This is the official S-View Flip Cover case for the Samsung Galaxy Note 5. For about $50, the S-View Flip Cover offers some pretty unique functionality beyond its primary goal of protection. The case itself comes in several color options: Black Sapphire, White, Gold, and Silver. I went for the Black Sapphire version and it appears to be very well made. I assume that holds true for the other colors as well.
It’s made of a plastic leather-like material that stretches around the front and the back. but the inside features a soft touch plastic that feels nice to touch even though it probably won’t be touched very often since it is on the inside of the cover. We do have cut outs for the camera, the flash and the heart rate monitor on the back. And we have a plastic window on the front that will give you access to the display.
The Note 5 pops into the plastic frame at all four corners and it is a fairly loose fit. But after waving the cover around, the Note 5 didn’t budge at all or feel like it was going to slip out so that’s very good. I’ve used flip covers before from various third party companies and I’ve noticed the plastic frame to be loosely glued to the inside cover. So it’s nice to see that with this official Samsung accessory, I cannot see any sort of separating or exposed glue on this case. It looks to be assembled very precisely which is a very good sign.
The S-View Flip Cover is the name of this case. It’s unique and really noteworthy because it features this window, which gives you access to all of your notifications. You don’t need to configure any settings. It just works. The phone will automatically detect the cover and will morph the display to fit the window. It’s pretty neat. So the window itself gives you access to your notifications, as well as the camera app and the slide down notification panel where you have access to all of your quick settings.
So if you want to open up a notification, you just tap on the notification and open up the cover and it’ll automatically bring you to the notification wherever it might be. You can also accept or reject calls directly through the S-View window. You can control your music playback directly on the S-View screen. And you can even use the camera from the window itself. It’s all pretty cool. The screen will actually shrink down and will capture photos just as shown in the window so the photos will be square.
Overall, I really like the case for being so functional. It’s not a terribly new idea. We’ve seen S-View cases before for other Samsung devices. I can answer calls and manage my music and check my notifications all without exposing the display of my smartphone. It’s stylish, it’s built very well (which it should be for $50). All the etching and cut-outs are just very precise.
Three sides of the device are exposed to potential harm but I don’t find that to be a very bad thing as I am able to feel the metal edge, metal side of the Note 5. I can access the power button and I can even access the S Pen.
The S Pen doesn’t have any special functionality with this case, unfortunately. I think it would be kind of neat for Samsung to update the software to allow you to actually write notes in the window portion of the case. I also would like the front cover to be held in place by weak magnets so that it wouldn’t fly open when upside down.
All in all, if you’re looking for a unique way to operate your Note 5 with protection to both the front and the back of the device, the S-View Flip Cover should be worth its $50 price. However, if you’re simply looking to protect your device and you can really care less about the S-View window, then you might want to check out a third party case that costs a fraction of the price of this official case.
