Pad & Quill Bella Fino iPhone Wallet Case review: Gorgeous but flawed

Pad & Quill is known for high-quality, attractive leather accessories of all kinds. There is no question about the class and beauty of this wallet case. However, I have a couple of small quibbles with this case which may or may not matter to potential users.

The Good

  • Full-grain American leather
  • Interior protective snap-on case
  • Holds five cards plus cash
  • Luxurious look and feel
  • Several interior and exterior color choices
  • Professional-looking

The Bad

  • Pricey
  • Does not lie flat when closed

Luxurious leather wallet iPhone case

Pad & Quill Bella Fino iPhone Wallet Case: What I like

Pad & Quill Bella Fino iPhone Case

This is a straight-up stunning case. You couldn't ask for better materials and craftsmanship. It looks and feels luxurious and is sure to impress just about anyone. The full-grain American leather will age with a lovely patina.

The description says the wallet portion of the case will hold up to eight cards, but there are five slots and none of them are really roomy enough to hold two comfortably. There is a cash section, so I suppose if you put cards in there instead of a stack of bills, you could hold more cards.

The interior snap-on case is just what you'd want to protect your iPhone inside a wallet case. It's rigid and smooth and ultra-thin, since the thicker leather exterior will do most of the protecting. Just in case, though, the interior snap-on case does have a slight lip that goes over the screen edge. There are large cut-outs at the top, bottom, and sides of the case to allow the use of the buttons, port, and speakers. There is of course a camera cut-out on the back through both the plastic and leather.

The Bella Fino comes in your choice of three exterior leather colors: Chocolate, Whiskey, and Galloper Black. Each exterior color can be ordered with certain interior colors. The Chocolate leather exterior case has a Deep Sea Blue interior. Whiskey exterior can be ordered with either Deep Sea Blue or Forest Green on the inside. Galloper Black comes with Slate Gray on the inside.

This case is available for each iPhone model from the iPhone 7/7 Plus up through the iPhone X/XS, XR, and XS Max. You can add your personalized monogram for an additional $10 if you wish.

Pad & Quill Bella Fino iPhone Case

Minor design flaws

Pad & Quill Bella Fino iPhone Wallet Case: What I don't like

My biggest quibble is that the wallet case does not lie flat when closed and not in use. This is especially pronounced when the wallet portion is full, but even when there is nothing but the phone inside, this still holds true. Perhaps over time, the leather loosens up and allows the wallet to lie flatter, but it didn't seem to be flexing during my testing. Most wallet portfolio-style cases have a magnetic or elastic closure of some kind to hold them closed when not in use. The Bella Fino does not.

Finally, it's pretty expensive. It's not an unreasonable price for the quality of the materials, but it may be too high of a price point for some people.

Great case if you can overlook the minor flaws

Pad & Quill Bella Fino iPhone Wallet Case: Bottom line

Pad & Quill's luxurious leather Bella Fino iPhone Wallet Case is a beauty, that's for sure. If you don't mind the lack of closure and the loss of wireless charging functionality, this is a great high-end case for you.

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.