Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I’ve owned more than ten iPhone battery cases over the past six years, from Anker, Mophie, Spigen, and Maxboost. Every single one has died. The most common failure is in the micro-USB connector, which weakens and eventually fails. If this doesn’t fail, then the charging circuitry has eventually gone bad: the battery will no longer charge. And if you drop it, the cases are all made of multiple pieces of brittle plastic, which will either pop off or crack. The case manufacturers all honor their warrantees for electronic failures, and I keep sending the cases back and they keep sending me new ones. But honestly, I really just want a case that lasts! Apple’s case is built much tougher than any of the competing models. The silicone is virtually indestructible [** not quite -- see update below]. The Lightning connector is also tough: rather than tiny wires arranged in a crimped metal shell, the Lightning connector is machined out of a single billet of stainless steel. It doesn’t bend, it won’t break, and the wires can’t get ripped off of it. The case offers really good protection for the phone, with a solid lip around the front edge to prevent screen scratches. It’s also thinner than any of the other cases. Integration with the OS is simpler than with the other cases (e.g., Mophie). In those, you charge the case, and when the phone’s battery is low, you press a button on the case and it’ll recharge the phone over the next few hours. On Apple’s case, the power management is taken care of for you: the case discharges first, and keeps the phone at 100% for a long time. Once the case is depleted, then the phone’s battery will start to drop. One advantage of Apple’s solution is that you can’t accidentally press the ‘charge’ button with the phone in your pocket. This has happened to me a few times, and you end up with a discharged battery as a result. Some people have complained about the blocky appearance. Well, it’s not hiding the battery, for sure! But none of the other cases are either. This one ends up still being thinner than the others, even if it does look a bit blocky. But honestly, most of the time the phone is sitting face-up, or in my hand, and I don’t think about the hump. It’s a non-issue. Most regular headphone cables won’t fit, because the socket is very deep and you’ll need a short cord to extend the plug socket. I have plenty of these from my previous cases, but Apple really should include one. It took a bit of hunting around to find where I could view the battery status. You have to pull down from the top of the screen and go to Today (*not* Notifications). I re-ordered them so that ‘Batteries’ was at the top. If the phone is locked when you plug/unplug it, then the status will also flash (briefly) on the lock screen. It might be useful to put an indicator on the status bar — right now it usually says 100%, which is accurate, but not entirely useful… it’d be nice to see the combined charge, not the charge of just the phone. While not as large a capacity as some cases, that's an academic issue: the battery capacity is large enough that if I start with both the case and phone fully charged, I have never run out, even with many hours of tethering, downloads, videos, and so forth. If you have any questions, ask below and I will answer them! ** Update: After three months of usage, this remains the best battery case I've ever used. Specific things I like are: o I have never run out of battery during the day, and charging it back up always works reliably. No broken connectors. o It's tough: I drop my phone plenty, and in this case, it just bounces. The thick lip has prevented any screen scratches, though I use a thin plastic protector too. o With the Mophie etc. cases, there is a button on the back, and if you accidentally press it during the day, it'll drain the external battery. No button means that can't happen here. Integrated power management works great. o I like using the 'Today' slide-down notification: give you status of three batteries at once (Phone, External, and Watch -- plus any other bluetooth devices you have connected). By three months in, all of my Mophie, Anker, etc. cases had either cracked, bent the micro-USB connector, or had their charging circuits go out. This case is still looking and working like new. (Mine is white, and I notice no discoloration, for what it's worth... silicone is pretty inert as far as stains go.) The only minor issue I've come across is that the case's lip is deep enough that the some "swipe from the edge" gestures don't register properly (e.g., app switcher). This affects any case that has enough coverage for the screen, so it's hard to complain about. ** Update #2. I've now been using the case for about 8 months. The silicone is starting to chip off around the edges. In particular, at the top corners, the silicone has come off completely, and you can see a few millimeters of the yellow hard plastic underneath it. This only affects appearance for now, but I bet that within another six months, it might get to the point where it needs replacing. I haven't contacted Apple about it yet, though it seems like the sort of thing they should replace under warranty if it gets much worse. (I don't live near any Apple stores, so I can't easily take it in.) As far as charging and functionality, the case remains great. I have noticed maybe three times where sliding on the case seemed to cause a phone reboot, which another reviewer mentioned too. But that's been infrequent enough to not be a bit deal. ** Update #3. At 11 months, I took the case into the Apple store to show them the silicone chipping. They were reluctant to replace it ("The warranty only covers the electronics, not cosmetic damage...", they said) but eventually they did. I've now had the replacement case about 6 months, and it's starting to chip off as well. Most of the damage is near the upper front corners, where the case gets stretched taking it on/off. If you need to take the case off frequently, you probably don't want to buy this one. For me, it's not that big a deal, but means I need to be a bit more careful. That being said, this case is STILL far stronger than any other battery case I've had, and the battery and connector have had zero problems, and I've never once run out of power during the day in 18 months. But I'd dock it half a point (to 4.5/5) because of the durability of the silicone. ** Update #4. I'm on my second case. After 9 months the silicone is pretty heavily chipped on this one as well, just like the last one. The frame is visible and parts are starting to fall off. I walk a lot and the case is almost always in my pocket, so I'm sure the abrasion is just wearing it down. It's no longer under warranty. I'm going to repair it with some silicone adhesive as best I can. The charging still works great. I only wish the case was a bit thicker & more abrasion resistant it was carried around in a purse or bag (rather than a pocket) it would be in better shape than mine.