For customers seeking to transport their Imaginative and prescient Professional models and varied equipment, Apple presents the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional Journey Case as an elective $199 accent. However in case you’re in search of a third-party various, WaterField Designs presents a Defend Case beginning at $159 that may be price contemplating, and I’ve spent the previous few months utilizing one for infrequent journey to see the way it fares.
First issues first although, and that is the query of why you may wish to take into account one thing aside from Apple’s first-party case. Apple’s case is a hardshell polycarbonate coated with a white ripstop outer shell to supply safety for the comparatively fragile headset, with a microfiber internal lining defending the Imaginative and prescient Professional from scratches or different superficial harm.
Whereas that each one sounds good and the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional Journey Case appears to do a fairly good job of defending the costly headset, it has been extensively mocked for its total measurement, the loose-fitting outer cowl, and the white shade that means it may change into a mud and stain magnet. Some have likened the general look of Apple’s case to an astronaut go well with or another merchandise of area gear, and that is not wholly inaccurate.
Put merely, Apple’s case is huge, with copious quantities of empty area inside as Apple has prioritized permitting customers to maintain their Imaginative and prescient Professional’s head strap hooked up to the physique of the machine. The result’s an rectangular case measuring practically a foot lengthy by nearly 9 inches broad and 6.5 inches thick. It is unwieldy by itself regardless of a carry deal with, and there is little probability of it becoming properly in a backpack, and even a modest carry-on suitcase will see a substantial quantity of its inside area taken up by the case.
And that is the place WaterField’s Defend Case for Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional actually shines. At below 8 inches sq. and a little bit over 5 inches thick, the Defend Case takes up lower than half the amount of Apple’s case, making it a way more smart journey companion.
So how does WaterField handle to suit a Imaginative and prescient Professional and all of its elements right into a considerably smaller area than Apple’s case? It begins with requiring the person to take away the pinnacle strap, whether or not it’s the Solo Knit Band or the Twin Loop Band. This reduces the required quantity from one thing that would wish to suit round a whole head to a way more compact bundle.
The principle physique of the Imaginative and prescient Professional and the built-in Audio Straps stay multi functional piece, however the head bands fold up into pretty small and versatile items, making it straightforward to tuck them into the Defend Case. And given it is trivial to take away and reattach the pinnacle bands, that is a simple sacrifice to make.
WaterField’s Defend Case has a luxurious internal lining with a very good quantity of closed-cell foam padding within the outer overlaying, so it protects the Imaginative and prescient Professional very properly in my expertise. You must in fact preserve the entrance cowl that comes with Imaginative and prescient Professional in place always whereas transporting the machine, because it offers further safety from impacts and scratches.
Apart from the principle compartment of the Defend Case that holds the Imaginative and prescient Professional physique, WaterField has included an adjunct pouch that matches inside the void created by the Imaginative and prescient Professional, the Gentle Seal and the Audio Straps.
Your entire varied equipment can match neatly inside that pouch, together with each head straps, the cleansing fabric, the facility adapter, and the USB-C charging cable. There are even two slots sewn into the lid of the pouch for storing Zeiss lens inserts in case you use these with the Imaginative and prescient Professional, though you can even simply preserve them put in within the Imaginative and prescient Professional itself throughout transport since they’re held firmly in place with magnets.
Contained in the lid of the Defend Case is a luxurious slot the place you possibly can retailer the Imaginative and prescient Professional battery with its cable wound round it throughout transport. The case then closes up tight with waterproof zippers to maintain every part safe, and there is even a further zippered slot pocket on the surface of the Defend Case in case you choose to maintain the charging adapter and cable or different small objects there. In one other good contact, there’s a small slot deep within the exterior pocket the place an AirTag may be tucked away that can assist you preserve tabs in your Imaginative and prescient Professional.
An built-in nylon seize deal with makes it straightforward to hold the Defend Case, although the case may also be simply gripped in a single hand by most customers. Two small D rings on the highest rear fringe of the Defend Case allow you to connect an elective $20 Easy Strap that makes use of small carabiner-style clips and an adjustable slide buckle to permit for simpler carrying over a shoulder.
The Defend Case for Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional is on the market in a number of totally different materials mixtures, with the most cost effective being constructed totally of ballistic nylon on the outside in both black or blue for $159. For $179, you may get the Defend Case in that very same black ballistic nylon however with the entrance panel serving as an accent in both white, black, or chocolate leather-based. And at last, there is a configuration with the physique of the case manufactured from waxed canvas with a chocolate leather-based entrance panel, additionally priced at $179.
It is not possible to overstate how a lot of a distinction the scale of the Defend Case makes in comparison with Apple’s Imaginative and prescient Professional Journey Case. With the Journey Case as my solely possibility, I by no means actually thought-about taking my Imaginative and prescient Professional on any journeys, merely on account of its overwhelming measurement.
When touring by aircraft, I am actually not going to place my Imaginative and prescient Professional into checked baggage, irrespective of how properly it is protected in a case, and there merely is not room to fairly pack that outsized case in a backpack or carry-on. However with WaterField’s Defend Case, I nonetheless really feel like I’ve satisfactory safety for my costly and fragile Imaginative and prescient Professional, but I can slide it into the underside of my journey backpack and nonetheless have loads of room for different objects.
Notice: WaterField Designs offered MacRumors with the Imaginative and prescient Professional Defend Case for the needs of this evaluation. No different compensation was acquired.