In September, Mophie launched two brand new battery products, the Juice Pack Reserve, a $59.95 battery case for iPhone 6 and 6s, and the Power Reserve 1X, a small $34.95 external battery for smartphones and wearables. I’ve been testing both in regular daily use and at a wedding for the past two weeks, an environment that tends to be more smartphone-intensive than a typical day.
Mophie says the Juice Pack Reserve is the most compact battery case it’s ever made, adding just 0.3 inches of thickness and 75 grams of weight to the iPhone 6 or 6s. In my testing, I found Mophie’s claim that the case is a form factor that “you’ll barely notice” to be mostly true, albeit with one caveat. Its soft-touch back provides a comfortable and easy-to-hold grip despite feeling noticeably thicker. However, the bottom lip of the case, where the speaker grill sits and the case plugs into the iPhone, is much more noticeable and users unaccustomed to the extra length will have to spend some time adjusting to it when scrolling or typing.
The extra mass of the case wasn’t a hindrance when trying to quickly capture wedding moments though, as it slipped out of a tuxedo pocket very easily. In fact, even during more intensive activities like dancing, the pocket feel of the tuxedo pants suit was barely noticeable. The extra mass of litigation, however, is apparently more obvious. In more regular daily use, the case was even less obtrusive.
Mophie claims that the Juice Pack Reserve will provide an additional 60 percent charge on an iPhone 6 or 6s, with the latter having a 1,840 mAh battery. This claim was actually conservative in my testing with the iPhone 6, as I was able to consistently get a full charge out of the case. For example, I was able to go from 10 percent to 100 percent battery in just two hours and six minutes, and then from 4 percent to 93 percent in about the same time.
On the back of the Juice Pack Reserve are four LEDs that indicate the case’s battery level next to a small button. If you press and hold this button for a few seconds, it turns on the case and starts charging the phone. The case was easily able to get me through a full 14-hour day of battery-intensive Facebooking, Snapchatting, video recording, and photography while using the battery pack on and off during the wedding.
The rest of the case worked without much trouble. The pass-through volume and power buttons are easy to use and reliable, the speaker holes didn’t cause any noticeable dips in audio quality, and the slot for the headphone jack wasn’t a hindrance. However, the cutout for the mute switch makes access a little more difficult without the case. The pass-through microUSB charger for the case’s battery also works well, intelligently sensing when the case versus the phone needs charging.
The smaller and more compact Power Reserve 1X, which houses a 2,600mAh battery in a soft-touch case, comes with both a single USB and a microUSB port. The microUSB port is for charging battery packs and the USB port is for charging smartphones and wearables. Of course, users need to provide their own charging cables.
Like its bigger cousin, the Power Reserve was able to provide a full charge to my iPhone 6 in about two hours. It also has four LEDs that indicate its power level next to a small button With its larger battery capacity than the Juice Pack Reserve, the Power Reserve was able to provide an iPhone 6 from a total of one and a half to a full charge. Additionally, the small power reserve button is only used to view the battery pack. Power level, devices plugged into it start charging automatically.
Mophie says the Power Reserve uses “charge vault” technology and digital power management to hold its charge and intelligently detects its plugged-in device to adjust charging speed accordingly. In my testing, these claims appear to be true. I didn’t use the device for a week and then came back to it, pressed the power indicator button and found that it was still fully charged.
Carrying around a power reserve is a fairly simple endeavor, as the actual battery pack slips easily into a pocket and is equally easy to forget. However, carrying around a USB charging cable for your device makes the whole thing a bit less practical. It’s worth noting, however, that at the wedding I was easily able to share a charge with other iPhone users who needed it.
Mophie says the Power Reserve 1X also works for wearables, in my case an Apple Watch, but in practice it feels a bit silly. Not only do you have to take off your wearable to charge it, but you also have to carry around the Apple Watch charging cable, which is extremely impractical and unnecessary, especially if you’re using the 2-meter cable that comes with the watch. If you need this device to charge your Apple Watch on the go, it’s wise to look for a smaller charging cable.
Both power reserve and juice pack reserve experienced rare hiccups during testing, though for the most part they didn’t significantly affect overall usability. For example, my iPhone battery displayed 10 percent charge in a case while charging by the juice pack, but the phone dropped to 1 percent when the charging case was closed.
The Juice Pack Reserve is a good recommendation for those who want the convenience of a battery case without the added bulk. It is a very good option when you need extra energy during special events like weddings or reunions or even holidays. Smaller power reserves are a bit more difficult to recommend. While it works well and is largely convenient to carry around for iPhone users who need to share the charge in a group environment, there are cheaper options on the market that offer more charge than this.
Both the Juice Pack Reserve and Power Reserve 1X are available in white, black, purple, blue, and pink and are available on Mophie’s website.