Review: Missing the Auto wake/sleep function
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 21, 2013
For comparison sake, I recently purchased aFintie Amazon All-New Kindle Fire HDX 7 Folio Case Cover with Auto Sleep/Wakethat I put to use on my shiny new Kindle Fire HDX 7".  That was the first case I received and started using, and by virtue of being the first one that I had in hand, perhaps it colors my opinion of that case a bit more favorably, and possibly causes me to rate this case a bit more harshly.  That said, I have tried to be as fair as I could in my review here of this Belkin case.I like the feel of this case, and certainly it didn't come with a smell that overwhelmed me when I opened the package, but as I progress through this review I have to take a quick detour to comment on the packaging that this case was shipped in.  This case shipped in a small cardboard box that fits fairly tightly around the case.  It was sealed with tape on either end, and sealed fairly tightly.  I thought it would open fairly quickly just by slicing through the tape with the edge of a scissors blade, but apparently I was off in my estimation.  It was not that easy to open as getting your fingers inside the ends of the box seemed to be a nearly impossible feat.  It made me wish that the manufacturer had used a box that was easier to open, perhaps with a pull tab or something of that type that would allow for quicker opening of the box.  Enough said in that area.  (Thanks for following me on that detour.)Once the box was opened and I got a look at the case, I was fairly well impressed by the design.  It looks sharp, and is very easy to just look at and figure out how to clip the Kindle Fire HDX 7" device into it.  The Kindle clips in easily and fits snugly enough to feel like it is being held in a sturdy enough fashion.  With that said, I'd say that I am a bit concerned that the plastic edges that clip the Kindle Fire in place might not hold up well if someone were to be trying to insert and remove the Kindle from the case on a regular basis.  It feels more like a case that you should be clipping the Kindle into one time and just leaving it in there.Compared to the Fintie Folio case, I like that this Belkin case doesn't wrap the edges (bezel) of the Kindle and instead leaves most of the bezel area open.  That makes it a little easier to wipe the screen clear of finger prints.  This Belkin case also seems to 'shed' less than the Fintie case does (or did for me), which means not having to wipe the screen clean so frequently.Where this case loses the most points with me is in not having the magnetic cover which means there's no auto Wake/Sleep functionality with this case.  With a price point at nearly twice that of the Fintie Folio case, it seems a little strange that this case doesn't one-up that case or at least keep pace with that feature.  It isn't advertised as having that feature, so it isn't a case of expecting that feature to be there based on what was advertised, it is more a case of an expectation that the auto-Wake/Sleep function should just be there for all Kindle Fire HDX cases ;-)This Belkin case feels a bit and looks a bit sleeker and a bit more stylish than the Fintie case does.  That case is definitely thicker, and seems bigger by comparison though it really isn't much (if any) bigger than this case is.  It is more of an optical illusion, perhaps also brought on by the lighter colors that are used in the cover of this case compared to the basic black 'pleather' that the Fintie is made of.If this case included the magnetic auto-Wake/Sleep function, and also included a hand strap to help hold it with, I think it would be in solid 5 star territory for me.  As is, I've given it 4 stars, and might go a little more than that if I could.  As competition increases and more cases for the Kindle Fire HDX 7" device are made available, I expect this Belkin case to be more of a competitive case option.  For now it seems to be priced reasonably, though not in the bargain range I admit to shopping in most of the time.