Earlier this summer, Mophie announced and launched a new line of Juice Pack Air cases for the iPhone XS and XS Max, which promise to add extra hours of battery life to your iPhone while providing drop protection. The cases offer many of the same features as Apple’s 2019 Smart Battery Case line, but there are a few key differences that I found in terms of their physical design and day-to-day usability.
performance
In terms of everyday battery life, I found the Smart Battery Case and Juice Pack Air to be similar in terms of performance, giving Apple an edge. The Juice Pack Air has a single 1,720 mAh battery, while the Smart Battery Case has two 1,369 mAh batteries that allow it to run at a higher voltage to provide a total of 10.1 Wh of power.
On average, the Juice Pack Air lasted up to 4 hours on a day of normal use, and one day when I was streaming music from my iPhone to my HomePod for a few hours in the morning, the case died at 1 pm. While I found that the Mophie accessories died a little early during the day, my iPhone battery was always able to make it to bed so I still didn’t have to worry about finding a charging source at night, which is the whole point of the battery case.
Still, Apple’s case consistently beats Mophie’s in my tests in terms of all-day battery life. The Smart Battery Case usually dies around 6pm or 7pm on my typical usage day, and I go to sleep with my iPhone on about 70-80 percent battery, compared to the Juice Pack Air’s 30-50 percent battery.
On the plus side of the Juice Pack Air, it didn’t suffer from the repeated connection issues known to the ‘Smart Battery Case’. This issue sees accessories randomly reconnecting and reconnecting to the iPhone when stuck in a pocket or bag. Likewise, the ‘Smart Battery Case’ can sometimes stop charging overnight while on the Qi Mat, so you’ll wake up with only a half-charged case. I never encountered any such issues with the Juice Pack Air, although its Qi hotspot was a bit more difficult to find on my Belkin charging mat, especially at night.
While Mophie’s Juice Pack Air for iPhone XS isn’t officially certified to fit the iPhone X, it works as expected. I had no problems fitting my iPhone X or encountering performance issues, so iPhone X owners interested in Mophie’s new accessory needn’t worry.
Design
The new Juice Pack Air continues Mophie’s click-together design, where you slip your iPhone into the bottom of the case and slide the top half of the case over the top of your iPhone. This creates a visible seam on the back of the case, just above the extended battery section and below the camera cutout.
The Juice Pack Air’s battery bump is smaller than Apple’s, but that’s because the Mophie case is longer — and thus spreads out more surface area — because of the larger chin case on the front. Didn’t like the business of having a big chin.
Otherwise, the Juice Pack Air design is standard for an iPhone case, with a passthrough Lightning port, front edges, bumpers for the volume and lock buttons, and a satisfying matte finish. The case also performed well when I accidentally dropped my iPhone on concrete one day, with only a small nick near the case’s camera bump cutout showing signs of damage (my iPhone was intact).
It’s worth noting that this is Mophie’s first case to include charging via a passthrough Lightning port. Previously, Mophie’s battery case included a MicroUSB port for passthrough wired charging. With a Lightning port – and wireless charging – it’s a lot easier to keep the Juice Pack Air off.
Juice Pack Air vs Smart Battery Case
One of the biggest issues with switching from Apple’s case to Mophie was the lack of iOS integration with the Juice Pack Air. Apple’s ‘Smart Battery Case’ displays the case’s battery life every time you charge it, and on the iOS widget screen, it’s a snap to quickly see how much battery you have left. It’s a small bonus, but one that has become so integrated into my day-to-day iPhone X use that I felt a little inhibited without it.
In comparison, the Juice Pack Air has four small LED lights on the bottom of the case. A button to their left can be pressed and LEDs will activate to represent how much battery is left in the case, and holding it will turn the case on to charge your iPhone.
I had an ongoing problem with estimating what battery was left on the Juice Pack Air, especially since the LEDs would dim to two or three lights early in the day and then stay on one light for about 4 or 5 hours that afternoon, I never knew the case. How close it was to dying.
Launching the two cases is also very different. With Apple, the case activates the moment it’s charged and always provides battery to the iPhone. With Mophie’s you have to manually activate the LED by long pressing the button next to it.
This is a difference that can be a pro or con depending on how much control you want over your battery case. I didn’t like to worry about turning the case on, but those who prefer to let their iPhone battery run out before it starts charging will benefit from the Juice Pack Air.
bottom line
Mophie’s new line of Juice Pack Air cases for the iPhone XS and XS Max offer the battery life and solid craftsmanship you’ve come to expect from Mophie, but a few design choices keep it from being the absolute best iPhone battery case on the market.
For $99.95, you’re basically doubling your iPhone’s battery life with an accessory that has a sleek body but an unappealing chin design. At $30 more at $129.00, Apple’s case edges out Mophie’s in terms of battery life, and has a more subtle design, minus a slightly larger battery hump.
If you need a battery case for an iPhone X, XS, or XS Max that can make it through the day, the Juice Pack Air is still a solid choice in the price range.
How to buy
The Juice Pack Air for iPhone XS and XS Max is available for purchase at Mophie.com for $99.95. Available colors include black, gold, navy, and deep red.
Note: Mophie provided MacRumors with the Juice Pack Air for iPhone XS for the purpose of this review; No other compensation was received. MacRumors is an authorized partner with Mophie When you click on a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps keep our site running.
