Hands-On: Mozo Leather Cover for Lumia 950

Sometimes it’s the little things. The Mozo leather case for Lumia 950 transforms Microsoft’s latest smart phone from a cheap-feeling also-ran to a premium experience. It’s an astonishing change, and one that is well worth the asking price.

Indeed, I’ll go so far as to say this: Do not even consider using a Lumia 950 or 950 XL without such a cover. Not that you have much choice, at least temporarily, as Mozo’s covers are in notoriously short supply, both from the manufacturer itself and from U.K.-based MobileFun, which I first wrote about over the weekend.

They’re also expensive, especially with international shipping, since both of these places are in Europe. My 950 case set me back over $40 with rush shipping, and my earlier 950 XL case purchase (same leather design) was even more expensive at just under $70. When you add that cost onto what I think is the Lumia 950/XL’s biggest weakness—it’s just too expensive—you can see the problem.

I don’t care. You still need to buy one of these cases. If you can afford a 950/XL, and/or have bought such a device knowing full well all of the issues that are dogging Windows phones generally and Lumia more specifically, this is no place to draw the line. Complete the purchase. And get a Mozo case.

And it’s not just for looks, though I will argue that this leather case is beautiful and puts the Lumia 950 over the top from an eye candy perspective. If you’re not into leather, please. They have other designs, so shop around.

No, the reason these Mozo cases are so special is that they add a feeling of heft and quality to the 950/XL, which come out of the box in impossibly light, plastic-feeling cases. Dare I say, cheap-feeling.

The Mozo case looks and feels like its made of high-quality materials. It feels good in the hand—the leather and stitching are just perfect—and it adds just the right amount of weight to make the phone feel more substantial.

If you’ve been reading my thoughts on various Lumias over the years, you know that the weight, heft, or what I call density of these phones can really make the difference. The Lumia 920, while well-regarded, was simply too heavy, too dense. But the Lumia 1020, despite its bulbous camera, was just right, well-balanced.

The Lumia 950 is—seriously—a bit too light. So with the Mozo leather case, equilibrium is achieved. Now its perfect, not too light, and not too heavily.

Go get one, Goldilocks. It’s perfect.