Review: Power Jacket Case provides power to the devices
“Power to the devices”, is the cry of anyone who uses their smartphone or tablet while travelling or during a more intensive activity like running. There are numerous solutions to the problem but the trick is finding one that isn’t so clunky as to make your device unusable.
The Geek in Sydney family is often not actually in Sydney and as we travel we use our iPhones and iPads intensively for maps, for research, for podcasts – and power is an issue. Until recently we used an external power supply, but over the last few weeks we’ve been trying a Power Jacket Case for the iPhone. The results have been good in our strenuous, albeit very unscientific, trial.
The first issue is power itself. The case has a massive 4200mAh battery built into it. Once the case itself is charged, which it must be said takes a little while, it can give up to three consecutive recharges to the iPhone. For practical purposes that means there is no concern over 24-hours of intensive use, including some serious hotspotting-ing, GPS-ing and bluetooth-ing. The power jacket also has a USB out socket to charge other devices, which could include your iPad, although we didn’t test this.
However, in some ways the battery is not the main issue. You sort of assume a powerful battery solution is out there. The main issue is whether the iPhone is still comfortable and practical with the battery attached. We were pleasantly surprised by the Power Jacket. There’s no denying it bulks up the iPhone significantly, but it has a dense, solid feel to it that gives you the impression that it’s as tightly wrapped about the iPhone as you can get. The weighting also still leaves the iPhone feeling very usable.
If you’re doing anything that has you taking you iPhone away from a charger for a long while, or are working it intensively with power-draining apps, the Power Jacket is an excellent solution.
The Power Jacket Case for the iPhone was supplied to us for review by the lovely folk at MobileZap.