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Apple has over the years produced some crackers of industrial designs, and some humdingers too. This new Smart Battery case seems to be one of those designs which has received many uncomplimentary comments and reviews, but is this criticism really justified?

With previous iPhones, I have found them to be lacking in power reserve for my daily use. I've tried a variety of ways to get me through the day either by having to charge up via the mains or by using either a Mophie battery pack or battery case.

The Mophie battery case that I used with my iPhone 5 was good in that it allowed me a full days use without having to find a wall socket to charge from but as a design, it was agricultural to say the least with a hard plastic outer shell which had a removable top to allow the iPhone to slide into it. It also had a battery charge indicator, five led lights that lit up for a few seconds when the test button was pressed, and a switch allowing me to choose the iPhone's battery alone keeping the battery case in reserve for later. The only annoying thing with it, apart from the clunkiness of the finish, was with the finish of the shell case. This had an odd layer which felt nice in the hand but scratched very easily too, this was finally scraped off to improve its looks.

So, basing my thoughts on the Mophie case I looked at the Apple Smart Battery case as an option for my iPhone 6. At first, the iPhone 6 battery lasted all day with a reserve in hand too; a first for me, but as time went on this reserve disappeared over time. Web browsing, emailing, listening to podcasts such as the Mac show and the Big show drained the battery down leaving me with the choice of using the power save option or to reduce my use of the iPhone.
I will say, when I saw the Apple Smart Battery case, I was not impressed with its looks. The 'hump' looked a bit odd and the lack of options to which colour I could have was limiting too: I would have liked to have been able to get it in red to match my other Apple case. I went for the Charcoal Grey one as I felt the White would have marked too easily especially if you work with paints and thinners during your working day like I do. I thought I'd miss the on/off switch but in use it didn't ever cross my mind. It seems to simply work away in the background leaving me to get on with my day saving me from the worry of checking how much power is left as I did with my previous case. The odd placement of the charge light inside the case has been criticised by many but again, this is not a problem for me either as the case and iPhone charge up overnight with the iPhone still in the case. It's a simple matter of sliding down the Today/Notifications screen to see what charge is available: simple. The charge light is only ever needed when the Smart Battery case is being charged on its own.

The shape, hump, worked okay for me as it doesn't really affect how I use the iPhone. Typing in landscape works fine as it did with the non-battery cases and only causes bother if you lay it down on a table. The one caveat is with pockets designed for a mobile phone, the ones on my painters overalls just fits the iPhone with the silicone case but doesn't when the battery case is: a minor issue.

The ease of use is to me, first class as it is very simple to remove the iPhone from the case if I don't want to use it. Just pull back the soft top and slide in or out: simple and much better than the hard shell cases where I fought with the 'removable' top. If it gets dirty, a simple wipe with a dampened cloth works for me but it does pick up crud easily due to the stickiness of the silicone.
So, is it work the £79 that Apple is charging for it? Well, that's a yes and a no. For its simplicity of design and ease of use I'd say a resounding yes but on the other hand, it's a no as it is more expensive than most, if not all, the competition out there. You can get battery cases with much more power, or for a quarter of the price too but for me, I'd say it is worth the money. It's slimmer than any other battery case I've use, and more convenient than having to carry a backup battery too, and most importantly, it just works without fuss and that is what sold it for me.

Macjim.

Author

James Ormiston

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