It comes up when I'm driving someone around and they ask where my car charger is (I don't have one). Or when I'm having a party at my house and my guests asks to go into my office to plug their iPhone into my computer. You don't have to live like this anymore. There is another way.
It all started years ago when I started visiting NYC for long periods of time. Navigating the city with my phone, using it as my main camera, and also using it for entertainment while I was on the subway, ate battery life at a stunning rate. I traveled everywhere with a power cable in my pocket and I would stop constantly at coffee shops and book stores to get a little extra juice. That all changed when I finally bought the Mophie Juice Pack battery case for my phone for $130 (don't worry, you don't have to spend that much anymore).
As we use our phones more and more, especially for photos and videos, we also need to charge our phones more often. I personally haven't charged my phone once during the day in the last 5 years. My phone+battery case can last all day with me literally using the phone all day long, and almost never turning it off. Even still, the majority of my friends refuse to buy a battery case. Let's lay out all of the arguments against a battery case and allow me to crush them.
But they are so expensive!
They used to be too expensive when they were made by one company. The Mophie brand still costs $99 but I wouldn't suggest it. My Mophie cases always fell apart. The cheapo $35 version works just as well and if it does break, you can buy another and still be ahead of the Mophie.
Don't you have to remove the phone from the case to connect it to a computer?
You used to but not anymore. Even the cheapest cases allow syncing while the phone remains inside the case.
They make the phone too bulky
This is probably the best argument, but most iPhone users still use a case of some kind. Battery cases are slightly bigger than your average case but I bet you'll get used to it just like I did. When I take my phone out of my case I am always impressed by just how small it is but at the same time I find it incredibly difficult to hold without a case. It's simply too thin to easily grip. The case will make the phone easier to hold and use and if you carry it in a purse, size certainly isn't an issue. If you keep your phone in your pocket, it will add some heft but it will become normal after a few days.
Doesn't it change the phone's connection?
Yes but this is actually a good thing. By using a battery case for your iPhone you are basically guaranteeing you can charge/sync your phone in any situation. The battery case will plug into the lightning connector on the bottom of the phone but the case will sync/charge with an external USB micro cable. Almost everyone has micro USB cables in their home because it's an industry standard. If you find yourself without a cable you will now have 2 options, lightning or USB micro to charge/sync your phone.
I don't own an iPhone, I have an Android smartphone
One of the downsides to Android phones is that a new one comes out every week. 3rd party accessory companies cannot make custom products for every single Android device but they do make products for the most popular products. The Galaxy S6 has an almost identical case for just $35.
With the iPhone 6s coming out tomorrow with it's battery gobbling 4k video, having some extra power is going to be even more useful. Until these phone manufacturers stop trying to make their phones paper thin and start adding actual "all day battery life," the battery case is something I personally can't live without.
I love the form factor of a phone without a case too much. I like to use a phone the way engineers/designers intended us to.
If I know I'm going to be out and about too long, I bring one of these along.
http://www.amazon.com/Intocircuit-11200mAh-Portable-External-Flashlight/...
If you don't actually use a case at all then you certainly won't like doubling the thickness
My new android phone has Quick Charge 2.0 so I can plug my phone in for a mere 15 minutes and get a few hours of battery life. Full charge from dead in less then an hour. A few bump charges here and there through the day while driving or sitting at my desk and I can go to bed with 85% battery.
Quick charge and wireless charging are incredible. People really are missing out on these features.
That's pretty awesome but I still don't want to have to plug my phone in throughout the day.
Quick charge is one of those things that I had no idea how convenient it would end up being when I bought the phone. Usually after work the phone is around 35-40%, but I plug it in when I get home & in the time it takes to basically change my clothes and get ready to go out for a drink it's close to 80%...
Just posted separately about that very thing. My Droid Turbo is like a 36hr device, I don't need to plug it in during the day, but with the Quick Charge 2.0, you get 1% per min, and I would love to see other phones bring that. I do have have a portable USB charger too that I can charge any device with just in case I'm stuck anywhere and not driving.It was better than a case for myself in case I had my wife's phone or something else to help charge along the way. But Lee, you're right, I wish more manufacturers would put battery first, which is why I love that Motorola line so far.
they make quick charge portable USB chargers now too! so you can get fast charge away from an outlet. And quick charge 2.0 is crazy fast.
I'm more of an external battery pack ( power bank ) kind of guy than a battery case kind of guy.
I've never used a case for any of my phones, they were just... annoying to me :-D
With my software & hardware tweaked HTC One Mini I have no problems lasting over a full day unless I use the GPS navigation for more than 1 hour.
And then, I'd rather charge it in the car, or at a cafeteria, or using a power bank than using a battery case which adds bulk to my phone, makes it huge and does exactly what I hate in current flagship phones: not fitting in my pocket and making me walk like a gimp ( no offense! ).
I don't know Lee... Maybe get a printed map next time you visit NYC? Our streets are fairly symmetrical. It's tough to get lost here. That is, unless Peter Hurley gave you wrong directions to the local Goodwill store (you know, where you were supposed to pick up a "new" shirt for him)? These battery packs turn a sleek and sexy phone into an 80s-era car phone. Think form over function. Why do you think people wear fashion the way they do? It's certainly not because it's functional.
These battery packs will remain a niche for the nerdy types. The rest of us will just charge, and struggle. It's the human way my man.
I personally find it so wrong that phone designing companies don't go for function, and have clearly developed a side-market for their issues. A few years ago, we were with software without major bugs and flaws, phones which lasted 1 week to list just 2 things. Nowadays with consumerism, we are saying... our computers don't work,no worries an upgrade will come soon, software is buggy, get the service pack, a camera has flaws... get the firmware update when it's there, and a phone lacks battery power (which is the most important thing for it to work and serve it's purpose), get a battery pack or an external pack.
Now i agree that we as consumers want that by buying those phones and sticking to them, but seriously, how can we really accept the unacceptable ?
I went from iPhone to Sony for this reason, the phone works, it takes a bit of mind shifting initially but it's just a phone, the rest is email, apps, web and that's no different. Best option ever is the stamina mode. If i'm travelling and don't want access to internet, but just phone, i can go with a Monochrome version of my screen, and it can last up to 3 weeks... yes you read correctly... 3 weeks... crazy stuff.
Now android or iPhone or Windows is personal choice, but what we should really push towards, is getting the consumer back in his place, meaning where we belong, decision makers for the industry, and asking for things to work properly from computer & phone makers as we would do with a car or any other home device.
I have a 5" smart phone that can last 1-2 days on a single charge, even with moderate to heavy use, and I can always top up the charge with a Qi battery pack or plate if I have time.
It's just an unnecessary cost to a phone that has a compromised design to limit battery life either in OS design or simply because the internal batteries are under-powered.
It's why I've put battery first on my list the last 3 times with the Maxx series and now Turbo. Using my Droid Turbo, still have like 50-40% left by end of day, Even on a really busy day using it, still 30-20% left. And then tack on the Quick Charge 2.0 that charges my phone in the car to a gig or at home at 1%/min and I have about 8 hrs of use more after 15min. No brainer in the car going anywhere to just boost it so quickly, even if you're running 1 small 5 min errand.
sponsored ad? yep i think so.......
If I were actually paid every time someone THINKS I was getting paid, I'd be so rich I would no longer be posting on Fstoppers.
Maybe you should clearly state it's not an AD because it sure seems like one.