Is my battery dying? That is the one constant worry that haunts every smartphone user. With the phones getting bigger and the screens packing more pixels than ever, the battery life of our phones never seems to live up to our needs these days.
Sure, we can carry a power bank or hunt around for a power outlet, but all that is too much of a hassle! Won’t it be wonderful to go through just one day without worrying that your phone will die on you? Well, Apple seems to have heard our prayers and made an attempt to solve our problems.
On Tuesday, Apple released a new product called the “Smart Battery Case”. It’s a back cover for your iPhone that also packs in a mini battery! That’s right, a small power bank that fits snugly onto your iPhone. No extra cables, no wires, no plugs … nothing!
The Smart Battery Case plugs in through the lightning port at the bottom to keep your iPhone juiced up. Apple has not mentioned any specific capacity for the inbuilt battery, but it does claim that the Smart Case will offer increased talk time of up to 25 hours, Internet use of up to 18 hours on LTE, and video playback of up to 20 hours.
The Pros:
- It’s made by Apple, so you can expect excellent build quality and good performance.
- It also means that the case will be compatible with all lightning accessories and lightning docks for iPhones.
- It also integrates with iPhone’s native lockscreen and Notification Centre, so you will know exactly how much battery is left just by looking at your phone.
The Cons:
- It’s not really a very … um … “stylish” product. That bump at the back looks ungainly, almost like the phone developed a hump overnight.
- Fits only the iPhone 6 and 6S models. No Plus models are available for now. That’s a real bummer!
- The case is made up of silicone. It feels a little cheap. Also, it’s available only in White and Charcoal Gray, so that’s going to kill your bling. Doesn’t matter if you have Gold, Rose Gold or just the plain white model. They’re all going to look the same.
Note: This is a Rose Gold model with the “black” cover on. You see what we mean?
The Smart Case is priced at $99 in the US. We are not sure how much it will be in the Indian market, but we can guess it will be in the range of 5K-8K. That is a lot, LOT more than your average power-bank.
At the end of the day, you have to weigh the benefits of having extra juice versus the embarrassment of carrying around your phone encased in that not-so-pretty battery case. Will you choose form or functionality? Let us know in the comments section below.
