Manufacturer: Samsung

Release Date: 8/17/16

MSRP: $49.99

Colors: Blue, Black, Silver, Gold

Official cases by phone manufacturers are sometimes the best bet, and Samsung always pushes the bar when it comes to accessories. They may be pricey, but they offer unique experiences you can’t get from third parties. Samsung has had a line of unique cases for some time, and the S-View cover makes a comeback with the Note 7. The case is new and improved over previous versions, but it’s still not quite the perfect case.

The case has a hardback that the phone snaps into and translucent edges that protect the aluminum sides of the phone. Right off the bat, I didn’t quite like this, as you can’t see the color of the phone inside as the edges are nearly black, blocking out the color. This won’t be a big deal to some, but I love the look of the rose gold edges on my coral blue Note 7, and it’s a must. The material is nice and feels good in your hand, but when you flip the cover over, that’s when things go downhill.

There isn’t a magnetic clasp or any way to keep the cover from flapping open constantly, and it feels cheap. The window is just a square piece of plastic, and after so many months, it could easily be scratched up to the point of not being able to see through it. The volume buttons were nicely labeled on the spine, and they pressed easily enough; however, the case just didn’t feel solid enough.

I did some drop tests on it, and it did protect the phone, but if it lands just right and that front flap opens, the screen is shattered. It felt like it wouldn’t protect the phone and was kind of flimsy. The actual use of the S-View window is nice, as you can access everything you normally would on your lock screen, but you must open the cover to actually see the apps, which was a bit annoying. You also can’t customize what’s seen on the window with just two icons you can switch out.

Overall, the S-View cover can’t only be recommended to people who don’t really worry about protecting their phone or already like the S-View cover. I returned this to T-Mobile and got the LED wallet cover instead, which is much better. If there was some way to keep that flap closed, I could see this being better. The only upside is that you can use the phone as a stand, but I felt the phone was too upright and was only ideal when laying down.