With new Nexus devices you never know when the official accessories will hit the stores. It was harder to find an Nexus 4 bumper than the phone itself. And as much as I loved the first Nexus 7, there wasn’t any cover available that would come near the quality of the Apple smart cover. All 3rd party options either were bulky or ugly or both. There were rumors and images of an official premium cover flying around which actually never materialized for the old Nexus 7 model. And the new Nexus 7 (2013) was no exception at first, but luckily we now got an official Asus Premium Cover that looks very promising.

I ordered the black version, but there is also a white premium cover available. The cover is very thin and lightweight. It looks and feels substantially better than the Travel Cover, which was the best option for the old Nexus 7 in my opinion. Asus uses a nice soft touch material for the premium case, which is similar to the Nexus 7 (2013) back. The front has the usual smart cover structure with two folding positions, but it sadly doesn’t wake the screen when you open it.

While the different stand positions work reasonably well, they are not as robust as the Apple smart cover. It can happen that the Nexus 7 falls down from the high stand position due to the fact that the folded cover is not perfectly tight and opens. This already happened twice to me.

You can easily access every slot like the earphone plug or the micro USB slot, and I really like the way the volume and power buttons are covered. The buttons are fully covered but at the same time easy to use since they are cut out at the edges. Of course there are also cutouts for the camera on the back.

I was initially worried that the missing magnet will cause the cover to open unintentionally, but Asus put a patch of some sticky material on the inside which helps to keep the cover shut. Its not as sophisticated as the Apple smart cover, but gets the job done.

The Verdict

While the official Asus Premium Cover for the Nexus 7 (2013) can’t surpass the original Apple smart cover due to missing screen wake and slightly worse stand functionality, it’s still one of the best options for your Nexus 7. It only adds minimal bulk and is lightweight, all while keeping the good looks of the Nexus 7. Compare it to any of those cheap ebay cases and you will notice immediately that the Asus Premium Cover is made of high quality soft touch materials which feel much better than the 3rd party stuff. So if you want a cover that fits perfectly to your Nexus 7 without fake leather or bulk, this is the case to get.

Interestingly there was quite some controversy when the first people got their hands on the Asus Premium Cover, as the Nexus 7 wouldn’t fit well and jump out of a corner for some people. Just check out the Amazon reviews and you can see that there are many customers which are not happy. But this seems to be an issue with the first batch only, as my cover fits without any problems. Just make sure you order the case directly from Amazon or Asus instead of smaller shops which may still have stock from the first production wave. Even if you get a bad one from Amazon, it’ll be much easier and faster to get an replacement.