reason, fit. A CNC mill will produce the same part, each time and every time. That’s how they get the precise fit that coddles the Nexus 7 perfectly every time. The cutouts for the power button and volume rocker are exactly where they should be on each piece.
The frame is then sanded and finished by hand. A person with some sandpaper and sanding blocks goes over each frame and gets rid of all the burs and splinters. They run their fingers over the part to make sure it’s nice and smooth and beautiful. Then the finish is applied, again by hand, to seal the wood and help make it last.
The hard back of the book is cut by laser, again to offer a precise shape and size that can be duplicated every time. Then the materials and fabrics are wrapped and applied by hand. The elastic band is cut and attached and the frame is attached. All by hand. A human hand and eye is QCing the case each step of the way.
The last step of the case’s journey is packaging where the builder fills out a card with a checklist of the features he or she built your case with. Throw in a nice microfiber cloth, package it up and it’s on the way.
The Case
What a case it is. I selected the Black Buckram for my external material and color, inside is the Green Apple with a Green Apple elastic closure. The buckram is a nice durable material, it’s what helps so many hardback books last so long. I’m always a sucker for a nice black and bright green color scheme and this case knocked it out of the park on that front.
The frame is perfect.The wood is smooth to the touch and the finish has evenly sealed the wood without be a glossy, slick eyesore. Access to the micro USB and headphone jack is completely unhindered. Manipulation of the buttons is easy, though I rarely find myself hitting the power button anymore with the auto-wake.
Depending on your options, you may have one or several magnets. My case has, I believe, a total of 7 magnets. One embedded under the interior for the auto-wake, and the other 6 are port of the IntelliStand option. This option turns the case into a landscape stand for watching video, using a keyboard or playing games, and it’s truly a crowning gem for this case. It’s sturdy, easy to use and doesn’t detract from the case’s aesthetics.
The construction is durable, I wouldn’t hesitate to throw it in a crowded backpack and not think about it. It’s built to my taste; colors, materials and options are exactly the way I want them. It’s not close to what I want, it doesn’t have most of the features I want. It is EXACTLY what I wanted for a Nexus 7 case. I love this case, and if you order one, you probably will too.
Wrap Up
The folks at Portenzo have some stuff they should be really proud of. It’s beautiful, it’s functional, and it’s unique, all characteristics that us hard core Android users can appreciate. Most of them come from Art backgrounds, creating is at the center of their very being and it shows. I’m sure we’ll get to see this company and their product line grow.
I talked with them bit about the Android landscape. Scott told me that though iPad was where they started and had been a bulk of their business, the Nexus 7 has shaken things up a bit. Portenzo is now building just about as many Nexus 7 cases as iPad cases. The LG Nexus 4 also came up. With the success of the Nexus 7, don’t be surprised if we see some new cases out for more Android devices.
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