IT Pro Verdict

The M8 has a great 5in display and excellent battery life, but it's expensive and there's no protection from water or dust.

Reasons to buy

+
Great screen; Expandable storage; Good performance & battery

Reasons to avoid

-
Gimmicky camera; Annoying cover flap; No protection from the elements

By Khidr Suleman

published 31 March 2014

in Reviews

Dot View Cover

One of the most interesting features is the Dot View' cover. The soft plastic front panel is covered in pin pricks and this provides enough transparency to display information. Double tap on the cover and it will show the time, weather or your last notification. It resembles an old sports electronic scoreboard.

The best thing about the cover is the ability to answer calls by flicking up on the cover and then talking on the phone without opening the case. Calls are loud and clear and not muffled by the plastic.

Despite the uniqueness of the cover, it's not without its faults. The hinge is so tightly wound, it snaps back into place when opened. When holding the device with one hand you have to bend the cover round and hold it with some force. Even when you sit the device on a table with the over folded around, it will not sit evenly.

We're surprised these details weren't spotted at the testing stage, and it's a shame because otherwise this could have been the best cover on the market.

We saw six different colors (brown, pink, red, teal, blue, and orange) for the opaque cases and two (teal and grey) for the dotted ones.

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Khidr Suleman is the Technical Editor at IT Pro, a role he has fulfilled since March 2012. He is responsible for the reviews section on the site - so get in touch if you have a product you think might be of interest to the business world. He also covers the hardware and operating systems beats. Prior to joining IT Pro, Khidr worked as a reporter at Incisive Media. He studied law at the University of Reading and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Magazine Journalism and Online Writing at PMA Training.