Tuesday, June 10, 2014

HTC Dotview Flipcase Blows!


A cool concept..

The HTC One M8's Dotview flipcase is one accessory that you might want to consider for overall protection of your HTC smartphone.
It's so cool, you would want to pocket it everyday.
What's on, is the old school dot matrix information on the flipcase cover.
This is really smart as it uses a sensor to detect movement.
Once you flip the cover, the phone turns on.

The HTC One M8 with the Dotview flipcase
Construction and built-quality..

I must say that the base cover was really solidly-built.
And what's lovely about this flip cover is the position of the on/off switch. Its not indented, so, you can activate the phone with ease.
Once on "cover mode" you can receive calls by swiping the dotted holes on the cover.
This allows you to talk without flipping the cover at all. Very cool!

And the not-so-cool part...

Demand exceeds supply for the Dotview flip cover. 
I found that at one shop at the Digital Mall in Section 14, prices soared as high as RM299 for the flipcase.
This is absurd as the recommended retail price was around RM130 at the most.
I received the pricing information from my go-between guy at Brightstar Distributor, the company responsible for HTC and Motorolas in Malaysia.
At another HTC concept store, the price was RM189.
And the price to beat is RM128 from on-line stores like Lazada.com.my and Ipmart.com.my
They charge another RM5 for shipping, so, that said, its even-stevens at RM132.

And in less than a week...

I took up my flipcase to answer a call, and noticed that there was a tear on the case.
All I did was carry this in my pocket and in less than a week, its already breaking down.
The flip cover is bound together onto the base with a sheet of adhesive. When I tweaked it, it tore completely.
Now,it didn't help when the flimsy silicone piece that attaches onto the base tears so easily.
I tried to use duct tape to repair this, but it was a futile attempt.
Then, I called the HTC shop, the Ah Beng who answered my call said the item is not covered by warranty despite having an official receipt that goes with it.
That said, RM189 went down the drain.

The torn silicon attachment
Another view of the defective product
An attempt to rescue the flipcase
This doesn't work at all..
The Ah Beng at the HTC shop asked me to go and bring the case over so that he could take a look.
But, I seriously doubt it that he could provide any solution.
Having heard his enthusiasm on the defective flipcase, I would like to see the outcome.

No comments: