Poor iPad. For years before I bought mine, I’d suspected that I wouldn’t use it as heavily as most of the people I know, who remain glued to them at the expense of all their other devices, and on most days I’m right. I juggle my online life between my laptop and my phone.But when I do use my iPad, it’s in fairly hostile environments. Holding notes in the podcasting studio, presenting info to coworkers in crowded cafés, being tossed into the bins of airport security lines, showing instructions for tasks in the garage. It gets too banged around to travel nekkid and survive for longI was in a quandary. I needed something protective for all the roughhousing, but not something that’d cost me a bundle. And it’d really help if it had a way to prop it up. For under $20, the ESR iPad cover has been one of my savviest buys of 2025.(opens in a new window)ESR iPad Cover(opens in a new window)Available at AmazonBuy Now(opens in a new window)protective and convenientI’d have loved a leather iPad case, but for $20 or less, that wasn’t happening. Even faux leather, I’d hoped, but no. The ESR comes in a grippy rubber whose bolsters are thick enough to protect it from damage.Well, everywhere except the edges, if you bang it on something just right. But that isn’t an issue I’ve run into with the ESR, and nearly all iPad cases leave the iPad’s edges exposed like that.The pad is held to the iPad with strong magnets. ESR got this one just right, as it’s plenty easy to put the iPad into the case and take it out, but they’re fairly strong, and I’ve never had the case pop off the iPad accidentally, even when I’ve dropped it.The ridges between the bolsters are for folding the flap closure to prop it up horizontally. Propping it up comes in handy when I’m watching movies on planes and trains. And when I’ve got a recipe up on the iPad while cooking. And when I’m learning a song on the guitar and need the tab in front of me.The flap that holds the whole shebang together can accommodate an Apple Pencil held magnetically to the side of the iPad. I keep mine in there, and it’s plenty secure. It’s never come loose accidentally.All in all, if the ESR protects my iPad from sustaining even one scratch, it’s paid for itself by maintaining a higher resale value when it’s time to trade up iPads.(opens in a new window)ESR iPad Cover(opens in a new window)Available at AmazonBuy Now(opens in a new window)The post My Favorite Bargain iPad Cover Is Less Than $20 appeared first on VICE.