Nothing is more depressing than seeing that 10% battery warning pop up on your iPhone. Thankfully, there are third-party battery solutions to help the iPhone go that extra mile. There are two categories for external batteries for the iPhone: iPhone cases with hidden batteries inside and portable “brick” batteries that connect to your iPhone. Here’s a roundup of both categories:
Mophie Juice Pack for iPhone 3G
The Mophie Juice Pack for iPhone 3G ($99) is a black soft-rubber case for the iPhone 3G that includes a hidden 1800mAh battery. The battery will fully recharge the iPhone once with a little bit to spare, essentially doubling the iPhone’s battery life. On the back of the case are a power button and four blue LED power indicators that display the remaining charge in the Juice Pack. The Juice Pack is thicker than a normal iPhone case, nearbly doubling the thickness of the iPhone 3G, but will still fit in your jeans pocket. It comes with a mini USB cable for recharging the Juice Pack’s battery.
Helpful links:
Official website for the Mophie Juice Pack for iPhone 3G
iLounge review (rating: B)
Amazon.com: Mophie Juice Pack for iPhone 3G
Mophie Juice Pack Air for iPhone 3G
The Amazon.com: Mophie Juice Pack Air“>Mophie Juice Pack Air (Amazon.com: Mophie Juice Pack Air“>$80) is a slimmer version of the previously mentioned Juice Pack battery case, adding only a quarter of an inch to the iPhone’s overall thickness. The Air is available in black, purple, or white glossy plastic. It’s a 1150mAh battery that will fully recharge an iPhone 3G one time with a little juice left over. The amount of charge left in the Air is indicated by four LED lights on the back of the case. The Air comes with a mini USB cable for recharging the Air’s battery.
Helpful links:
Official website for the Mophie Juice Pack Air
iLounge review (rating: B)
Amazon.com: Mophie Juice Pack Air
FastMac TruePower iV Battery Charger for iPhone
The FastMac TruePower iV Battery Charger for iPhone 3G ($99) case not only includes a battery for recharging your iPhone, it also contains several interesting features like an LED flashlight. The battery is a 3300mAh battery that will fully recharge your iPhone 3G two and a half times. The case also includes an LED “flashlight” on the back that can drastically improve pictures taken with the iPhone in low light. The TruePower iV has a full USB port that can you can plug any USB device into (such as another iPhone) and charge that device as well. A screen protector and iPhone-friendly headphone extender cord also comes with the case.
Helpful links:
Official website for the FastMac TruePower iPhone Battery Charger
iLounge review (rating: B+)
Amazon.com: FastMac TruePower Battery Charger for iPhone
Incase Power Slider for iPhone 3G
The Incase Power Slider for iPhone 3G ($99) is a case with a 1330mAh lithium-ion polymer battery that will fully recharge your iPhone 3G once. The case is made of black soft rubber and will roughly double the thickness of your iPhone. There is some awkwardness to the design–oversized headphone plugs won’t fit into the case’s headphone port hole and, in order to synch your iPhone, you will need to remove the entire case to dock the iPhone. The Incase Power Slider comes with a black carrying case and a USB cable for recharging the Power Slider.
Helpful links:
Official website for the Incase Power Slider for iPhone 3G
iLounge review (rating: B-)
Amazon.com: Incase Power Slider for iPhone 3G
PhoneSuit MiLi Power Pack
The PhoneSuit MiLi Power Pack ($80) is a good-looking 1800maH battery case that will full recharge an iPhone once and still have some power left over. The case is made of glossy plastic and comes in either black or white. The front of the case has a power button as well as 4 LED lights that indicate the amount of power remaining. The MiLi also has an outgoing USB port, which means you can use the case to charge another device via a USB cable (for example, another iPhone). The MiLi comes with a mini-USB cord for recharging the battery case.
Helpful links:
Official website of the PhoneSuit MiLi Power Pack
iLounge review (rating: B+)
Amazon.com: PhoneSuit MiLi Power Pack
Konnet PowerKZ for iPhone 3G
The Konnet PowerKZ for iPhone 3G ($80) is a 1800mAh battery case capable of fully recharging an iPhone or iPhone 3G once. The case has a power button as well as 4 red LED lights that indicate the amount of power remaining. It also has a well-designed, unobtrusive pop-out kickstand on the back to prop up the iPhone for video watching. A downside is that it does not come with a USB charging cable, meaning you must use the iPhone’s USB cord to charge the case instead (or buy a second iPhone cable).
Helpful links:
Official website for the Konnet PowerZ
iLounge review (rating: C-)
Amazon.com: Konnet PowerZ for iPhone 3G
Just Mobile Gum and Gum Pro
For external plug-in iPhone batters, the Gum series, featuring the Just Mobile Gum ($45) and Gum Pro ($60) are probably both the best overall, as they offer more power than almost all of their competitors at a cheap price. The standard Gum is a 2200mAH battery that offers approximately a full charge and a half for your iPhone. The Gum Pro is a 4400mAh battery and will fully recharge your iPhone 3G an astounding 3.5 times. The Gum batteries do not come with a cable for connecting to the iPhone (but it does come with a cable for charging the Gum itself), so you’ll have to use the iPhone’s own USB cable to connect it to the Gum. The Gums’ compact size and superior energy capacity make it a top selection. (The Gum series can be used to charge iPods and other USB devices too.)
Helpful links:
Just Mobile Gum official website
Just Mobile Gum Pro official website
iLounge review (rating: A-)
Amazon.com: Just Mobile Gum Pro
Kensignton Mini Battery Extender and Charger for iPhone
The Kensington Mini Battery Extender and Charger for iPhone ($35) attaches to the bottom of the iPhone with just enough of a gap to allow for the proper functioning of the speakers as well as the microphone. The Mini Battery only offers about a half of a full charge for the iPhone, so it’s not the most ideal portable battery solution, but good enough for emergencies. It’s size–small enough to fit into a pocket–makes it extremely portable. It comes with a retractable USB dongle for recharging the Mini Battery.
Helpful links:
Official website for the Kensington Mini Battery Extender and Charger for iPhone
iLounge review (rating: B)
Amazon.com: Kensington Mini Battery Extender and Recharger for iPhone
3GJuice Battery for iPhone 3G
The 3GJuice Battery ($55) is a 1800 mAh battery that attaches flush to the bottom of the iPhone and will fully recharge it once. The main advantage of the 3GJuice is that it’s small enough to fit in your pocket and carry anywhere for emergency iPhone power. A downside is that it does not have LED indicators to display the remaining charge left in the battery. It comes with a mini USB cable for recharging the battery.
Helpful links:
Official website for the 3GJuice Battery
Amazon.com: 3GJuice Battery for iPhone 3G
Tekkeon TekCharge MP1800 Rechargeable Li-Poly Battery
The Tekkeon TekCharge MP1800 Rechargeable Li-Poly Battery ($45) is a 4000mAh battery that can fully recharge your iPhone once with some power left to spare. Its dimensions are 3.3 inches x 2.1 inches by 1.1 inches, so it might be too big to stuff into your pocket, but it’s relatively light at just 4.5 oz, so it won’t add much weight if you stuff it into a bag. It comes with a a retractable USB cable, a variety of cord connectors for connecting to different types of USB devices, a carrying bag, and, for some reason, a lanyard necklace in case you want to walk around with a big battery hanging from your neck.
Helpful links:
Official website for the Tekkeon TekCharge Rechargeable Li-Poly Battery
iLounge review (rating: not rated)
Amazon.com: Tekkeon TekCharge Rechargeable Li-Poly Battery
Kensington Battery Pack and Charger for iPhone
Kensington Battery Pack and Charger ($45) is a 7 watt-hour battery that will supply a three-fourths recharge for an iPhone. It has 5 LED lights on the front to indicate the battery’s remaining charge as well as a power button. Its poor battery performance and high price make it a poor choice for recharging your iPhone. It comes with a cable for connecting to the iPhone as well as a wall plug for recharging the battery.
Helpful links:
Official website for the Kensington Battery Pack and Charger
iLounge review (rating: B-)
Amazon.com: Kensington Battery Pack and Charger
Griffin TuneJuice
The Griffin TuneJuice for iPhone and iPod ($30) is an external plug-in battery that uses 4 AAA batteries (included) for its power. Although the TuneJuice is compatible with the iPhone, it’s not an ideal choice, as it can only power the iPhone for roughly 2 hours of talk time or 1.5 hours of Internet use, which is really only enough power for emergency use. Also, the AAA batteries are not rechargeable, so you’ll have need to have extras on hand to get more power–a rather environmentally unfriendly way of recharging your iPhone.
Helpful links:
Official website for the Griffin TuneJuice
iLounge review (rating: B-)
Tekkeon TekCharge MP1550 Battery Charger
Tekkeon TekCharge MP1550 Battery Charger ($25) does not contain a battery, rather, you must supply your own AA batteries (4), so it’s not exactly an enivronmently friendly choice unless you use rechargeables. The MP1550 will fully recharge an iPhone once. It comes with a variety of USB tips and connectors for recharging other devices besides iPod and iPhones.
Helpful links:
Official website for the Tekkeon TekCharge Mobile Power and Battery Charger
iLounge review (rating: not rated)
Amazon.com: Tekkeon TekCharge Mobile Power and Battery Charger
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