juice box

Technically it’s called a “juice pack,” but who cares. I’m going on a trip in a week and became concerned about the lasting power of my iPhone. This was never an issue before because I was always near a computer or outlet where I can recharge, but the thought of being out-and-about for a whole day with no convenience to sit and charge my phone led to some research in the external battery market.

After some research I settled on the Mophie Juice Pack air, the thinnest external battery for the iPhone 3G (and 3Gs). I read some mixed reviews on this product but also realized it’s Apple Certified and anything certified by Apple must get good right!? Right? Not only that but you can currently only find it in Apple Stores.

Upon buying my juice pack I performed two tests, both using 3G since that’s the setting which would drain the most out of the battery. One note: the juice pack air has a switch which puts into standby mode. When in this mode no power is being drained from the battery and will only contribute if it’s switched to the on position.

My first test was with the juice pack on stand buy, waiting for the iPhone battery to reach 10% before switching it on. During this test the juice pack only filled my iPhone’s battery to 2/3 of it’s power. The original juice pack would fill the iPhone completely from this starting point and clearly there’s some sacrifice in power to gain the slimmer sleeker form factor. The result was acceptable since I expected some power to be lost in the transfer.

The next test was to have the juice pack on from the jump and to see how long it would last before the iPhone battery kicked in. This test was much better since it lasted a bit longer than the standard iPhone battery.

For the tests I used the time frame from 7am to 5pm since this is my typical work day and the Mophie juice pack proves it can be used for instances where I go out after work and can’t find a charging station.

A few observations, one the juice pack gets a bit warm when charging and also when it’s charging the iPhone from a dead charge. This is normal but kinda weird to have this warm feeling coming from your pocket. Also while the juice pack is the thinnest of the external batteries for the iPhone it does add a bit of size to the original phone. It’s not bad, but takes some time to get used to.