Jammy Lizard S4 Smart View Flip Case Review

Jammy Lizard S4 Smart View Flip Case Review

Samsung released a variety of official accessories to coincide with the release of the Galaxy S4, one of which was the S-View Cover which has a transparent window on the front of the case allowing you to view the date, time, notification icons and answer calls without opening it. Jammy Lizard’s Smart View Flip case obviously borrows from Samsung’s design, but with a number of differences that for some may make this a better option.

Smart-Case-Packaging

Design

Although to the casual observer it looks very similar to Samsung’s offering, the biggest difference is that you slide your whole phone into this case compared to the S-View which replaced the back cover. This obviously makes your phone a little bit thicker but gives additional protection – especially around the corners and side which remain exposed with the S-View Cover. The cut-outs on this case are well positioned and allow uninhibited access.

Standing out visually is the addition of a magnetic clip that keeps the front cover closed. If you’re not a fan of branding, then this case is also missing the Samsung logo on the back and the Galaxy S4 branding on the front.

Smart-Case-Empty

Build Quality

The back of this case is made from hard polycarbonate plastic, with a fine texture to give a little grip. However the sides do not have this texturing and are smooth to the touch, making your phone a little bit harder to hold on to.

Although the front cover is extremely thin, it is fairly rigid and doesn’t feel like it will warp or tear any time soon. The transparent window did pick up a few little scratches within a few days, so I expect it to get fairly scratched over time. The inside of the front cover is coated with a soft light-grey felt-like material that will be kind to your screen but also likely attract dirt over time.

Smart-Case-Featured

In Use

The first thing I noticed about this case is that it’s very slim – it adds very little in terms of bulk or weight to your phone. Overall it feels really nice in the hand although the edges of the magnetic clip can feel a little sharp. To open you really need to slide your nail under the clip which can take some getting used to.

The S-View functionality while maybe not being a killer must-have feature, in practice is quite nice to have. On opening the case the S4 instantly springs to life, while closing it displays the date, time and notifications bar in the window for a few seconds before shutting off. If you’ve just had a notification or you don’t wear a watch then without opening the case you can just press the power button to see what’s going on. The nicest part for me was when you receive a call – you can reject or answer right from the window and carry on your conversation with the case closed.

Regardless of whether it’s in a case, normally with the S4 it’s possible to (accidentally or otherwise) activate the phone my pressing the home button. However this case may save you a little battery as it’s front cover is moulded to the front of the S4 (and around the button) meaning it can no longer be activated with the case closed.

Smart-Case-Back

Price

This case is great value at £6.95 from Jammy Lizard including free UK delivery. Even better it’s currently on sale for £5.56 making it a bargain at just a little over half the price of the Samsung version.

Overall

Overall I liked Jammy Lizard’s Smart View Flip Case more than I expected. It offers a good level of protection, feels nice and makes use of the genuinely useful S-View feature. It may not stand up to long-term wear-and-tear but at this price it shouldn’t be too painful to replace. If you’ve been itching to try S-View for yourself, but dislike or don’t want to shell out for the Samsung cover then this case is a great alternative.  It’s available in a choice of 7 colours from the link below…

Jammy Lizard Website

Associate Editor and part of the team of gadget reviewers at DroidHorizon. Also been known to dabble in software development to pay the bills.

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