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Do you use an external batteries/Chargers?

JediZenMaster

JediZenMaster

Suspended
Original poster
Mar 28, 2010
2,180
654
Seattle
I just went to the apple store and picked up the Mophie juice pack reserve it's pretty cool and it has a built in flashlight also. Even though the iPhone 4 has excellent battery life it's still good to have a way to keep it charged around :). I love mophie products and i had the juice pack air for my 3GS which lasted untill my mini-usb broke on it :(

Which batteries do you guys use if any?
 
I use a Mophie on my 3Gs and am happy. Still not exactly what I wanted as the battery won't go to 100% if my iPhone is below 50% or so. However, that said, I use the heck out of my phone and can go from 5am to 11pm and still have 20-30% left even after extreme use.

What I like is that it's providing protection, power and a sleek black look.
 
I sometimes use a standalone Sanyo USB 5000mAh battery pack. It's just a tad bigger than a deck of playing cards. Great stuff, but you can't get it any more. (Just try finding anything close to 5000mAh in a small size.)
 
Satechi iCel.

g2HSOl.jpg
 
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I use the Zagg Sparq. It has its own a/c plug attached for recharging itself. It charges the iPhone up to 4 additional charges. Lasts forever for airline flights, camping etc.
 
I use a kensington.... http://richardsolo.com/bluepackS32600.aspx but got it on sale for 45.00, doubt I would have bought it for 90. Got one for me and my wife. Charges phones fast, even gives my ipad a boost. Also the light is pretty bright. And it comes with multiple hook ups to work on many devices.
 
I have the Richard Solo unit that I got for my 3GS. I haven't tried it on the iP4 yet. I also carry a charge kit made up of a cigarette lighter plug a wall plug and the adapter cable that came with the unit. I'm ready for bear. :)
 
The Richard Solo is only 2600 mAh. That's like around half of the others. (And the regular price is a lot higher.)
 
I have to agree with TLewis, it only gave about 1 1/2 charges to my 3GS before it needed to be recharged, and it did it very slowly. I would really look elsewhere. I use my charge Kit much more than the Richard Solo, which I'm only keeping for camping or boating when I'm completely away from any other power sources.
 
Tom G. said:
I have to agree with TLewis, it only gave about 1 1/2 charges to my 3GS before it needed to be recharged, and it did it very slowly. I would really look elsewhere. I use my charge Kit much more than the Richard Solo, which I'm only keeping for camping or boating when I'm completely away from any other power sources.
Click to expand...

Well, in all fairness, it's probably not unusual for these chargers to charge slowly. Others may feel differently, but I'm more concerned about the number of charges that I get out of a battery, instead of the charge speed.
 
I have the Mophie Juice Pack Reserve and am happy with it so far. It works with the bumper and seems to charge my phone faster than my Griffin PowerJolt auto charger.

EDIT: I noticed that when charging the iPhone for a longer period of time with the Juice Pack Reserve, both the phone and Juice Pack become very hot. I'm waiting on a response from customer support and will return it for a refund if this is the case with all Juice Pack Reserves.
 
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If anyone wants a 50% off discount code from Zagg for the Zagg Sparq, message me. I have JUST ONE OF EM.
 
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I had the Mophie Fuel for my 3GS, & it worked really well. I hope Mophie comes out with a case for the 4 soon. Its battery has been great for me, but I still get paranoid & like having a case that doubles as an extra battery just in case. :)
 
I've had the mophie for my 3g I got this past christmas and I really like it. But it has broke twice. The first time the connector at the bottom came loose and it wouldn't charge. But the one year warranty I sent it in and got a new one a few days later. This one now only re-charges if the wire is pulled to the side and the on/off switch has moved up in the case and I have to use a needle to switch it. Obviously its still under warranty but I haven't sent it in yet as now I have an ip4. To be fair, it got used a lot. I work outside and used it daily as I streamed radio most days so its use was heavy. The first incident I think was just a fluke, but the latest ones are probably from very heavy use and wouldn't happen if I wasn't constantly charging it in my vehicle at work.
 
JediZenMaster said:
I just went to the apple store and picked up the Mophie juice pack reserve it's pretty cool and it has a built in flashlight also. Even though the iPhone 4 has excellent battery life it's still good to have a way to keep it charged around :). I love mophie products and i had the juice pack air for my 3GS which lasted untill my mini-usb broke on it :(

Which batteries do you guys use if any?
Click to expand...

Did your apple store have plenty of them in stock?
 
The morphie is only 1000mAh -- around 1/5th (or 20%) of the other batteries mentioned here. (Besides, the morphie can only charge iPhone/iPods; other batteries with a standard USB port can charge anything that charges via USB.)

The iUp looks good, as does the Satechi (if you can handle the charging issues). The Zagg also looks good, but is nearly twice the price of the others (without any discounts or coupons), for maybe another ~10-25% capacity.
 
Been searching on the forums for a definitive answer, but haven't found one...

What is the best available backup battery that will charge my iPhone 4 with a bumper on it?

About to go away (to Comic Con!) and need to make sure my phone lasts through long days of use (couldn't make it through a day with a charge last year).

Thanks!
 
coyotegospel said:
Been searching on the forums for a definitive answer, but haven't found one...

What is the best available backup battery that will charge my iPhone 4 with a bumper on it?
Click to expand...
If you can connect the standard Apple charging cable to it with the bumper, any of the mentioned USB batteries should work.
 
I'll preface that I have the iUp as a backup, not my main battery pack. I only got it for a trip I was taking to the MotoGP in Indy last year. This info is also a year old because that's when I was buying these things.

I prefer battery sleds to external packs as they also act as a hard case. I found it far more convenient not to have to carry a separate case with me. The extra weight of the battery guarantees that in a drop it will most likely land with the screen-side up. With a sled I don't have anything extra hanging off the phone and can use them while making calls, walking, etc.

I tried the Incase battery pack first and didn't like it because it was significantly thicker (it was a higher capacity battery, but not enough to justify the significant increase in size), had a matte surface with made it hard to pull out of pockets, and it didn't have an on/off switch. A year ago there weren't other battery sleds that were a comparable size to the Mophie. The only things I would change on the mophie would be greater capacity (duh), more LEDs in the battery level indicator (I wish it had eight or ten like my MBP instead of just the four it has), a raised lip like the Incase so setting it screen side down wouldn't have it resting on the glass (a screen protector solves this), and something to protect the back of the iPhone from scuffing when you remove the case.

The Mophie uses Micro USB rather than dock connector. This never caused any issues and allowed syncing and charging, but it just feels inherently weak and I always felt that over time the jack would deform a little and get jiggly and loose. Obviously docks, accessories, and car kits are out with any sled.

Sleds also have the advantage of keeping your battery in mint condition as you are hardly ever hitting the internal one. I just left the Mophie on and let it drain before moving over to the internal. Its excellent piece of mind, especially if you jailbreak as you can use all your phone's features all day long and never have to worry about running low. You never have to leave the house and worry that you forgot your external pack.
 
Ah, ok. That helps a lot. The older cable (the one with the "pinch buttons" on the sides) doesn't fit into the opening in the bumper, so if none of these are wider than the newer cable, it should be good to go.

Thanks!
 
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