In the last 2 years that I’ve had an iPhone 4 and now an iPhone 4S, I’ve never been able to heavily use it when I travel and have it last all day. I have external batteries that I’ve had to put in my pocket to charge it which is awkward and not convenient. Last month, I decided to do some research and see about buying a battery case for my iPhone. Of course, this has the major disadvantage that when the iPhone form factor changes, I have to get a new case.
After reading some reviews, I decided to go with the Mophie Juice Pack Plus as it got pretty good reviews, has a large battery and offers some case protection. The next hard part was trying to figure out where to get it. On Amazon the price was about half of everywhere else. However, a bunch of the reviews were mixed and after pouring through pages and pages of reviews, I determined the issue. Some of the vendors are selling counterfeit cases and it seemed like a risk to get one and have no idea if it was real. Instead, I found a coupon for a company called outfitYOURS.com. After the coupon, I got it for $80 including shipping and it arrived quickly.
I’ve now used the battery on 2 trips; one a week long in San Francisco and a 3 day trip in Portland. During both trips, by late afternoon of each day, my iPhone was down to about 20% charge and I flipped on the Mophie and it started charging the iPhone which let me make it to the end of the day. The case does what it is advertised to do and doesn’t add too much bulk to my phone, however, when switching back to my normal case, I am able to feel the difference in the thickness. The case appears to be well made and my phone easily slips into it.
The case charges via MicroUSB and charges my iPhone as well; I had no problems with the charging. My only issues with the case is that one day after I flipped the case on to charge my iPhone, my iPhone shutoff a few hours later once the Mophie’s battery had depleted. I’m not sure if this was related to the Mophie or not; however, I’m now more careful and when the iPhone reaches 100% charge, I turn off the Mophie.
So far it has done exactly what it was intended to do and I’m going to take it on all my trips.
Pros
- Provides enough extra juice to last an entire day.
- Case adds some level of protection.
- Charges iPhone and case simultaneously.
Cons
- It uses a MicroUSB plug for charging; while I realize that this was done because of space, I dislike MicroUSB as it is hard to get the plug in.
- It adds some bulk to the phone.
- A little expensive.
Summary
If you find that your iPhone doesn’t last an entire day, the Mophie Juice Pack Plus is definitely a good solution. If you decide to buy from Amazon, be careful that you don’t get a knock off. I’d hope that the iPhone could last a day, but if cell coverage is notoriously bad (like San Francisco) or you get a lot of email (push especially), then a battery like this isn’t a luxury, but a necessity.