mophie Juice Pack Powerstation External Battery

• Almost there but not yet perfect

  4.0 out of 5 stars

  This is an excellent backup power supply which I'm sure you will enjoy. Its outside appearance is obviously derived from the iPhon e 4 and this is a positive quality. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, after all.
  
  Sizewise, it is 1.5 times as thick, 1/2 inch shorter, and exactly as wide as the iPhone 4. It's just about the same weight as #4, but perhaps 15 grams lighter. The black surface is rubberized and provides an ideal platform on which to rest #4 while it's charging. There is a single button on the side which when pressed indicates its current status via 4 lights. Of course less illuminated lights means less charge is left. When charging, these same 4 lights blink incrementally until 100% charge is reached, at which point all lights remain steady.
  
  This is one of several Mophie power source products and this model is the universalized version in that it utilizes the ubiquitous USB interface. While it does not tie itself exclusively to the Apple proprietary interface, the manual explicitly states it was primarily designed for Apple products. No guarantee is offered for other mobile products. (One must wonder why they even bothered univeralizing it if they weren't going to test compatibility with other devices.) For this reason, the user is required to provide his own interface cable which must be USB on the mating end. So if you choose to acquire this premium product, you must consider the additional cost of an extra Apple docking cable, should you require one.
  
  To charge a device using this product, you connect it via your supplied USB cable, and push the only button available on its side to turn it on. Simple!
  
  To charge the device itself, you connect to it the supplied micro-USB cable which has a standard USB interface on the other end. From here you are free to connect it to any charging source which offers USB output.
  
  
  I purchased this product for the purpose of:
  
  1) Reducing battery wear on my #4 when using power hungry GPS navigation software.
  
  2) Ensuring I have a backup power source if I get lost in the woods during one of my nature treks.
  
  I give it 4 stars for these reasons:
  
  1) It gets confused if attempting to charge the device immediately after using it to charge another device. If you try to do this, the charge lights will blink for about 3 seconds before all 4 of them go steady. This will give you the false impression that the device is fully charged, but I assure you it is not. You must wait for an undetermined time period (perhaps 30 minutes?) before it will correctly start charging. I read about this same flaw elsewhere, but decided to see for myself it if was true. Indeed it was.
  
  2) I do not like that there are 2 separate interfaces: USB to charge devices and micro-USB to charge the device itself. This means I need to keep track of one extra wire with my arsenal of electronic gadgets. It would have been better to integrate the device's charge interface with the device itself. Perhaps a retractable USB cable?
  
  All in all, this is a well designed product I think most people will find acceptable by non-Apple standards. … More (Read full review)

  • Written by Justin D from Arlington
  • Dec 3, 2011

  360 of 403 people found this useful

  Was this useful? Almost there but not yet perfect

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• Best Mophie Product

  5.0 out of 5 stars

  This is so much better than the prior Mophie products that encase the device. I used this last night to charge my iPhone 4s and m y son's iPod touch. It is great because you can use your device while charging it and it doesn't block any of the speakers or headphone jacks. It charged both devices while they were being used and 2 of the 4 lights on the battery were lit after the devices were charged. It is a little bigger than I expected but in comparison to the other Mophie external batteries which are almost as big but have a much smaller power capacity, this is the best buy. It isn't as heavy as you would expect given its size (a little shorter than the iPhone 4s). … More (Read full review)

  • Written by Meghan U from Edison
  • Oct 29, 2011

  332 of 354 people found this useful

  Was this useful? Best Mophie Product

  Yes No

• Versatile

  5.0 out of 5 stars

  I love that this will charge even iPad. It's good for 2 full charges of the iPhone or half of the iPad. Both ways it's great for e mergencies and wonderfully portable. … More (Read full review)

  • Written by Hilary A from Edmonton
  • Nov 21, 2011

  276 of 298 people found this useful

  Was this useful? Versatile

  Yes No

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• Mophie Juice Battery

  4.0 out of 5 stars

  This gadget is reliable. It really boost up your phone easily. Great.

  • Written by Maria A from Reseda
  • Jan 17, 2013

  10 of 13 people found this useful

  Was this useful? Mophie Juice Battery

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• Works great with the iPhone 5

  4.0 out of 5 stars

  This product does a great job of recharging the iPhone 5 & an ok job of with the iPad 3. I found the best way of not having to car ry a extra cord with the iPhone 5 is to buy the Micro USB adapter and use the cord the device comes with and place the adapter on it. For the iPad and the later models of the iPhone you need to have an extra cord. … More (Read full review)

  • Written by James D from Los Angeles
  • Jan 1, 2013

  12 of 15 people found this useful

  Was this useful? Works great with the iPhone 5

  Yes No

• I prefer my iPhone 5 naked

  5.0 out of 5 stars

  This battery is perfect for an iPhone 5 without a case. I had the iPhone 4S and purchased the Mophie Juice Pack Plus but I was hes itant of the added bulk so I occasionally took it off. I feel like the iPhone is designed to be elegant in its sole form without the added protection of a case. I actually purchased the AppleCare+ because in the end, I've probably bought so many cases for my iPhone 4S that it was MORE expensive than the protection plan. The Mophie Juice Pack Powerstation is a perfect solution for naked iPhone 5s because I simply stuff it in my backpack until I absolutely need to recharge my iPhone 5. I also have a couple GoPro cameras so I can also use this to charge those guys. Definitely a great buy! … More (Read full review)

  • Written by Joneil A from Fairfax
  • Sep 28, 2012

  141 of 149 people found this useful

  Was this useful? I prefer my iPhone 5 naked

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