#htcdotview

New Post has been published on http://binarywasteland.com/2014/04/review-htc-dot-view-case/

REVIEW: HTC Dot View Case

This week has been full of reviews. We have looked into what the best protection for your HTC One M8 is and in our quest we have gone through a number of brands including Incipio and Otterbox. We have come around to the offering that HTC has designed. The Dot View Case is HTC’s take on a retro folio case. Check out after the break to get a good look at the offering HTC is bringing to the table and see if it can stack up to its other case contenders.

When we first received the HTC One Dot View case we were not sure what to expect. From the promotional material provided by HTC it does appeal to us because of its retro nature. This being said we decided to dive right in and get the case of of the box for a better look. When you first touch the device you will notice that two different materials were used in the production of this case. The bottom encasement is made of a harder plastic material while the top folio cover is made of a more synthetic rubber. Having seen just promotional videos before actually using the case we came into this relationship with some expectations. Some of them were met and some of them, not so much.

  To begin on the case design, the top folio cover as we said above is made of a synthetic rubber or so the feel indicates. We thought with the folio cover would have a series of holes that would let the screen know where to illuminate the time and any pertinent information. What we found were a series of divots that just made the material thinner so when you turn on the screen that the images would shine through on the thinner pieces of material, making the closed cover look retro. This seems like a different way to approach things and does not seems like am logical way to keep battery life at a maximum while using a screen covering case. When the device is in the case the screen turns off when the case is closed using the proximity sensor on the device and will turn on when the cover is opened. The one major flaw we noticed is that with most folio cases we have tried, when you open the cover and want to take a shot that you cannot wrap the cover around the back or the shot will be blocked.

  This being the only major issue does not mean that there were other nuances that we did not find in the other cases we looked at. One of the other issues we found was that when folding the cover back we like to text vertically on our device so we found the cover wanting to snap back onto the screen of the device and this can cause a problem if it does do this unexpectedly, causing your device to drop. We say this from experience. We also like to mount our device in the car for hands free usage and the same cover issue plagued is while trying to insert the case with the cover folded behind it onto the mount. Having finally gotten the case into the car holder when we exit the vehicle taking the M8 with us we now find that the case is not as eager to snap back onto the screen and now does not have the tight contact with the screen when the cover is closed.

  Some of the cool things that the case did give us what a jump back to our childhood. The 8 bit look of the screen is unbeatable on presentation alone. Add in the features when someone is calling you can place the device up to your ear and it will answer the call automagically. Want to decline the call, just flip the phone with the case on, onto its face and the ringtone will stop playing. In addition to seeing who has called you are also able to see the weather, missed calls, volume rocker changes (up or down) and let us know when a text message has come in. We are not sure if it has to do with the SMS integration with Hangouts but we received quite a few text messages and the icon did not show for us when receiving them. Another main feature of the case is to double tap on the case or screen and it will turn on giving you a glance at the information you need most at that time. Turn turn the screen of just double tap. To be fair, all of these features are available without the case but the retro look is robbed from us if there is no case.

  With all of the hype about a retro folio case made by HTC we have come to the conclusion that it could have been better. There were some expectations and they honestly were not met. For the high price tag of $49.99 CAD we honestly think you would be better off getting another case as all of the ones we have reviewed have been under that price tag. We enjoy the M8 as a device but when it comes to accessories we think that HTC should leave it to people like Incipio and Otterbox.

HTC Dot View Case Gallery