Samsung EF-CG800 S-View Case for Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini - Argent

thought i had written a review about tis some time back. Seems i was mistaken.Just to note the phone i had that fitted this case has long gone. However i was on my 3 case by then and this was my first.The case came through i had high hopes. Looked good, wife loved it and the front worked (could see the time without opening case up. 3 months in cracks started appearing in plastic surround. Tried to return but outside of limited returns window (not sure if this is still the case) so carried on with it. 4 months in one corner had nearly broken off completely. Wife had not dropped it, nor had she sat on it or intentionally bangs it. Just seemed to bio-degrade with age. During the same time we noiticed cracks on other corners and glue holding degrading plastic phone holder to leather case was slowly giving up.5 months up and it had gone completely corners broken off so phone wouldn't stay on case and lether was holding on by about 1cm of remaining glue. So had to chuck it and buy case 2...On a plus note the front glass/hard plastic was spotless still after 5 month of use! and still showed the time when case closed :D

I'm not sure what to make of this case. It fits beautifully, but on many occasions when I open it, I get the screen warning to check my battery cover. The standard warning you get if the rear cover isn't positioned correctly. It is annoying to say the least. To use this case, you need to take the rear cover off and fit the rest of your phone directly into this case for the phone to use the Samsung features that come with the case. Mine must have a flaw, but it appears to be fitted correctly.Another annoying feature - if you are left handed - opening the cover and swiping a finger to unlock the phone becomes fiddly. Folding the case completely back is the best way to get around this, but that causes its own problems. Once the cover has been folded back for a while, it won't close completely, turning the screen back on. I'm finding to get around this, I put the phone down face-down, or put it straight in my pocket.It is a lovely cover, it has a slight metallic shimmer to it and the colour is rich. There isn't a cutout for the volume control, but it's not needed, as pushing the side of the case works well.One feature that is missing is a cutout for the notification light. It is no longer possible to know you have a notification until you open the case, or press the power button and look at the S View screen through the perspex window. My review drops two stars because of these issues.

Beautiful good quality case. Having read previous reviews, I was a bit concerned as some warned about fake versions. I think a lot of different cases for different model phones have been reviewed here and these warnings might not go for all cases. The case I review here is the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 S-view case in gold. It is quite clearly a genuine product, with model & brand marked on both sides of the case. The back part fits perfectly in the back of the phone (replaces the existing battery cover) and holds the case perfectly in place. The material feels really nice and soft and has a lovely sheen to it. I would say the colour is pinkish gold - I think it looks great and smart, but it may be a bit girly for some. I actually wanted the gold version of the phone, but as it was about £60 more than the black version, I bought the black version. This case pretty much solves that problem for me. I was also pleasantly surprised by how well the front flip cover stays put on the screen. What others have said is true: the case does not have, and would benefit from, a magnet to hold it shut. However, I find with a light press on the front of the cover when closing it, it kind of sucks to the screen and stays there fine. The material is very supple, so the front cover folds away easily to the back when using the phone. I personally take care when placing it in a bag to wedge it in between flat things/a pocket, if you don't do that, it's possible that the case would flip open again with potential to scratch the screen. So if you prefer to be a bit rough or careless with your stuff, this case might not suit you. I think it's great how the phone responds to opening/closing the front cover by displaying the time & some info (you can customise this in the phone settings) and when you flip it open, it launches the default 'wake-up' screen as it would if you pressed the side button. I love this great quality case and I like how it protects the screen from scratching without needing a stick-on screen protector which I always think takes away some of the beauty of the super amoled screen. I personally don't have/use the cordless charging device, so I don't know whether that works with this case but I have found the battery to be more than good enough to last through a full day, so I just charge the phone via cord at night.

My previous case was a leather wallet type with a magnetic closing tab. The reason I needed a new one was because the cradle that the phone clipped into was brittle and started to break apart, leaving the phone less secure. What appealed to me about this case was that its back replaced the back of the phone and made it integral to the phone.However, there are some design flaws that spoil its use. First of all the front cover doesn't close flat after you've used the phone and it opens very easily. Therefore if the phone is dropped, there is a very real possibility of the cover opening and the screen being damaged. If it had a magnetic tab this would hold it secure, or if some resistance was engineered into the hinge which kept it closed.Another design flaw, is the hinge itself. It doesn't fold back very well and makes it fiddly to get to the volume button on the side of the phone. Although the material is of good quality, its a bit shining and slippery, which makes it feel a little insecure in the hand. The other point is that I'm constantly getting a warning message to check the back is secure, which is rather irritating.I do like the ability to answer a call without having to open the case, this can mean the difference between a catching a call or missing it. But overall the design is flawed.