Spigen S4 Slim Armor View

Hi all, today, I will do a review of Spigen S4 Slim Armor View.

Basically, it is a galaxy S4 casing.

Let's get started!!

 Price and Made

I bought it for SGD $89 at 14 SCOTTS ROAD FAR EAST PLAZA #02-52 SINGAPORE 228213. That is the 3rd day when I got my S4. I would say it is very costly for a handphone casing. But I think it was well worth the cost.
You can check out more info here:
http://www.spigen.com/brands/samsung/galaxy/galaxy-s4/galaxy-s4-case-slim-armor-view.html

It is mainly made of polycarbonate front and back. It support S-View from Samsung S4, meaning, with the cover closed, you can still view certain information like missed called icon, message icon etc., from the viewing window. And the best part of the whole deal is the automatic sleep/wake function. We will talk about that later.

The Inside

Made of Spigen duo layered casing. You can actually remove the spider web looking rubber portion. This spider web looking rubber portion (what a mouthful...) is the actual layer that is gonna protect your S4.
 As you can see, the front flip cover is attached to the main body using a hinge. Some find it a failure as they are afraid that the hinge will broke. One guy
the Spigen site reviewed that he drop the casing and broke the hinge.

For me, I have yet (God Bless) to drop the phone. But from my experience as an Engineer, YES, i do believe it will broke the hinge if you drop it the "right" way.

S4 with the Casing

As you see, the S4 fits in nicely into the Spigen casing. As what you would expect for such premium price. Haa.. Oh, and you can find the serial number in the box. Follow the instructions there to register your Spigen casing. It thus act as a authenticity check. There are alot of fake Spigen casing out there, I am not sure how the fit will be like, but they sure are cheap.

There are basically 2 colors, black and white. I chose the matte black color. Simply because I like the Batman feel. See, the whole phone is black. Coupled with some black theme for the phone, you           are as cool as Batman

Operation

It is easy. Once you fit the S4 into the casing, it is good to go. Close the front cover to experince the S-View. You can see the time, missed called icon, message icon, etc etc. And should you got a call, the answer or reject icon will appear at the S-View and you can slide it to answer or reject the call without opening the front cover. I like this simple act of originality. And it sure turn some head... It's alright, just act normal.

And of-course, the auto sleep/wake function. It operate by a magnet which is attached to the casing. It will either wake your phone up when you open the front casing, or make your phone go into standby mode when you close the casing. Before the phone goes into entirely sleep mode, it will generate a display on the S-View for 5 seconds before going completely dark.

There is a front push button on the cover to activate the home key even when the front cover is closed. It will wake up your S-View for another 5 seconds and then go to sleep. Fun huh?...

Ok, the thing that I really like about the sleep/wake function is that you can use it to wake your phone up and start using it, instead of having to press the home key.As you know, electronic hard button are not make to last. After pressing numerous times, it will eventually wear the home button out. Therefore, I always us the front cover to wake the phone up.




The Bad

Here it comes, the photo taking. As you can see, when the front cover is flip 360-degree  all the way back, it covers the camera lens. You can still take a picture but it will be blur. Therefore, you got to flip it at 180-degree to take a picture. It can be quite troublesome when you wanna take a photo with one hand. Plus the 5 inch display from S4, you can hardly balance the S4 with Spigen case in one hand.

The front and back cover are made from some rubberized material. It's kinda dust magnet. So I always find a need to dust it off. It wasn't like that when I first got it. It was smooth and good to hold. But after 2 weeks, I can see that the smooth rubberized surface start to wore off and it starts to suck dust.

To me, it wasn't must off an issues, just wipe it off using your jeans or pants except, DO NOT USE A WET TISSUE to wipe it. It sort of suck up even more dust when it dries up. Static? I am not sure.

Though the name is Slim Armor, the side rubber present a threat to those who uses any earphone or headphone with a L-shaped 3.5mm jack. Depending on the made, you might not be able to insert the jack fully into the S4. As you can see from the photo, there is a tiny gap, and it is enough to cause your listening experience goes upside down. I am using a Monster Beat Solo.

The Conclusion

Seriously speaking, I like this Spigen Case alot. I been trying to find fault with it but, well, hardly. To me, this case gives me the confident that it WILL protect S4 in case it drop. And with the front cover closed, the S4 is basically enclosed entirely and completely. I am sure there isn't a IP rating for this case, but I had used this phone in moderate rain (I answer the phone using S-View, cover closed), and it was alright. So for the look and protection, I am gonna give it a 4/5 stars.