You may be have been thinking lately that I am absolutely obsessed with iPhone 4 battery cases. To be honest, I quite am. Every time I go somewhere, I like to have a battery case on my phone that fill specific needs. Sometimes I want a lot of bulk, sometimes I dont. Sometimes I want a lot of battery, sometimes I dont. Kesingtons PowerGuard battery case for the iPhone 4 features a 1200 mAh battery, a card stand, and a bunch of other cool design elements. Does the Kensington PowerGuard for the iPhone 4 have what it takes to live up to some of the other low capacity battery cases available on the market? Read on for the full review of the Kensington PowerGuard for the iPhone 4 to find out.
Before we begin, lets talk a little bit about all of the hype surrounding iPhone 4 battery cases. They have one main goal, and thats to charge your phone. While most battery cases do this quite well, some are too pricey, are a little bit on the bulky side, dont have as much capacity as listed, or are just plain ugly. Lets go ahead and take a closer look to see what the Kensington PowerGuard for the iPhone 4 is all about, is it bulky? Does it have a good capacity? Is it pricey? Why do you keep asking all of these questions? Read on!
I would first like to begin this review by talking a little bit about the nifty little packaging that the PowerGuard ships in. In some ways, it sort of reminds me of a book in the way the box opens. When you first receive your PowerGuard, you may be delighted by the pretty little box in, but also a little confused on how to open. To open the box, you simply take one corner and flip open, just like you would do with any novel or chapter book. Inside you will find the PowerGuard for the iPhone 4 as well as a USB cable for charging, and a users manual.
Unlike some other cases, the Kensington PowerGuard is sort of a little bit on the trickier side when it comes to installing on your phone. If you read the directions however, you should be just fine. To actually install the case on your phone, you first need to take your phone and slide it down onto the charging connector. Once that is hooked you will need to take the band (yes, the case comes in two parts, one is the battery and the back while the front part is the frame) and snap it on top over the phone, making sure that the bottom of the case is actually hooked in.
Lets take a quick look over of all the buttons and the ports. At the top of the case you have one covering for the sleep and wake button and an opening for the audio jack. While the sleep/wake button was very easy to press I found that the audio jack will not work with larger size jacks due to the fact that it is a little bit on the small side. On the left side of the case you have two cutouts for the ringer switch and the volume rockers. I found no problem when it came to accessing any of these buttons. Going to the bottom of the case you have one single opening for the USB slot to charge both the case and your iPhone simultaneously.
Going to the back of the case you will find one single cutout for the camera and the flash, I am pleased to report that I had no problems when it came to using the flash with the case on in low light conditions. Last but not least are two buttons located externally on the backside of the case itself. Unlike some other battery style cases, the PowerGuard for the iPhone 4 is activated upon a slider switch that turns on the built in battery, where as other cases you hold down a button for a few seconds to initiate the charging sequence.You will also find a (another feature different from other battery cases) battery light indicator that shows how much battery is left by two different tones lights, green and red (other battery cases use 3-4 small circle lights instead).
Battery Life Test
I think that one of my favorite features about the Kensington PowerGuard for the iPhone 4 was how fast it charged your phone. Before we get to that, lets talk a little about how the battery life is. The Kensington PowerGuard is equipped with a 1200 mAh battery, a few mAh less than the iPhone 4s battery. I did my usual tested (drained the battery down to ten (10%) percent) and was delighted with the results after it was done charging. My phone was at a good eighty (80%) after it was done charging, just as advertised. As stated in the begging, it charges my phone fast, very, very fast. In about forty (40) minutes my phone went from ten (10%) to eighty (80%) percent, which is really awesome.
Even though this is an awesome case no doubt, I am still a little hesitant to recommend just because of the sheer size of the case. If you saw my review of the Lenmar iBatteryCase you may have recalled that I said it was very thin for a 1700 mAh case. This is even bigger than the Padacs PowerCase for the iPhone 4, and that thing was a beast!
Overall, I can recommend the Kensington PowerGuard for the iPhone 4if you want a quick charge up and are a moderately heavy user. However, if you do not like bulky cases, then this is not the case for you. You can pick the PowerGuard for the iPhone 4 at their website, dont forget to check out the link for more info!
Rating 4/5