The premier name in battery cases brings an extra 2,300 mAh to your GS4 with a new Juice Pack
Behold, the Mophie Juice Pack for the Samsung Galaxy S4. This guy brings an extra 2,300 mAh to the GS4 in a big but stylish case. That's the gist of the Juice Pack, of course. Protect the phone while offering up more battery life. Specifically, this model adds about 80 percent more battery to the stock GS4.
Obviously it adds a good bit of bulk, too. Specifically, it more than doubles the thickness of the GS4. It's more than a half-inch taller, too, and adds nearly a quarter-inch to the waistline.
The Juice Pack will run $99.99 direct from Mophie and will be available in black, white, pink and red.
Specifically, size-wise, we're looking at:
- Samsung Galaxy S4: 5.38 x 2.75 x 0.31 inches
- Mophie Juice Pack: 5.91 x 2.92 x 0.66 inches
It weighs in at a total 4.59 ounces, case and phone combined. But we now we're bulking up. That's no surprise. Mophie manages to do all this in a pretty attractive package, however. And, more important is that Mophie (at least in this one unit we've received) appears to have cleaned up any of the messy manufacturing flaws we experienced in the four Galaxy S3 units we tested. There are no sharp edges anywhere to be found. (In fact, the chin — a previous problem area — has been completely redesigned.) The buttons all work as they should, it's easy enough to insert and remove the GS4, and the two parts of the case snap together nicely.
Worth noting, however, is that you lose all NFC functionality when using this battery case. That means no direct NFC, and none of Samsung's on S Beam. You also lose USB OTG capability.
The Juice Pack input — the rate at which the case itself charges — is 1 Amp, and output — how fast it charges the phone is 500 mA, Mophie tells us. And as always is the case when you're talking about Samsung phones and battery cases, you have to ask yourself if it's worth the extra bulk and the cost for such a product when you can get a spare battery (and a much slimmer case) for so much less.
That said, (and assuming retail units are consistent with this one) we're plenty impressed by the Mophie Juice Pack for the Samsung Galaxy S4. In and of itself, it's a good product.
Reader comments
Mophie Juice Pack for the Samsung Galaxy S4
Ok, so the juice pack accepts current at one half the rate the phone can charge at and charges the phone at one quarter of what it can charge at.
So my question becomes this. If I plug in the original S4 2Amp charger into the installed Mophie will the phone only get a 500ma charge pushed to it if the Mophie is fully charged? This would mean it would take 4x as long to charge the phone.
So you loose NFC, USB OTG, and the possibility of Qi wireless charging. All 3 of which they could have built into the Mophie. And corded charging may be slower to boot. What a bargain for nearly $100
The best part is for the price you pay for this, you could buy at least two replacement batteries and a charger, and keep all of those features, without making your phone as big as a house.
Yeah, pretty sad. The sacrifices just aren't worth any benefit you might get. I like the idea of having a "reserve tank" for my phone, but I'd honestly just rather pack a spare battery and swap it in if I get desperate. The GS4 charges FAST with the default charger, too. You could honestly just carry an external battery pack and plug it in for 15-20 minutes and you'd get a quarter of your battery back.
So much this.
Posted via Android Central App
If that is the case I would rather carry a small battery pack with a 2Amp USB port and a small cable to charge my phone. Why add bulk and a trickle charger.
I liked your review, Phil.
Posted via the TARDIS.
Generally I like the work that Mophie does because the cases feel good and look reasonably attractive. It's just that here I don't see the point. Like Phil said: the phone has a removable battery.
Waste of time. Why not put the effort into phones that don't have removable batteries.
Posted via Android Central App on my Nexus 4
I bought the extended battery and separate charger for mine. The benefit of maintaining the factory form factor is to great to make the phone larger with this case. The battery on the S4 gets me 17-20hrs of life consistently. Add the extra battery I always keep fully charged in my car and I can Come from 1% to 100% in seconds. Not sure who these "pacs" appeal to.
This is just stupid. These battery cases only make sense on phones with non-removable battery. Just buy one of those ZeroLemon 3x batteries if you want to extend your Galaxy S battery.
I bought my ZeroLemon 7,500mAh battery for my S4 and received it Saturday. My phone has currently been on for... 65 hours and I have 14% battery left, and it only cost me $39.99 from Amazon.
I don't even buy replacement batteries anymore. I bought accessories for my last two smart phones, and as soon as I upgraded the phone, they were useless. More batteries and crap in a landfill within two years at best.
In June I bought an Anker Astro3E 10000mAh external charger for less than $40, and I haven't looked back.
http://www.amazon.com/10000mAh-Lightning-Thunderbolt-Incredible-customiz...
Advantages:
* Charge multiple devices at a time (2 USB ports / 1amp)
* Forward and backward compatible until they significantly change how phones are powered.
* Pass-through acts as a charger while charging itself, all with micro/usb cables. (No specialized cables)
* No extra gack in my travel bag for equipment with which to charge replacement batteries.
* I've been able to help out friends with low charge on MANY occasions.
Disadvantages:
* Although slightly larger than a Galaxy S4, I've found that they actually fit well together, in an odd sort of way. I have a Zagg screen protector on the phone, and they sort of grip together face-to-face when traveling. This actually helps protect the screen face when they're in my backpack, and as the charger is slightly larger in circumference, and slightly heavier, the phone kind of piggy backs onto the charger and in general feels more secure when they're together. It's a good pairing.
No more custom backs or replacement batteries for me! (ps I have no affiliation with Anker or any other company.)
I can see the advantages and disadvantages of the case. I use NFC for payments sometimes and losing that isn't worth it for me with the added bulk.
The other concern I would have is that since it is a case with something that plugs into your charging port, is the chance of damaging your charging port increased if it drops? I would like to see how well it holds up as a case and not just an extra battery option.
Have they improved the s3 case as well?
Posted via Android Central App
I'm sold!!! :)
Posted via Android Central App
I used to have a battery case for an iPhone (~$70 at the time) and, at the time, thought that it was a great option when you are in a middle of something and your battery was about to die or if you were on a long plane ride and there's no option to recharge. I didn't like that fact that I couldn't use the iPhone with other covers when the battery case was on or that the battery case made the phone heavier and bulkier.
I eventually move to a portable charger (~$70 at the time) for those long trips, but I has to plan those out in advance and make sure the charger was charged and packed.
Now the next evolution is the replacement battery which I got for my S4 and GNote 1. I paid $20 delivered for 2 extra batteries and a battery charger. The two extra batteries are charged all the time and one is in my car and one at home. I used to worry about having my phone plugged in all the time and charging. Now I just use the phone, never worrying about the charge or waiting for the phone to charge and not being able to use it while charging. Now, I just use it as it was intended and just swap the battery when I need to. Also, since I have two extra batteries, I don't worry about draining the replacement battery before the one in the charger is fully charged.
Of course this option is not viable for all phones, but a replacement battery is one of those must have features for me when selecting a new phone when my contract is up.
The idea of a juice pack in a device with removable battery is still daunting. However I still like the durability coupled with nice design of the juice pack. The issues mentioned like losing NFC and usb OTG is something I can work around.
Posted via Android Central App
The idea of a juice pack in a device with removable battery is still daunting. However I still like the durability coupled with nice design of the juice pack. The issues mentioned like losing NFC and usb OTG is something I can work around.
Posted via Android Central App
Are those speakers in front like the iphone models?
Seems rather pricey for only 2,300 mAh. Why not go with Zerolemon or Anker battery at 9,600 for half the price? The increased size doesn't matter much, that's what pockets are for. Regardless they need to either increase the power or decrease the price.
i have the mophie juice pack
i like it if i have a spair battery and i go out then i let it at home and can,t use it when i am not at home
this pack is for me a lot easier to use and i like the design