Putting your sleek and shiny iPhone in Mophie's Juice Pack Pro -- ditto with comparable cases from Griffin and Otterbox -- is a lot like putting a super model in full battle rattle: necessary at times, yet always bulky and ugly.
But what a Kevlar-clad Gisele Bundchen doesn't have is a power source; the Mophie case does, and this is what makes it shine (literally).
Serendipitously, Mophie sent us a Juice Pack Pro the week before I headed out on assignment to Death Valley, Calif. Living out of my car for two or three days in a harsh(ish) environment with little access to electricity seemed like an ideal time to test the Juice Pack and its promise of up to 150 percent more battery life.
I wrestled the many layers of case -- all five of them -- on to my phone, charged up the whole kit and off we went.
I'd tried the MIL-STD 810G protective cases before and while they're tough and protect my phone, they're a pain to put on and remove, and make the tiny iPhone the same size as what Zack Morris was carrying in the 1990s. I have the same gripes about the Juice Pack, but function wins out over form and the case's powerful pluses outweigh the heavy cons.
I charged my phone fully that Sunday night, and -- except for 10 hours of cell-service dead zone -- used it fairly extensively over the next three days, all without having to worry about a dead battery. Back home, and back to regular use, I was routinely getting five full days of power from each charge.
(Regular use for me is an hour or two of music each day, email and fairly standard internetting; no excessively large downloads or video streaming.)
The case and phone charge simultaneously with a micro USB cord that plugs into the bottom of the case (use your iPhone power box). Once you've got some charge, you'll have a couple of options for use.
Opposite the charge port is the standby switch:
If your phone is charged and the standby switch is off, then you'll only be using the phone battery. Once you're ready to charge your phone, just flip the switch and recharge off the Juice Pack Pro's battery.
If your phone is fully charged and the standby switch is on, then you'll run the phone off the Juice Pack Pro battery until it's drained, then solely off the phone battery. Your phone will show a constant 100 percent battery, and will display the charging screen (like in the image above). The case has four LED lights on the bottom to show its charge.
The micro USB cord will allow you to sync your phone with your computer just like you would with the regular iPhone cord.
If this case were slightly smaller I'd consider it for everyday use. It's not quite ideal for shoving in a pocket or carrying on a run, but is great for circumstances when you'll need extra power, such as if you're on a multiday hike or traveling or just forgetful about charging your phone.
The Juice Pack Pro would also make it possible to live track on Garmin Fit during longer events, such as century rides or ultras.
Get the Juice Pack Pro on the Mophie website for $129.95.
