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Mophie’s new Juice Pack Air is heaver than Helium, but will carry you farther

Geoffrey Goetz — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:02:03 +0000

Mophie announced its second iPhone 5 battery case, the Juicepack Air for iPhone 5 on Monday. Since it’s been just two weeks since its first iPhone 5 battery case was released, one wonders what it could have possibly improved upon. In a word: power.

The main feature Mophie improved with the Juice Pack Air is the size of the embedded lithium battery. While the Helium comes packed with a 1500 mAh batery, the Air comes with a larger 1700 mAh battery. This is the difference of being able to fully charge the iPhone 5 to 100 percent with the new Air, or bring the iPhone 5 up to an 80 percent charge with the Helium.

So what do you give up to gain so much more battery life? Size. The Juice Pack Air’s dimensions are 2.60 x 5.54 x 0.63 inches and it weighs 2.68 ounces, compared to the Helium’s dimensions which are 2.49 x 5.49 x 0.59 inches at a weight of 2.44 ounces. It does not seem like much, but every little bit matters when you are trying to wrap your hands around the longer screen of the iPhone 5.

The one feature that is still missing from both the Air and the Helium when comapred to other Mophie battery pack cases, is the ability to sync via the attached cable. The Mophie Juicepack Air for the iPhone 4/4S will allow you to both charge and sync via the cable. It’s a feature that may be important to you if you still tether your iPhone to offload photos or sync to your music library on your computer. Mophie claims that both the Juice Pack Helium and Air cases for the iPhone 5 will only allow you to sync wirelessly when charging, hardly a feature of the case, mind you.

The Juice Pack Air will cost you $99.95 compared to the Helium’s price tag of $79.95. The other main difference that the Air has compared to the Helium is color. The black version of the Mophie Juice Pack Air is available now and will ship in seven to 10 days. If, on the other hand, you are interested in either the red or white version, you will just have to wait until March 22.

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Hands on: Mophie Juice Pack Air vs. the new Juice Pack Helium for iPhone 5

Geoffrey Goetz — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:56:07 +0000

When the iPhone 5 first came out, I had to choose between continuing to use my iPhone 4S with a Mophie Juice Pack Air, or get the new iPhone 5 without an integrated battery pack case. Thinking that I would not have to wait very long for Mophie to come out with a new case designed for the iPhone 5, I decided to go with the iPhone 5. Four months of following the drama surrounding Apple’s new Lightning adapter ensued and last week Mophie released a new battery pack for Apple’s latest iPhone. Now, I finally have the new Mophie Juice Pack Helium for the iPhone 5 that I plan to use day to day.

It looks great, but as I’ll explain, it may take a bit of time to get used to the new model.

With the Mophie Juice Pack Air for the iPhone 4S, my initial impressions were that it made the iPhone a little bulkier. The iPhone felt thicker. With the latest model, the Mophie Juice Pack Helium, the first impression I had was that my iPhone was longer, while I barely notice that the phone is any thicker at all. Getting my hand around the iPhone 5 was already a bit of a challenge because of the slightly larger screen, but now with the Mophie Juice Pack Helium, I find myself scootching my hand up and down the back of the case in order to reach and touch every point on the screen. Like trying to press the home and power buttons at the same time. Until I get more comfortable and find the best way to hold the iPhone in its new case, I may be using two hands more often than I like to perform basic operations.

On the Mophie Juice Pack Air for the iPhone 4S, the top of the case fit around the headphone jack in a similar fashion to other cases. Most headphones would still be able to attach to the headphone jack, but some would require an adapter to fit with the case on. In extreme situations, I could slide off the top of the case to fully expose the headphone jack. In contrast, the Juice Pack Helium on the iPhone 5 blocks access to the headphone jack quite a bit more. This is due to the fact that Apple decided with the iPhone 5 to move the headphone jack from the top of the iPhone to the bottom. Thankfully Mophie included a small adapter cable with the Helium that can reach the headphone jack and attach your favorite headphones.

Both versions for the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5 come with a 1500 mAh battery, which Mophie claims will extend the battery life of the iPhone 5 by 80 percent. And despite some of the minor inconveniences regarding length and access to the headphone jack I will be using this as my every day case moving forward. Nothing is more annoying than running out of battery life. I really enjoyed my Mophie Juice Pack Air with my iPhone 4S and have been looking forward to getting my hands on the Helium case for my new iPhone 5.

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On my want list: Mophie Juice Pack Helium

Om Malik — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 16:30:13 +0000

Thanks to our need to constantly connect to the Internet, we all want more juice — aka: battery power — for our smartphones. And while the whiz kids work on new battery technologies to change our world, we are all relegated to using battery packs. As an iPhone user, I often carry two or three of these battery packs in my bag, just in case I run out of power – which I usually do.

Most of these battery packs are quite unattractive, to put it mildly. However, I like this new one from Mophie – the Juice Pack Helium – which is specially designed for the iPhone 5 and is quite thin and svelte. Well, it is 13 percent thinner than the previous Juice Packs, but as someone who struggles to lose weight, I know even a few millimeters are important.

At $80, it is not cheap, but if it gets me six extra hours of LTE time, I will take it. I am heading to the Apple store today. Who would have thought that we would lust for a battery pack?

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Mophie Juice Pack Plus Review: All About the Power

Darrell Etherington — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 21:00:13 +0000

Mophie, makers of the Juice Pack line of iPhone and iPod cases and external batteries, recently introduced a higher capacity version of its Juice Pack Air case for the iPhone 4 dubbed the Juice Pack Plus ($99.99). I’ve been using it for couple weeks, putting on a lot of mileage considering how often I exhaust my iPhone’s battery. Here’s what I found.

Design and Build

The Juice Pack Air (descendant of the Juice Pack Air for iPhone 3G and 3GS) Mophie released for the iPhone 4 is a looker. It has a metallic edge running around the case reminiscent of the iPhone 4′s naked design. The Juice Pack Plus, on the other hand, does away with such frills. It’s matte black all over, except for where silver buttons for volume, device lock and checking the built-in battery’s charge are located. Additional colors are available for the outside band, though these aren’t yet shipping.

Surprisingly, the Juice Pack Plus isn’t larger than the Air, despite offering more extra battery capacity. Its dimensions and weight are listed as the same on Mophie’s official pages for each product, but the Plus packs one-third more juice, with a 2000 mAh battery, compared to just 1500 mAh on the Air.

The Plus feels really solid, which should reassure iPhone 4 owners who worry about dropping their device. The rubber band that surrounds it is supposed to be shock-absorbing, and the dual-injected hardcase should be tough enough to withstand some hits. Both the band and the back both feel very good on the fingers, too, with a slightly rubberized texture that feels less prone to slipping out of your grip than the iPhone’s glass or aluminum surfaces.

Mophie’s placement of the microUSB port, battery activation switch and charge indicator are all unobtrusive, and don’t get in the way when you’re gripping the phone normally. Access to the silent mode switch seems a little impeded because of the case’s thickness, but not critically so.

A few things might bother iPhone 4 owners about the Juice Pack Plus’ design. First, it’s bulky. It feels a bit like I’m carrying my iPhone 3GS with a standard case again, instead of a sleek current-generation device. Also, you won’t have dock connector access, although the included microUSB cable allows for iPhone charging and syncing when the phone is in the Juice Pack. Finally, it is a slide-on case. I use a couple different slide-on cases with my iPhone and haven’t noticed any serious damage, cosmetic or otherwise, but if this is a concern for you, then the Air might not be the best solution.

Function

The main selling point of the Juice Pack Plus is its built-in rechargeable battery. The Plus, as mentioned, packs a 2000 mAh battery, which should more than double the life of your iPhone 4. In real world testing, I found that a full charge does indeed charge my iPhone 4 completely, and even leaves a little bit of emergency juice in the tank. It won’t add much, but it should be sufficient to get you an extra call or two from a completely dead phone.

For me, a battery case isn’t an all-the-time accessory, but I always love having one on hand for when I think I might need it, like when I’ll be away from home for a few days. Since my use is sporadic, I appreciate a spare battery or battery case that can hold its charge for a decent length of time. The Juice Pack Plus seems to live up to my needs in this regard. It didn’t lose much of its charge after lying neglected for even five days, the longest period it remained unused during my testing.

Unlike the iPhone 3GS Juice Pack Air, the Juice Pack Plus for iPhone 4 comes on and off the device smoothly and easily. The two parts of the Plus manage to separate with very little effort, and yet it feels snug and secure when on the phone. It’s the biggest design improvement in my opinion, which is a good thing because that used to be its only major deficiency.

Finally, the Juice Pack Plus actually operates as a speaker enhancement for the iPhone 4, and it works very well in that capacity. Simple cutouts at the bottom of the case redirect sound from the iPhone’s speakers toward the user. It’s much harder to block sound with your thumb while operating the device thanks to this unique design.

Verdict

Battery cases are not for everyone. They add considerable heft to your device, even when they’re made well and designed to be as slim as possible, like the Juice Pack Plus. But if you consistently need extra power for your iPhone, then there’s nothing in the world quite as well suited to the task. And the Mophie Juice Pack Plus is a very good example of how to do a battery case right.

Highs: Actually doubles battery life; solid, ergonomic, comfortable design; pass-through sync and charge.

Lows: Adds bulk; somewhat plain looking.

If you’re looking for an iPhone 4 battery case, this is the one to get. It’s pricier and less flashy than the Juice Pack Air, but it packs much more power and doesn’t take up any more room in your pocket. Even if you’re not sure whether or not you actually need a backup battery case, the solid, smart design of the Juice Pack Plus might just convince you that you do.

Disclosure: The ZAGGmate tested was provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.

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The iPhone Economy Enables Intuit’s Mobile Payments

Kevin C. Tofel — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 00:40:34 +0000

Intuit today announced it has partnered with mophie, a long-time iPhone accessory maker, to turn Apple’s handset into a mobile credit card terminal. The hardware, available today, reads the magnetic strip of credit cards and processes payments through Intuit’s GoPayment service, which has processed more than $35 million in transactions since launching 18 months ago. Mophie’s design expertise combined with Apple’s hardware standards offer Intuit a wider opportunity in the growing mobile payment space.

When I first saw Intuit’s solution, I immediately thought of Square, Jack Dorsey’s similar solution for the iPhone that launched earlier this year. There are key differences between the two payment processing approaches however, as Intuit is clearly targeting small business transactions, while Square aims more at consumer micro-payments. That difference is most evident in cost: the mophie case is $179.99, while a Square reader is free but fees are higher. Businesses using GoPayment pay a competitive $0.30 to $0.34 for each transaction, plus a portion of the transaction amount, which ranges from 1.7 to 2.7 percent of each sale. By comparison, Square only charges a $0.15 transaction fee but 2.5 to 3.5 percent of the transaction amount.

Earlier today, I spoke with Mary Lunneborg, Intuit’s GoPayment senior product manager about the product and fee structure. Lunneborg didn’t detail what Intuit’s cut of the transaction fees are, but did explain how the simplicity of the pricing appeals to small business owners. “There are no setup or cancellation fees, just a $12.95 monthly fee,” she said. Lunneborg also pointed out that Intuit offers a complete merchant account solution that “underwrites the business and risk.”

Another value add is the integration brought to Intuit’s QuickBooks with the GoPayment system. Both QuickBooks for Mac and PC support transaction records from GoPayment, which will surely appeal to the more than 4 million users on QuickBooks today. Given such integration and simple pricing, it’s possible that some established or new small business owners might make this their only credit card solution, which is a plus in Intuit’s favor.

As far as the hardware goes, Intuit couldn’t have picked a better partner than mophie, based on my own use of other mophie products. The company has long made iPhone add-ons such as the Juice Pack, which is a hybrid case and extra battery for Apple’s iPhone. This afternoon, I asked Ross Howe, mophie’s VP of marketing, how the standardization of the iPhone is bringing opportunity for mophie.

“With Apple,” Howe said,”you can get an economy around your product and build around a standard life-cycle.” Indeed, having a standard handset with only one type of connector makes it easier for a company such as mophie to build an add-on case that will work with millions of devices. Conversely, unless Intuit can get mophie or another hardware maker to build a card reader that uses a micro USB port, the company is shut out of the fast growing market of Android users. And for now, the Intuit – mophie solution is limited to Apple’s iPhone 3G and 3GS — no iPhone 4 support as of yet, although it’s coming soon, as Howe jokingly told me, “We’re chasing Apple’s form factor.” Lunneborg chimed in that other platforms are under consideration for GoPayment and Bluetooth-enabled devices might be the solution around the varying connection issues.

Clearly, Intuit is gunning for a bigger slice of the mobile transactions space, estimated to hit more than half a trillion dollars by 2014. For as different as the new mobile GoPayment solution is from Square, however, it shares a common feature — a fight between everyone ranging from credit card companies with near-field communications solutions to cellular carriers and hopes for their own common payment standard in order to get a bigger piece of that mobile payment pie.

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Are You Ready for iEconomy?

Om Malik — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:06:45 +0000

The Mophie Credit Card Reader

Jack Dorsey’s Square, Incase, Verifone and now Mophie — these companies’ credit card readers are turning the iPhone/iPod touch platform into an e-commerce engine.

Mophie, a Los Angeles-based company that makes accessories for the iPod/iPhone devices will release a credit card reader at CES in January 2010. The device is going to have a reader and a software that would allow small businesses to take credit cards. No more details are available just yet.

I, for one, would like to see Mophie or one of these other startups come up with a way for me to scan my own credit card to enter it into an app or web site. Even better, I’d love it if they married their hardware with the functionality of something like 1Password. In doing so, they could enable e-commerce via the iPhone apps. Think of it as iEconomy.

I know, I know — it’s easier said than done, considering it would need some deep, system-level mucking around, and Apple isn’t going to let that happen. But it should! By opening up, it would make the iPhone into an even more useful platform. While I can understand Apple’s hesitation at opening up the iPhone, it can start with iPod touch, which is not tethered to a wireless phone company’s network.

By focusing on the consumers, these companies can also overcome two things: somewhat finite number of likely small business customers and get scale, which would allow them to get cheaper. And this would also help them overcome the slower adoption rates normally encountered when chasing the small business market. In fact, companies such as Visa, MasterCard and large banks should be trying hard to figure out how they can put these kind of readers in the hands of both merchants and consumers, thus shifting even more transactions into the electronic realm.

The Verifone Card Reader

OK, you can see I am just way too excited about this stuff. Why not? I am encouraged to see such experimentation. It ties in with my big belief: the marriage of computing and connectivity without the shackles of being tethered to a location is the the biggest disruptive force of our times, and it will redefine business models for decades.

For a long time, companies like Symbol Technologies, a division of Motorola, have been making point-of-sale and handheld computing devices for non-office environments such as retail locations and warehouses. It is becoming obvious by the day — they are amongst those being disrupted.

I am looking forward to more Mophies and Squares!

This article also appeared on BusinessWeek.com.

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Mophie Juice Pack Air: Extend Your iPhone’s Battery Life With Style

Dave Greenbaum — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:00:28 +0000

Does your iPhone crave power like a mad dictator? Even after trying some of Clayton’s excellent tips on power conservation, you might find that by dinner your iPhone gives out like a puppet government. The Mophie Juice Pack Air external power pack promises extended battery life in a compact combination of form and function. Is this new version too good to be true, or could this be one of those rare times that promises are delivered upon? Read on.

The Juice Pack Air is light. When protecting the iPhone it adds just over two and one half ounces to the weight of it and half an inch to the height, a bit over an eighth of an inch to the width and a quarter inch to the depth. The case is mono-color with a glossy finish and comes in black, white, and (Kansas State and Minnesota Vikings fans, rejoice) purple. Unlike Mophie’s standard Juice Pack, the Air version fully protects the iPhone.

As with most hard cases, there are cut-outs for the various buttons and the audio jack, although not for the dock connector. The speakers are blocked, but the Air uses a sound channel to deliver the sound to the front instead of the bottom. I actually heard better with my Air than without it! The standard Apple dock connector is replaced with micro USB, instead of the more popular mini USB connector, which passes the charge through to the iPhone and battery. When the Air is attached, the iPhone does not fit into most other docking or pass-through accessories. Fortunately the case is literally a snap to remove.

Style is great, but does it actually get the job done? Yes! Without the Juice Pack, my own year-old iPhone 3G battery depletes itself after about 12 hours of heavy use. During tests, I was able to get about 24 hours of use out of my iPhone before needing a recharge of the iPhone and Juice Pack.

A four-dot blue LED display on the Mophie gives an indication of approximately how much of the battery is left. Like a brave soldier, the Juice Pack sacrifices itself before the iPhone taps its own internal battery. The Juice Pack can also be turned off to allow the iPhone battery to drain first. The Air version of the Juice Pack holds much less of a charge than the original, but just like the Macbook Air, you have to sacrifice something to achieve a svelte figure.

But I’m afraid power doesn’t come cheap. The Mophie Juice Pack Air retails for $79.95, which is a bit more than buying a battery pack separately from a hard case, but it is a great value in that the two are combined together. If your iPhone battery isn’t lasting you long enough and you don’t need a fancy case, the Mophie Juice Pack Air is a great choice.

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