Mophie Juice Pack Air: The sky is falling!

The Air (top) with its predecessor.When Apple released its thinnest, lightest MacBook, even those who weren’t impressed with its specifications could find nothing to fault in its moniker. The MacBook Air was, undeniably, a miracle of minimalism. The same cannot be said for the Mophie Juice Pack Air.

The Juice Pack Air is the latest in Mophie’s line of cleverly designed batteries for the iPhone. It shares with its predecessor - the Juice Pack for the iPhone 3G - the ability to almost double the lifetime of your iPhone’s battery while doing double-duty as a protective case. It’s a lovely bit of technology.

But Air? Even as someone who endures the smothering, swamp-heavy atmosphere of New Orleans, I find that designation hard to swallow.

I had high hopes - after all, one of the few drawbacks of the Juice Pack for the iPhone 3G is the way it bulks up the iPhone (see my earlier review), so a slimmer Juice Pack would almost be perfect. But as the specs below show, the Air is a tad longer and wider than the previous Juice Pack and just a whisker slimmer. That’s not slim enough. When you slip it on your iPhone, that sleek sexy device transforms into something of a chubby throwback.

What’s great about the Air

Now, don’t get me wrong. There’s lots to like about the little plump Air. It encases the whole of the back and sides of your iPhone, so it provides a lot of protection without obscuring the camera lens, microphone or any essential switch or connector. It delivers the promised extra battery life, which makes daily life with your iPhone much easier. And the fact that Mophie shoehorns a life-doubling battery into a package which, although chubby, is still remarkably small, is a wonder. It’s $20 cheaper than its predecessor, too.

The Air piggybacking its predecessor (the green strips on the side are my mods).What’s not so great

Unfortunately, it also feels twenty bucks cheaper. Its shiny black plastic doesn’t have the non-slip sensuousness of the more expensive Juice Pack. Nor does it look as good, especially once you put your fingermarks all over it. And it can be a real pain extracting the phone from the Juice Pack when you want to lighten your load. That’s a real shame, because one of the big appeals of the Juice Pack is its smart battery technology which lets you drain the Juice Pack first before using any of your iPhone’s power. With my old Juice Pack, as soon as it was drained, I’d slip it off and carry the unencumbered iPhone with me. Doing that with the new Juice Pack isn’t as easy. At least you can charge and update your iPhone while it’s still encased in the Air thanks to its Micro USB connector.

The bottom line is either Juice Pack is an alluring option if you don’t mind bulking up the iPhone a bit in order to double your battery life. Plus, you get a protective case into the bargain.

But if you already own a Juice Pack for the iPhone 3G, there’s no need to lust after the Air. The Air is a downgrade on all fronts and its 0.34 ounce, 0.05 inch advantage in weight and size translates into almost nothing in the hand.

As someone who owns both, I think I’ll stick with the original Juice Pack. It has its own drawbacks (such as insets in the case that tend to peel off), but the ability to quickly slip it off the phone, its greater power and its lovely non-slip texture are winners for me.

Anyone want a Mophie Juice Pack Air, going cheap?

---

Feature	3G	Air
Standby Time	350 hours	270 hours
Talk time on 3G	6 hours	4.5 hours
Talk time on 2G	12 hours	9 hours
Internet use on 3G	6 hours	4.5 hours
Internet use on wi-fi	7 hours	5.4 hours
Audio playback	28 hours	20 hours
Video playback	8 hours	6 hours
Length	4.8”	4.9”
Width	2.5”	2.59”
Depth	0.8”	0.75”
Weight	3 ounces	2.66 ounces
Battery capacity	1800 mAh	1300 mAh
Connector	Mini USB	Micro USB
Price	$99.95	$79.95

---

Comments

[Tony]

Mine adds only about 25% more operating time. Dissapointing.

[Batteries]

I have always been an admirer of all Apple products, I love Macbook and it is not long that I bought a Macbook for me, but this is something that doesn't go down my throat easily. I would say that with products like this Apple is sure to loose some of its admirers.