When new phones drops they tend to come with the generic cover or case just to provide standard protection to your phone. They tend to look bleh and have you searching other case makers for something a bit more your taste or style. HTC surprisingly released a case to go right along with the launch of the HTC One M8 called the Dot View Case. When seeing it shown off in the announcement/launch videos, it had caught a bunch of us off guard and peeked our interests. Now just how great is the Dot View Case and will it bring more functionality to your precious HTC One M8?
Style & Build
The Dot View Case is made out of various plastic materials. A semi hard material on the front that has 100s of dots(holes) and a cutout for the front facing camera. On the flip side is a harder material that has a cut out for both the Ultrapixel and Depth cameras, as well as the flash. Access is available on the sides for your volume control, and bottom for headphone jack and microUSB slot.
So what makes this case so special? The fact you can get notifications right on or rather see it come through the case’s dots. Notifications such as weather, missed calls and messages will appear on the case. All you have to do is give it a double tap to achieve this. If you swap down on the casing brings up HTC Voice Controls and allows for you to make calls without even revealing your screen. It works sometimes but not all the time. When calls come in you will get arrows directing you either in green to swap a direction to answer or red you want to ignore or hang up the call. If you are using music, using the volume rocker will display the gauge in Dot View also. The Dot View Case in itself is an eye catcher by all means.
Experience
Once I took the HTC One M8 out the box, the first case I slapped on was the Dot View Case. Just curious to how it overall works. It doesn’t seem to take any toll on the battery and looks to work injunction with an app called “HTC Dot View“. Using it the past couple of days, it has provided a sturdy base to the HTC One M8 which believe it or not can be slippery to hold at times based on its polished finish.
Couple things I’m not a fan of with the Dot View Case is that the hinge seems to have no give, and yourself constantly flipping the case back to use or having to hold it under the phone while typing which can be slightly uncomfortable. The other issue I have right now is I would like to see it support more apps. HTC Voice Search, Weather, and Message(HTC’s app) are nice but I want to see notifications for more used apps like Gmail, FB Messenger, Instagram and the list goes on. Seeing that it is tied to an app I can hope for some cool updates in the future.
Do You Need A Dot View?
Now some may not like the case, but I personally think it’s a cool feat by HTC. I feel if the support is there or the app is opened for developers to key into, it can be a hot seller(currently sold out on their site) and can see others trying to take suit. It’s definitely a crowd gatherer and brings some identity and curiosity towards the HTC One M8. If you are looking for minimal bulk to the HTC One M8, want your phone to stand out from other devices and think its worth $50, then pick it up.
The HTC One (M8) Dot View Case is currently selling for $50 with HTC or various other retailers and carriers such as Verizon Wireless selling for $44.99. Also comes in colors of Warm Black, Imperial Blue, Orange Popsicle, Atlantis, and Baton Rouge.
Check out the full review of the HTC One M8 HERE
