Mophie Juice Pack Air Case -- works well, requires trial and error

Oct 30, 2009

by jolson

Exclusive to the Lunch Network

Rating:

Update on 01/12/2009
After posting my review of the product not working, I sent Mophie my review. They eventually emailed me back and responded to my issues. After several month I have finally received a new product and to my surprise it works, and works well.
----------
As a backup plan to the short life of the iPhone battery, I decided to pickup up a battery extender.

My criteria for this product was simple:
1. Extend the life of the battery
2. Sleek look, not too bulky, (If i wanted bulky i'd go back to my 2001 Airtouch phone... I guess the battery would last longer)
3. Protective case (it has to replace my InCase Slide which is the best basic case on the market)
4. Ability to Sync with the computer without having to remove the case
5. Easy to Operate and Reliable

I found a few products on amazon that met my criteria but the own that was more spot on was the Mophie Juice Pack. All sounded well on paper and the price $79.99 seemed reasonable, consider a hard case is $34.99, I figured another $40 for the extended battery pack seemed legit.

I went to the Apple store so I could take a look at the device and ask some of the Geniuses if they used the product and how it worked for them. Lucky for me it was in stock and I was able to ask my questions and look at the charger. According to the Apple peeps i spoke with...
-- "it works great with the 3G and 3Gs"
-- "No problems"
-- "it should extend the battery life 50 - 100%, depends on the charge"

All sounded good to me so I bought it.

Before hooking it up to my iPhone I read through the directions and charged the power pack. Once fully charged I plugged in my iPhone and was ready for new long use iphone on a single charge.

The below section is now outdated. The Replacement works fine, however if you purchase this product and experience these issues, take it back immediately and get it replaced:

Based on my criteria the Mophie was only able to deliver on 2 of the 5.
This product scored high for looking good and protecting well. It completely missed the mark at being a battery extender. As soon a the iPhone is plugged in to the iPhone the iPhone throws an error, "This accessory is not made to work with the iPhone"
I'm a windows user, so if it doesn't work, turn it off, turn off the iphone, find updates for the software, restart, cross your fingers and viola... nada. after several attempts it never worked.

In the end if you are looking to extend the life of your iPhone battery I DO NOT recommend this product. If you want a protective case that looks good, costs twice, as much and weighs more... maybe.

Needless to say I'm still on the market. If you have any recommendations on an iPhone battery extender please leave a comment.

Juice Pack Air Case -- Not worth the hassle

What did you think of this review?

Helpful

Thought-Provoking

Fun to Read

Well-Organized

Post a Comment

TeamAWAC October 30, 2009

Bummer about the case. I recently just read about the battery extender: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.as..._id=5867&seq=1&format=2 It doesn't delivery on all your requirements either, but it's cheap enough that it seems it might be worth tossing in your bag if you know you're going to be traveling around on a given day.

jolson November 02, 2009

Thanks for the tip. I may have to pick this up as backup.

show text editor

reply to this comment

Follow this review

devora October 30, 2009

I didn't even know that these iPhone battery extender cases existed, but I'd be very interested in one myself!

...Just not this one.

show text editor

reply to this comment

Follow this review

More Mophie Juice Pack Air Battery ... reviews

Quick Tip by jolson. January 14, 2010

A Quick Tip by jolson

Mophie redeemed themselves with a replacement product that work's as advertised

Comment Compliment

see all Mophie Juice Pack Air Battery ... reviews (2)

About the reviewer

Jim O. (jolson)

Hello! I'm the head of product at lunch and my passion is to build a product that gives the community tools to learn from others, share experiences & expertise, and promote good conversations … more