mophie Juice Pack Air hands-on and impressions
By Darren Murph 
posted Apr 19th 2009 1:31PM
posted Apr 19th 2009 1:31PM
From a design and build quality perspective, the device is truly top notch. The hard plastic shell is sturdy, it fits our 8GB iPhone 3G like a glove and it doesn't impede access to the volume rocker, power button and vibrate / ring switch. The only shortfall we noticed was the proprietary Mini Dock Connector port at the bottom; in other words, you can forget about using this in your Dock Connector peripherals without first removing your handset from the case. On the bright side (literally, in fact), there are four LED indicators on the rear that show remaining Juice Pack life with a simple button press, and activating the built-in battery is as simple as flipping a toggle switch on the unit's bottom.
mophie claims that this extended battery can provide up to 4.5 additional hours of 3G talk time, 9 hours of 2G talk time, 4.5 hours of 3G web surfing and up to 5.4 hours of WiFi surfing. Additionally, it supposedly adds up to 20 extra hours of audio playback and up to 6 more hours of video playback. We couldn't bring ourselves to hanging around on the iPhone (and resisting the urge to hit up a nearby laser-filled rave, since we're being candid) to find out if this thing really could stretch to those lengths, but we can safely say that the Juice Pack Air will definitely add at least another full day of usage under what we'd consider to be "average" circumstances. Bottom line? We found no reason to not believe the claims, and found ourselves wondering if we'd ever see the meter drop.
The case does add a wee bit of bulk around back, but to us, it's hardly a deal killer. For giving users the ability to rely on heavy 3G web surfing without fear of running the battery dry within 24 hours, we feel the added bulge is a fair trade. With the phone installed, you're looking at a total depth of 0.75-inches, a height of 4.9-inches and a width of 2.59-inches. So, is it worth the $79.95? That'll largely depend on just how heavy a user you are. If you routinely find yourself struggling to minimize your iPhone 3G usage in order to savor that final 20 percent of life, this will definitely relieve those stresses. If you can't recall the last time you pushed your phone hard enough to run it dry within a day, you're probably just burning money.
These extended battery packs are actually already on sale in Canada at various Rogers stores!
not the juice pack air, though killer
I don't want to be negative, as it's really a good idea to have more battery power, but I can't wait to see what wrapping a lithium battery around the iPhone's GSM radio antenna will do to its already iffy reception, never mind its GPS function. This thing should kill reception and transmission power on the iPhone, if only looking at it logically. It's a great idea, as long as the iPhone doesn't suffer signal reception or transmission degradation. We'll see what further testing reveals. That's my 2 cents.
You act as if this is the first and only ever battery pack released for the iPhone. There's several of these on the market. I have had no problems with service or GPS with a similar device (yet fatter) on the iPhone.
I wish that companies noticed the iPod touch more. :( this company already has a battery pack for it, but no air one, and look at many oter accessory companies, like incase, every other day, new iPhone options! Nothing for any other iPod for a long while though.
I wish they made this case for the 2g.
Think about how use 1st gen iPhone users feel. Our device isn't manufactured anymore, so new 3rd party accessories are practically non-existent. I can't tell you how much iPod touch stuff I see at the stores...
I pre-ordered one of these two months ago. They promised me that I could charge both the internal and juice-pack batteries with the one cable. If this is the case, what's the switch on the bottom for ? Also, the second primary element was pass-thru sync. I see that there is no dock connector, just the mini-USB. If I plug this in to my Mac or PC, does it both sync and charge through the USB connector ?
Picked one up today at the Apple Store. Couldnt be happier. Thinner and better looking than the Incase Power Slider I bought last week at Best Buy. Ill be returning it shortly.
As the switch is for using it to power the iPhone or not... guess you can leave it in standby or leave it on at all times, like I do...
Darren, is that your iPhone? You may want to have some else put on the next protective screen ;)
Awful! Picked up the Juice Pack air last week. After a full week of testing, I can officially confirm that the signal degrades SUBSTANTIALLY with this case/battery. I can sit in my living room, still as the night, and remove my case, watch the bars go from 1 to 5, then put the case back on...signal goes from 5 to 1 (sometimes 0), and repeat this over and over and over and over and over...same thing happens each time. I even went so far as to do this over the course of a few days, and had the exact same results. I contacted Mophie customer support who said I should take it back to the Apple store for an exchange to try a new unit. I have not had a chance to do that yet. As far as the battery life is concerned, it's as advertised. The battery will run out in about 10 hours without use, if you keep the battery turned on. It gets a little bit hot for my taste as well. Looks great, fits extremely well, fit and finish are excellent. If you don't care about signal, this is the one for you! I am sure we're going to start hearing much much more about the signal problems. It's so bad, that I would venture to guess that there may be some sort of class-action suit in the near future if they don't get this fixed ASAP. Again, I'm getting a replacement case this weekend, so I'll see if it's a fluke.
I have the current Mophie and it works quite well. I live in a very warm climate and they put these grip strips on the side of the original one and the heat activates the glue. It gets messy on a hot day in a car. As far as the battery life, I can assure you it works as advertised. I fly all over the US and watch movies on the plane. I've never run out of power with the Mophie attached. Note: If you fly on Boeing 737, there are cigarette lighter (below seat) between each seat in case you need to charge your cell phones.
Excellent product!
why? why are we talking about extended packs? I charge my Blackberry once a week and yes I get pushed around 100 emails a day into it ...
can I say that iPhone battery sucks?
So I'm confused: Does it or does it not work for the 1st gen iPhone? They talk about 2G talk time... Is that just when you're out of 3G service or is that refering to the 1st gen iPhone that doesn't do 3G?
It would be helpful if it just said "Compatible with: x,y and z"
CAN ANYONE CLARIFY?
Cheers.
I received my juice pack air today. I currently only use the invisible shield for my phones protection. Something to make all of you aware of is that even though the invisible shield is very small it will not fit in this case unless you remove the back coating of the shield. Now here's the problems I've ran into with this case. First when I put my phone in the case I get a message stating that the device is not compatible with iphone and it wants me to turn on airplane mode to reduce interference and I will not be able to make or receive calls in this mode. So that sucks huh? Well I answer no to the airplane mode and then I watch my signal go from 4 bars to 2 bars. Much like many others have stated as well. But even though the phone says its not compatible it will still charge my phone and appears to work fine. Until I keep investigating and I find out that for some reason I have no audio at all! The whole phone is muted, games, ringtones, ipod, all of it. Then I look for the number to call mophie and I see in very small print that they charge a 20% restocking fee. 20%!!! That's insane! Worst part about that is when I made my purchase online nowhere did it say anything about this! I'm disappointed with the first impressions this device has given me. I have filed a claim and hope to get a device that works the right way in about a week.