[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshootin] Aou:
This YouTube video shows it in action, but I think it's French or something (dun car, not English). Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8mQOrk2DBg

Here' my experience with the S-View cover:

If you do not have a password/pattern/number lock on your lock screen (simply set to swipe-to-unlock), just opening the S-View cover will turn on and unlock the device. You open it, and it's ready-to-use immediately.

Closing the lid will lock the device for the most part, and for the next 10 seconds or so, it will show the time and notification icons (and battery/signal/etc) through the little window. After 10 seconds, the device shuts off. You can power it back on like this with the power button, but it doesn't unlock it until you open it again.

The window itself appears to be made of glass. It's fairly nice - I was half expecting it to be crappy plastic. If it's not glass, it's really nice plastic.

You can answer or decline incoming calls through the glass when it rings with a swipe of a little round icon one way or the other. Pretty neat, but if you have the touch sensitivity all the way down, you might have a slight trouble using this feature. I haven't tried it since the OTA update, so they may have improved that!

You can hang up an existing call in a similar fashion.

The flip cover itself needs some time to "break in". When you first put it on, it will not lay flat onto the glass of your phone without some convincing, or being held in place by your pocket. After enough use, or a day or two, it gets much better. Don't think the cover is defective from this, it's just too tight in the "hinge" at first, but will loosen up with use.

Occasionally, if I have the cover flipped backwards for long periods, it somewhat emulates the same effect as the above point. It will shy away from the screen for a brief while, and then return to normal. I suspect after several more weeks, this will go away entirely at this rate.

One thing that I really do like about this cover: Because it replaces the battery cover of your phone, it adds virtually no bulk to the phone. It is very slightly thicker, and I can tell you that I appreciate it for one reason: The normal battery cover is inset, such that the camera lens sticks out the furthest, and when placing the device on a flat surface, it rests on the edge of the camera lens. On the S-View flip cover, the new back sticks out just a hair past the camera lens, so it no longer rests on the camera anymore. I take a lot of pictures, so I like to keep my camera lens immaculate.

The glass window will get rather dirty, especially if you shove the phone against a greasy head. Not a big deal, just use a microfiber cloth once in a while and some screen cleaner to get it shiny again.

The normal covers have no window, and so when you open it all the way (flipped around backwards), you can't use the rear-facing camera! With the S-View cover, it lines up such that you can use the camera straight through the glass on the cover. A nice touch, really. Because I take a lot of close-up shots and other detailed pictures, I choose not to flip the cover all the way around, because sometimes the window is dirty. So I just flip it downwards or whatnot.

The flip cover, even when purchased through AT&T, does not have AT&T's logo on the back, like the normal battery cover. I like it that way better. Even better: the front shows "Galaxy S4" near the bottom, and makes it a lot easier to show that you have a really, really cool phone. :P

I hope this all helps if debating whether to drop $60 on the S-View cover or not. Generics are starting to become available, but I don't know anything about the quality, etc.

---------- Post added at 12:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:30 PM ----------

I didn't mention battery at all, but you bring up a point. The Note2 has excellent battery life, there's no doubt about that. The S4 has "good" battery life in my experience, especially coming from the S2. People are saying that battery life has improved with the OTA update recently, but I haven't had a good chance to test that out. Freezing bloatware has really been a big help to increasing the battery life, regardless.

My S4 easily lasts the day, and can last two days with moderate/intermittent usage. I think the OTA update may have improved the battery life significantly, but I will have to test this out over the next couple days. Also, keeping it on Wi-Fi where available seems to be the best way to conserve battery life in my area.