This post will be dictated by Siri, so I apologize if there are any glaring spelling errors.
Today was my 14th day with my Mophie juice pack air. I had purchased it on launch day from Best Buy. If I were to return it, tomorrow is the last day.
I was overall very impressed with the mophie juice pack. It definitely extended battery life. But there were a couple trade-offs also.
For starters, the charger was a little finicky. I found out that it would only charge 50% case battery and about hundred percent iPhone battery while in the power strip. Am wondering if there was some type of electrical resistance issue, as my wife charges her iPhone 4S, and we also charge our video baby monitor here.
When I plug it in another outlet in the room, very inconvenient and behind the bed, I don't seem to have this problem. Obviously when I leave for work at 5 o'clock in the morning, I don't want to have to push the bed around and get my phone out.
I was a little disappointed that the juice pack did not come with the screen protector, but it is such a precision made product I understand why it doesn't.
Even though the instructions suggest that you're supposed to leave the battery backup off until you're around 20 or 30%, I left it on constantly. I'm a believer in the fact that if I don't put my battery through a discharge/recharge cycle, the battery will last longer when I actually need it. As a result, the case itself did become warm.
I also wasn't sure if it would survive a drop. The corners are extremely thin, and I was pretty much convinced that this would shatter the phone if it fell and hit the corner. There is a very very slight lip on the front so if it fell screen side down, I guess there would be a chance that it would survive.
But, I'm not sure that this was worth the $80 I paid for it. I did buy in the Best Buy store, and it was price matched to a competitor's online price.
I ended up purchasing an OtterBox commuter series case for my phone. I had a great experience with this on my 4S, and I also had great customer service interaction.
In terms of weight, the OtterBox case is negligible in comparison to the added weight from the juice pack. This is expected.
I definitely did like the feel of the juice pack air compared to the commuter series. The commuter series is that hard plastic slippery surface. The mostly had a more of a rubberized feel to it.
If I truly was on the go constantly, I would certainly still consider the juice pack air. However, because I always have access to power whether it be in my car or house, etc., this product really doesn't make sense for me considering the price premium. If I was a professional that didn't have access to a PowerPort constantly, or talk on my phone constantly, this definitely would be something I would consider.
The convenience was great, just charging it in the nighttime when I went to bed, but I just got too nervous regarding the finicky charging situation. For now, I'll just run with my USB cable in the car with me to work, and will see what happens. If I truly need the power that bad, I could still buy a cable from Apple and still be about $30 ahead of the game.
In terms of price:
Otterbox case was $25, Mophie was $84 after tax.
If I buy an apple lightning charger for $30 I'm still about $30 in the green. I'm all for convenience but it just didn't fit my situation.
Today was my 14th day with my Mophie juice pack air. I had purchased it on launch day from Best Buy. If I were to return it, tomorrow is the last day.
I was overall very impressed with the mophie juice pack. It definitely extended battery life. But there were a couple trade-offs also.
For starters, the charger was a little finicky. I found out that it would only charge 50% case battery and about hundred percent iPhone battery while in the power strip. Am wondering if there was some type of electrical resistance issue, as my wife charges her iPhone 4S, and we also charge our video baby monitor here.
When I plug it in another outlet in the room, very inconvenient and behind the bed, I don't seem to have this problem. Obviously when I leave for work at 5 o'clock in the morning, I don't want to have to push the bed around and get my phone out.
I was a little disappointed that the juice pack did not come with the screen protector, but it is such a precision made product I understand why it doesn't.
Even though the instructions suggest that you're supposed to leave the battery backup off until you're around 20 or 30%, I left it on constantly. I'm a believer in the fact that if I don't put my battery through a discharge/recharge cycle, the battery will last longer when I actually need it. As a result, the case itself did become warm.
I also wasn't sure if it would survive a drop. The corners are extremely thin, and I was pretty much convinced that this would shatter the phone if it fell and hit the corner. There is a very very slight lip on the front so if it fell screen side down, I guess there would be a chance that it would survive.
But, I'm not sure that this was worth the $80 I paid for it. I did buy in the Best Buy store, and it was price matched to a competitor's online price.
I ended up purchasing an OtterBox commuter series case for my phone. I had a great experience with this on my 4S, and I also had great customer service interaction.
In terms of weight, the OtterBox case is negligible in comparison to the added weight from the juice pack. This is expected.
I definitely did like the feel of the juice pack air compared to the commuter series. The commuter series is that hard plastic slippery surface. The mostly had a more of a rubberized feel to it.
If I truly was on the go constantly, I would certainly still consider the juice pack air. However, because I always have access to power whether it be in my car or house, etc., this product really doesn't make sense for me considering the price premium. If I was a professional that didn't have access to a PowerPort constantly, or talk on my phone constantly, this definitely would be something I would consider.
The convenience was great, just charging it in the nighttime when I went to bed, but I just got too nervous regarding the finicky charging situation. For now, I'll just run with my USB cable in the car with me to work, and will see what happens. If I truly need the power that bad, I could still buy a cable from Apple and still be about $30 ahead of the game.
In terms of price:
Otterbox case was $25, Mophie was $84 after tax.
If I buy an apple lightning charger for $30 I'm still about $30 in the green. I'm all for convenience but it just didn't fit my situation.