Pad & Quill Woodline iPhone Case review: Naturally gorgeous

I've reviewed plenty of minimalist cases, and I've reviewed a number of wood cases, but I've never seen a case like this. It's absolute minimal protection: perfectly formed to the shape of the iPhone and less than one millimeter thick. Hand-crafted from real wood, it's a naturally gorgeous. Though the case is thin, it's strong. But is it enough protection for your phone?

The Good

  • Gorgeous
  • Genuine natural wood
  • Perfect fit
  • Unobtrusive
  • Less than one millimeter thick
  • Strong

The Bad

  • Not a lot of protection
  • Slippery

Mimimalist wood protection

Pad & Quill Woodline iPhone case: Features

Pad & Quill Woodline iPhone case

The Pad & Quill Woodline case is natural hard wood, crafted to fit the iPhone perfectly. It snaps on and off easily. All ports, buttons, switches, and the camera are totally unobstructed. One large opening on the left side exposes the Ring/Silent switch and the volume buttons. A fairly large opening on the right exposes the Sleep/Wake button. Wireless charging works just fine with the case on. The top has a fairly large opening, and the bottom is almost totally exposed for free use of the Lightning port and speakers. The edge of the case does not come up over the screen at all. so you'll need a screen protector if you want any face-down protection.

Pad & Quill's Woodline case is the ultimate in natural, minimalist beauty.

Though this is a minimalist case, it's surprisingly strong. Its core is made from DuPont™ Kevlar® Aramid, which makes it five times stronger than steel at the same weight. The wood is polished smooth and it's so pleasant to the touch. "Pad & Quill" is engraved tastefully on the outside, and the craftman's initials and other details are engraved on the inside.

Choose from three different color hard woods: American Cherry, Rosewood and premium American Walnut. You can get a Woodline case compatible with every iPhone as far back as the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. As of this writing, the iPhone 6/6 Plus cases are discontinued but there are some left in a limited color selection.

Natural beauty

Pad & Quill Woodline iPhone case: What I like

I cannot overstate how beautiful this case is, and how aesthetically pleasing. It's not shiny but it's polished to the smoothest finish, I found myself "petting" my phone thoughout the day. Because this is such a minimal case, you can truly see the iPhone's elegant lines with this case in place.

Pad & Quill Woodline iPhone case

Not the most protective

iPad & Quill Woodline iPhone case: What I don't like

If you're looking for heavy-duty drop protection, this isn't it. I'd call this more of a scratch protection case. Since so much of the phone's edges are exposed, it's primarily just protection for the back and corners of the phone.

My bigger issue with this case, however, is that it is slippery. I tend to have butterfingers and I just can't trust myself with a thousand-dollar phone in this case.

Gorgeously minimalist

Pad & Quill Woodline iPhone case: Bottom line

This is truly a stunning case, hand-crafted from natural wood. It's minimal protection, which is a two-edged sword. It won't interfere with your iPhone's functionality or elegant slim design, but it also isn't likely to protect your phone in the case of a major drop. It's also important to know that the wood is polished to the smoothest finish, it feels amazing but it's also quite slippery. This is not the ideal iPhone case for people who tend to drop their phones. If you are careful with your tech, and you just want a little bit of attractive and unobstrusive protection without taking away from the iPhone's aesthetic, you'll find it with Pad & Quill's Woodline iPhone case.

See at Pad & Quill

Karen S Freeman
Contributor

Karen is a contributor to iMore.com as a writer and co-host of the iMore Show. She’s been writing about Apple since 2010 with a year-long break to work at an Apple Store as a product specialist. She's also a contributor at TechRadar and Tom's Guide. Before joining iMore in 2018, Karen wrote for Macworld, CNET, AppAdvice, and WatchAware. She’s an early adopter who used to wait in long lines on release days before pre-ordering made things much easier. Karen is also a part-time teacher and occasional movie extra. She loves to spend time with her family, travel the world, and is always looking for portable tech and accessories so she can work from anywhere.