Accessory Review and Giveaway: Official Flip Cover for the Samsung Galaxy S III (not my cup of tea)

Howdy, fellow (and potential) Samsung Galaxy S III owners. It’s been a while since I’ve done a product review for you guys and gals, so I figured I’d drop a quick one of the official Flip Cover in your laps today.

In case you missed it, or perhaps you’re just tuning in, I’ve already gone over a few accessories for Sammy’s latest flagship phone and this will be another one to add to the list. Before we get started, let’s take a quick recap of the other reviews I’ve done.

• Samsung Galaxy S III (phone review)
• Case-Mate Tough case
• Amzer Shellster case
• Official Multimedia Dock
• MHL-HDMI Adapter
• C Pen
• Arkon Slim-Grip Lighter Socket Mount

Now let’s talk about this case, shall we? The cover replaces your device’s original battery cover and provides extra protection for your beautiful screen against smudges, scratches and dirt. The installation process is simple. All you have to do is remove your existing battery cover and clip on the hard plastic portion of the Flip Cover in its place.

The cover wraps around the side of the phone and has a soft plastic felt material on the inside, against your screen,  to add an extra layer of protection when the cover is closed. The cover folds back to allow almost unimpeded access to your phone’s features. Yes, that’s not a typo — I said almost.

This is why I say the Flip Cover is “not my cup of tea”.

While you do have access to everything on your phone, taking pictures with the case on is a rather awkward task, to say the least. Because the cover folds back, you’re left with the case dangling below the phone when shooting in landscape mode, or off to the side if you’re shooting in portrait.

Another thing I’m not fond of is the “open side of the book”, meaning there is always the possibility of dropping your phone on that side that’s not wrapped by the cover, or even worse, having it flip open while the phone is on its way to the ground, face down. I’m sure the results would be disastrous.

Gallery

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Final Words

If the aforementioned qualms I have with the case don’t bother you, this isn’t a bad option at all. It’s definitely a nice case, and it does feel good in your hand, but I’ll personally stick with my Amzer Shellster case, or perhaps the ZAGG invisibleSHIELD, which I’ll be reviewing here in the next week or so. Stay tuned for that.

For a final rating here, I’m giving the Flip Cover a 3/5, strictly based upon the design’s lack of shutterbug friendliness. If you want to pick one up, they’re available on the Samsung website for $39.99 — pretty outrageous in comparison to the $19.78 they’re charging (at the time of this post) over on Amazon. Definitely choose the latter option, should you decide to buy.

Giveaway

Since the folks at Samsung were so generous to send this case out to us, we figured there’s no better way to show our appreciation than to pay it forward. Heck, I may not care for the case, but I’m sure one of you out there would love to have it. So, here’s what we’re going to do.

The contest will begin today and run through Wednesday of next week (September 26). All you have to do is hit up the Rafflecopter widget below and complete one of the required entry methods. There are no limitations on the amount of times you can enter — the more the merrier.

Unfortunately, I’m pretty broke at the moment, so we have to restrict this giveaway to the United States only. Sorry international readers. Hopefully one day I’ll be in a spot where sending a phone case overseas won’t be such a burden on my wallet.

Good luck everyone!