Nokia CP-623 Lumia 1520 Flip Case

So a little background stuff before I start this 'Review' (I have a little chuckle to my self whenever I type that, because all I do is ramble a bit, but I guess it sounds 'professional' then again it says 'Executive' on my business cards and as far as I'm concerned , I'm a salesman !) Anyway, I digress , so back to the background as it were. I don't do a lot of accessory reviews and I really don't like phone cases, I have and do use them and appreciate they can protect my very expensive toys, but out of choice I would always 'go naked' as I use phones I like the look of and believe ,generally, that cases detract from the looks of a phone, tablet or whatever. I really prefer a phone case that actually appears almost invisible like the silicone skins that came with the Nokia N9 and original Lumia 800 where the phone didn't really look any different with or without the case, so you got protection with almost zero loss of aesthetics or function, or I like a case that actually adds function to the phone and this is the category the CP-623 falls into, just like the Camera case for my Lumia 1020 and a hard case with a kickstand I bought for an HTC Desire HD I had.

The reason I have the case to try and so write about, is not due to any real desire to use it, but due to the kindness and generosity of a certain @RichardBloodyYates , I know Richard from the web, have met a couple of times and he is , apart from being an extremely nice chap, a phone geek, he tries many more handsets and operating systems than I do and searching him out on Twitter may get you more informed about mobile than reading this !! Any how, I recently met up with Richard and a group of fellow mobile 'enthusiasts' for a drink and a catch up and he had bought a bag of phone cases for various mobile phones that he had built up over the last couple of years and as a couple were for the Nokia Lumia 1520 he very generously gave them to me and for the last few days I've been using the CP-623 on my phone, coincidentally Steve Litchfield reviewed a number of 1520 cases on AAWP this week, so you can always follow this link to see a professional review.

Now I said I don't really like phone cases and the rest of this piece may end up being a little churlish , however here we go. The 623 is what I would describe as a clip on case, it has springy 'hooks' on each corner which attach it to the handset, similar to one I used on my E7 and to the Lumia QI charging covers that are available, it clips on securely and simply and all the holes and cut outs are exactly where they need to be, quality wise,as with most Nokia accessories, the case is great and as both my phone and the case are red, the colour match is near perfect. The downer comes with the flip bit !! The fact it creates a stand so you can put your huge Lumia on your desk and watch media on its beautiful HD screen without holding it is great, even though there is a slight knack to folding the cover into a Toblerone shape to support the phone it's fine once you've done it and I really didn't notice a massive loss of volume on the phones speaker as Steve did in his review, plus I tend to use headphones for stuff I really want to listen to, also the flip obviously protects the actual phone screen when covering it and generally phone cases are for protecting phones from damage.

Well that's the good out of the way, now for the bad, I hate flip cases, I like taking photos with my phone, the dangly flippy thing makes this awkward, I think people taking photos with an iPad look like dicks, with the flappy flippy thing dangling down, the already substantial Lumia 1520 looks like an iPad in a red case !! I have got used to using the 1520 on a daily basis and the extra bulk added by the CP-623 has made it appear MASSIVE again and turned it from acceptable in my pocket to bulky, hell I've stopped using the 1520 as much because flipping the cover off and holding the flippy bit is so in convenient. So if you want to know what it looks like, view the photos, if you love flip cases and are offended please accept my apology and if you are still reading I hope this has either been informative or amusing.

To conclude the case does not really suit my personal requirements, ie not to have a case on my phone, it does work well as protection, surely its main purpose and despite not exactly loving it, I can see me using it again, if only when travelling, I'm sure it will be great on planes or hotel rooms for viewing media and if I thought I may be somewhere I wouldn't want to take photos but may drop my phone it would be great.

Thanks for taking the time to take a look.

Steve Quin

15/07/2014