14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier this week, HTC unveiled its new flagship smartphone, the One M8. Along with the new handset, the Taiwanese company announced the immediate availability of a flip cover.
The flip cover is known as Dot View Case and provides instant phone access while it’s still closed. The case is available for only $50 (€36) in no less than five color options: Warm Black, Imperial Blue, Orange Popsicle, Atlantis and Baton Rouge. For the time being, only the grey color is available for purchase, but the rest will go on sale soon.
It measures 180 x 73 x 12.6 mm and offers full phone protection on the front, back and corners. Design-wise, it can be described like a piece of soft-touch rubber material that’s been sprinkled with dots.
HTC One M8 owners can use many of the phone’s features even with the case is closed. Things like volume adjustment, call answering or voice dialing can be executed with a swipe of a button.
Aside from allowing users to take advantage of the phone’s features, the Dot View Case provides lots of information directly on the front and back sides. Users will be able to check for the weather, time and other informative details like alerts for missed calls and text messages.
The smartphone will be able to recognize that you have attached the Dot View Case thanks to a small magnet place on the front cover of the case. This would enable the case mode automatically. The case can only display 8-bit images on the screen, but they are readable enough, so there aren’t any issues here.
Here is what HTC has to say about its Dot View case: “function meets form with this dual-purpose smartphone case that offers instant phone access while the case is still closed. Wrap-around protection with flashy dot matrix cover lets you take calls, receive email notifications, schedule reminders, weather updates, and more, without even opening the case.”
According to those who have already been able to test the Dot View case, it makes typing a bit difficult when the cover is flipped around the back. Not to mention that once you flip the cover around the back side, you won’t be able to use the camera anymore.
People also complain about the case’s high price and would have preferred it to support other third-party applications as well. As it is, Dot View case only supports a handful of notifications.