Peak Design’s Everyday case is a great fit for Pixel 7a

Peak Design has certainly captured the hearts of some of the MobileSyrup staff, and it seems like I’m the latest to join their ranks.

As MobileSyrup’s resident Pixel user, I often test out accessories for Google’s smartphones. The most recent one I tried was Peak Design’s excellent ‘Everyday Case’ for the Pixel 7a (they also have versions of the case for the Pixel 7, 7 Pro, 6 and 6 Pro).

Peak Design, for those unfamiliar with the company, sells a variety of accessories for cameras, like camera bags and tripods. It recently got into the phone case game, and its Everyday cases sport a unique square adapter that makes them compatible with a range of additional accessories like wireless charges, wallet attachments, tripods, bike mounts and more.

While that broader accessory ecosystem will certainly be a draw for many people, it’s absolutely not mandatory. It’s okay to just pick up an Everyday case if you like it. I haven’t tested out any of Peak’s other accessories yet, so I won’t comment on them here, but I do hope to try them out in the future.

Quality materials make for a great-feeling case

Getting back to the Pixel 7a Everday case, it’s got a grippy rubberized TPU bumper and clicky TPU buttons with a rear shell made of 100 percent recycled, weatherproof, nylan canvas. The Pixel cases, unfortunately, only come in one colour, a nice ‘Charcoal’ shade. I’d love to see Peak Design add more colour options like the ‘Sage’ available for the iPhone 14 line. The nice thing with the ‘Charcoal’ option, however, is that it shouldn’t clash with any of the Pixel 7a colour options, whether you have the ‘Coral’ like I do, or the ‘Sea,’ ‘Charcoal,’ or ‘Snow’ versions.

The Everyday case also includes surprisingly strong high-temp neodymium magnets, allowing you to stick your phone to metal surfaces. It sports a ceramic locking ring on the rear as well for compatibility with some of the other Peak Design accessories. Again, I didn’t test out these extra accessories, but I did find the ceramic ring to be a welcome addition to the case, as it formed a nice place to rest my index finger when holding my Pixel 7a with one hand. It almost works as an added place to grip the phone.

While trying out the Everyday case, I was pleased with how grippy it made my phone. I also really like the texture of the nylon canvas rear, which adds a level of quality and uniqueness to the case you won’t get from many others. In some ways, it’s like a higher-quality version of the fabric cases Google used to offer for Pixel phones. As an aside, I really liked those cases and am sad Google no longer offers them, though later versions did take a noticeable dive in quality.

Overall, I’m quite pleased with the Everyday case, which is certainly a surprise. I frequently roll caseless with my phones because I tend to hate the extra bulk and there are very few good slim cases. To be clear, the Everyday case is certainly not slim, but given how much I like the feel and materials, I’m more willing to let the bulk slide.

Pricey but worth it

The Pixel 7a Everyday case is available from Peak Design’s website for $55.40. Other cases hover around the same price point, give or take a few dollars. Unfortunately, shipping and taxes are extra — to get a Peak Design case sent to my home in Whitby, Ontario, the minimum shipping cost was $15.54, plus $7.20 in tax brought the total to $78.14, which in my eyes is a lot for a phone case. That said, the quality of the Peak Design case (and its included lifetime warranty) makes the cost a little easier to stomach than other similarly expensive cases.

There are alternatives, however. I found some Peak Design products on Amazon Canada, but there’s a markup and you’ll be on the hook for import and shipping fees for some of the products. Peak Design also recently partnered with Canadian retailer Jump+, which offers free shipping on orders over $100. There doesn’t appear to be much of a markup on Jump+, which is great, but the retailer’s selection at the time of writing was disappointing.

It only offers the ‘Charcoal’ variants of the iPhone 14 series and a small handful of other Peak Design products. So if you’re looking for the Pixel versions, you’ll have to stick with Peak Design’s website and pay for shipping.

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