Logitech unveils a way to protect iPads with a plastic “Blok”

A new case for a newly revamped brand, Logitech— sorry “Logi” has been working to make iPads more resistant to drops, and it has done so with a block of plastic.

And it’s no ordinary plastic.

Oh sure, it’s technically still just a polymer and will feel like plastic to your fingers, hands, and teeth (community notice: do not eat an iPad case, and do not eat an iPad; go get some food instead), but the Logi Blok is a little different than “just another iPad case”.

Rather, this block of plastic features some corners with absorbent polymers because the corners are the areas that tend to do the most damage when a drop occurs.

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In case you’ve never heard that lesson, when a phone or tablet drops, it usually isn’t that big of a deal when it lands smack down on its front or back. A drop like that might endure a scratch or two, and it might scare you with a loud bang, but it’s really the corners that will lead to most of the damage, often resulting in a broken display.

When a corner of a device meets the ground, usually at a fast enough speed and tall enough height to make a difference, the body of the device will make the tiniest vibrations, passing this on to the glass of the screen. If the screen is made of glass and isn’t at all flexible or lacks some form of screen protection, that lack of wiggle room results in the screen shattering, which in turn means you’ll be using your finger on a broken glass screen until you get the thing repaired, which not everyone seems to do.

Logi’s Blok case for the iPad and iPad Mini aims to at least repel this sort of damage thanks to the reinforced corners, which it says will flex with the iPad if they’re hit, protecting it from that damage and providing that aforementioned wiggle room.

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“Until now, protecting your iPad from drops meant covering it with a bulky case that took away from the beauty and mobility of the iPad,” said Michele Hermann, Logitech’s Vice President of Mobility.

“Our designers worked with material experts to protect the most sensitive parts of the iPad without adding the bulk you associate with ultra-protective cases. With the Logi Blok family of cases you no longer have to choose between protecting your iPad and having a beautiful case that allows you to enjoy all the functionality it has to offer.”

Logi's Blok Protective Case features a stand and a front cover.
Logi’s Blok Protective Case features a stand and a front cover.

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The Logi Blok cases will be made available for both the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini, with the Protective Shell edition being just that — a protective shell — arriving for $49.95 for both the big and small iPad variants, with a model made for the iPad Air 2 only that features a stand and screen cover to protect it from forward-facing drops. This one, the Logi Blok Protective Case, will retail from $99.95.

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Finally, Logitech/Logi will also sell a keyboard variant of the Blok case complete with the stand and screen cover for $149.95, with this one being made for the iPad Air 2 only.

Availability on this one will be from the beginning of August, and you’ll end up seeing the name “Logi” on these ones not “Logitech”, even though it’s the exact same company. Yes, we’re getting used to it, too.

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