iPhone 3G extended battery options

I researched all the batteries and chose the RichardSolo.

For example, when compared to the 3G Juice and the Mophie, the RichardSolo surpasses both in a neatly-designed package that dispels the overkill. Here's a few tidbits to chew upon...

The RichardSolo is the only one that lets you charge the iPhone and the Backup Battery together. The Mophie requires you to charge it separately, and the 3G doesn't have a chance to charge them together because they stupidly put the mini usb port right next to the Apple pin, so that if you connect it to the iPhone there is no way to charge it. And neither of them give you a USB wall charger, which is probably 8 times faster than charging from your computer USB port.

While there are many backup batteries out there, this is my choice. It's small---yeah okay maybe a little cumbersome connected to the iPhone. But what can you connect to that thing that isn't a little awkward? Truth is, anything dangling from the iPhone will be ugly. So get over it and think realistic. I never knew any battery that entered a beauty pageant.

this might blow your warranty, but hey if the battery is dead anyways, why not?

http://www.ipodjuice.com/iphone-battery-replacement-products.htm

Theses guys actually open up your iPhone (voiding the warranty i'm sure) but put in a new battery and they cover it for ten years. A good option for me but perhaps not for all.

charles

Has anyone used the Kensington one? It looks like the smallest I've seen around, and I want to add as little bulk to my 3G as possible :-)

What I want to know how does he think he can get away with charging $38 if you purchase from outside north america.

This is timely for me as I have been looking into the same battery products for my power starved iPhone.

Its seems though that you would do your readers a favor if you actually compared them according to the power they offer and not just form factor. After all it's a battery...

I am no electronic power expert but I can google the topic:

http://www.camerahacker.com/Definitions/Battery_Capacity_Conversion.shtml

The long and short is, the more Watt Hours your external battery can supply, the longer it will power/charge your iPhone. Period. Higher Watt Hours are better.

So:

iPhone Internal Battery
--
1400 mAh @ 3.7V = 5.18 Watt Hours


Mophie Juice Pack (1st gen iPhone only):
--

URL : See pastie below

1800 mAh @ 5V = 9 Watt Hours

APC UPB10
--
URL : See pastie below

2000 mAh @ 5V = 10 Watt Hours

Kensington Model 33442
--
URL : See pastie below

(1000 mAh according to Richard Solo. Kensington does not publish mAh which in itself tells you something in my book. :-)

1000 mAh @ 5V = 5 Watt Hours

So this highly unscientific survey, by a non-electrical-engineer, shows that if you want the most bang for your buck the APC external battery is the way to go. (Disclaimer : I am not affiliated with them, nor do I yet own any of these products.)

For me the APC PRO's are:

- Doesn't block the audio speaker and mic ports on the bottom of the iPhone.
- Doesn't block the antenna on the back which in itself will decrease your battery life as the phone has to work harder to get a signal.
- Can charge any other USB device that accepts power over USB charging.

APC CONS ARE:
- Its somewhat bigger that the others
- Requires a cable between power and iphone. This can be a pro or con depending on where you are using it.

So, which one will you pick? Do you see any problems with my methodology? BTW, it would have been much nicer if TUAW took the time to do this legwork before publishing...

Also, TUAW wouldn't allow more than three URLs in this comment for some reason (weak) so please feel free to check this comment out in its entirety with URL's for all the products and specs in this pastie link:

http://pastie.org/235991

Cheers.

I prefer Rolls Royce Trent 700/XWB... na, just kidding.

But if these battery add-ons all use the same connection, there's also the iPod ones out there that should be cheaper. But apparently if you plug something "not certified for iPhone" it will short-circuit the phone... like that 3rd speaker thing a while ago.

Also just turn off WiFi, 3G and GPS and only use em when you need em, and don't have the screen brightness cranked (a no brainer). That bests the first iphone no sweat.

According to Kensington their battery does not work with the 3G. Wtf.

What is this garbage? Looks like a hacked up garage job. At least make it look half decent like the "cradle" style ones...

I'll wait until September for the Mophie Juicepack. Not the prettiest thing as someone above mentioned if you let the two green gaps at the bottom bother your aesthetics, but it's not bad looking to me, feels great in the hand, and has an awesome amount of juice. My only gripe is that it doesn't pass-through data for syncing, but no biggie, pull the phone out and put it in its dock.

What annoys me is that Mophie wasn't ready to roll with this on iDay. The form factor of the new phone is virtually the same as the old, it's just different enough to make old hard cases not fit, but it's not so much different as to make a 3G case some exercise in engineering redesign. Apple obviously released case specs to manufacturers early, or we would have all these new 3g ready cases they were offering me at the Apple Store when I bought the new phone.