Got my new case yesterday. Took only 3 days to deliver.
SGP Velentinus Darkgreen. Bought it from Export Prive.
I got my valentinus on monday as well. Bought from Gmarket for a total of 53 SGD, inclusive of shipping.
Although I like it a lot, there were a few issues I have trouble with. But I guess some are not just prevalent with valentinus, but with most diary cases. This being my first smartphone and diary case, I might have some doubts in future about buying diary cases.
1) the button strap causes a mark on the front of the case when you fold the case into half to use your phone and tuck it underneath. the weight of the phones applies a certain amount of pressure on the protruding button against the leather. This leaves an unsightly mark and the only way to overcome it is to leave it dangling at the side which can be quite irritating as it may obstruct part of your screen.
2) From the pictures of valentinus provided by vendor, I thought there were 2 slots for holding your money. I dont know if it was misleading for others, but I made that mistake and when the actual item came, it was quite disappointing to find only 1 slot, with the other "slot" being just the leather cutting.
3) The money slot is not large enough to hold your Singapore currencies. This is an important note that anyone considering valentinus must know. It can get very awkward taking your money out as its folded into half. Its not easy considering the weight on the left side of the wallet containing only cards and money is so much more lighter than right side that holds your phone. This creates a very unnatural balance. You can of course, fold your casing into half and take the money out, but that would mean you are holding the whole case using your phone, which I am quite inclined to do. Lets not forget you must select the notes you want to hand over, take it out, and unfold it. Based on this point alone, using the valentinus becomes a pain rather than a convenience.
4) I dont know if this problem is shared among all, but for me, the side holding the cards and notes is causing the whole casing to look bloated when you button the whole thing. Its caused by the stacking of cards on top of one another as designed, which also did not have much size allowances as actual wallets would have. The card slots were almost exact fit.
5) When you are holding the valentinus casing in its folded form to use your phone while eg. walking, you always have the fear that your notes might fall off as its facing the ground and you cant see it while the case's folded. While I tested and verified that the notes does not come off even with the hardest shake, I am still quite uncomfortable to fold it to use my phone.
6) In its folded state, the weight of the phone also causes it to push the casing down on one side, leaving it in very unnatural form that is tilted.
Other than that, I think the leather and workmanship is quality. For me, I bought it because it saves me some pocket space by combining the wallet with the phone. But I don't know if I will buy it if I saw a review beforehand like the one I just written.
The vendor gave me an additional USB cable, which i guess is to make up for the delay in shipping. I bought this on February 7th but it did not ship until last friday.
