Nomad debuted its new iPhone 16 case collection shortly after the new Apple handsets made their first official appearance, and today we are taking our first hands-on look at one of them. The brand introduced a new model this year known as the Traditional Leather Case for iPhone 16 with a complete leather wrap around the sides and I was very interested the first time I laid eyes on it. So let’s dive in and see if this thing really is one of the best leather iPhone 16 case I have seen yet as part of our hands-on Tested with 9to5Toys series.
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Hands-on with Nomad’s full-wrap Traditional Leather iPhone 16 case
The Traditional Leather Case for iPhone 16 is available for all four iPhone models in brown or black starting at $60 for the full-grain, sustainably sourced leather and jumps up to $80 for the higher-end vegetable-tanned Horween leather from the US.
While some models are set to pre-order or on backorder now, you can still lock one in so you don’t have to wait until Christmas to get one of the incredibly popular cases.
Traditional Leather Case for iPhone 16 Pro gives your iPhone a sophisticated, full-wrap leather look. Built with full-grain, sustainably sourced leather, Traditional Leather Case will patina with time to develop a finish unique to you.
Features at a glance
- Full-grain, sustainably sourced leather
- Develops a patina over time
- Seamless, full-wrap leather design
- Anodized aluminum buttons
- MagSafe & wireless charging compatible
9to5Toys’ Take
At this point, just about every 9to5Toys reader knows about the Nomad leather iPhone cases, knows how much we love them, and knows how popular they are. This, I can confirm, remains true for its iPhone 16 collection. It has brought back all of its staple cases this year, including the wonderful Horween leather treatments on its Modern Leather Case, but it also introduced a brand new design this year, its most requested in fact.
Among the leather options I got an early look at some months ago, the new Nomad Traditional Leather Case was the one that caught my eye immediately. I have always loved its leather designs, but I have also been one of the folks asking for the full wrap treatment, and it has arrived.
In short, this is a gorgeous case and one I can immediately recommend to anyone who likes what they are seeing from our launch coverage and product imagery.
Full-wrap leather
Trading out the grippy TPU bumper surrounding the edges of the cases found on the Modern Leather Case (it’s just leather along the backplate), the Traditional model wraps the full-grain, sustainably sourced leather all the way around the sides of the case, leaving nothing but the subtle black TPU bumper bezel exposed around the camera array. I love the look and feel here. There’s also a very subtle lip around the screen – perhaps a touch more than I would want, but we are talking maybe a 1mm too much for me, and I think most folks might not even notice.
A quick note about Nomad branding – there is none, almost. It’s basically perfect if you ask me. I can’t expect all brands to leave its name off the case entirely, as much as I would want them to. But Nomad has a wonderful compromise here, leaving the case back entirely clean, logo- and text-free, and instead opted for an extremely subtle debossed “NOMAD” lettering along the left side of the case not much larger than my thumbnail. Perfect.
Not let’s talk buttons. Nomad is also one of the best in the business in this department, and it is once again here. It describes the button covers on the case, which include the power button, volume, and Action Button, as “tactile anodized aluminum buttons,” and so would I. They have a sort of gunmetal gray or silver treatment to them with a horizontal etched detail on the Home and Action buttons that make for an even more premium look and feel. I have absolutely no complaints here and I also adore the look.
But, with Camera Control front and center across all iPhone 16 models this year, you can’t talk buttons without talking cutouts. Some folks were let down last year when brands opted for a cutout for the Action Button as opposed to a proper cover, and I was admittedly among them, but mostly because of the aesthetics. However, the Camera Control button is different. It’s pressure sensitive and requires a special finesse of design not required nearly as much when covering the other buttons on the device. I’m not here to convince anyone that Nomad’s cutout here is what you should want, but I do.
As opposed to digging out a sort of rounded pill shape from the side of the case, or a larger rectangle with sloped edges, Nomad has opted for what I’m dubbing the full 3/4 cutout. It has removed a sort of sloped hill from the edge of the case leaving the entire area where the Camera Control button resides uncovered and accessible. This might immediately turn folks off who would prefer complete coverage, and understandably so, but not me. Again, I’m a huge fan.
It allows the golden Desert Titanium of my iPhone 16 Pro to shine through, leaves the Camera Control button completely accessible and functional, and I’m not the type to need or want an overly cumbersome or protective case. I might even argue that folks who don’t always need the full protection should consider this one of they like the look as much as I do.
I’ll keep the MagSafe part of this short – we all know the drill here by now. Either the magnet works or it doesn’t. Either it slides off the MagSafe charging stand or it doesn’t. And in this case it very much doesn’t, it works perfectly for me, and has ever since I started testing this model on Friday morning.
In the end, it’s hard, borderline impossible, for me to find anything I don’t like about the Nomad Traditional Leather Case for iPhone 16. Unless the cutout is wrong for you, or the exposed black TPU bezel is aesthetically offensive to your eyes, I recon you won’t be able to hate anything about this case either. Maybe you want different shades of leather(I can’t relate here but definitely understand this for sure)? And that leaves nothing but the price – these are not cheap cases and frankly they probably shouldn’t be with this sort of quality and design prowess. But we all wish everything was less and we here at 9to5Toys will ensure you get a shot at the lowest prices whenever they are available.
Buy the Nomad Traditional Leather Case
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