PowerSkin iPhone 4 Case Review

Introduction and Design:

By now, we’ve seen how processors have eclipsed our capacity to provide stellar experiences on our smartphones, but with raw power comes the ever-growing demand of power consumption. There’s no arguing that the iPhone 4 exhibits some good battery life, as we’ve experienced first-hand, but for those power users out there, it might not be simply enough to last them throughout the day. Well, If you happen to have $80 and some change lying around somewhere, you might want to consider picking up the PowerSkin case for the iPhone 4. Packing a sizable 2,000 mAh battery, it’s touted as doubling the battery life of the iPhone 4 – while simultaneously presenting itself as a protective case.

Placing the handset into the PowerSkin case, it quickly loses its alluring sleek looks, and instead, its overall thickness is nearly doubled to make it rather bulky, hefty, and boxy looking. Its silicone rubber casing is actually constructed from recycled materials, while offering some level of shock absorption, adequate grip, protection, and a clean overall look. However, its uninspiring design is rather mundane.


In order to place the handset into position, you’ll need to put the iPhone 4 on an angle and line up the 30-pin port with the connector on the PowerSkin case. Once it snaps in, you can push it into the case so that it’s completely protected.


On the left side of the case, there is a cutout for the vibrate switch, while two outlined circles are positioned directly over the iPhone 4’s volume buttons. Meanwhile, another cutout is found on the top edge for the 3.5mm headset jack, and another outline button is placed on top of the dedicated power button. Thankfully, these outlines still offer a tasteful, yet tactile response when pressed.

To gauge the battery’s level, there are four blue LEDs placed consecutively along the bottom edge – with a button nearby that activates the charging mechanism by executing a long press on it. Additionally, pressing on the same button once will light up the LEDs showing off how much juice is left in the tank. Finally, a microUSB port is found on the right side of the case, which allows you to charge the case via any USB port. At the same time, you can still synchronize the iPhone 4 with iTunes while it’s charging – meaning, you don’t need to take the phone out of the case.

Performance:

So does the PowerSkin actually provide double the battery life for the iPhone 4? Well, that’s a resounding yes because we managed to fully charge a dead iPhone 4 back to 100%. Not ending there, we are able to charge the handset an additional 16% before tapping out the PowerSkin completely. And when it comes to charging the iPhone 4, it manages to do it at the same rate as if you’re using a regular wall charger. With its built-in 2,000 mAh battery, power users are pretty much guaranteed to get a solid day of usage – with no worries about losing any juice throughout the day.

Conclusion:

Knowing that it lives up to the fact of offering double the battery life with the iPhone 4, we’re stuck in a dilemma between its better pricing over the competition, and the handset’s hefty physical transformation. On one hand, we absolutely adore that it’s able to more than double the battery life – while being priced competitively over its rivals at $79.99. However, we’re not thrilled to find the once sleek looking device transformed into a literal brick with the PowerSkin on. At the same time, it lacks any favorable design elements to make it faintly attractive as a case, but nevertheless, it’s able to get the job done in terms of battery life.

PowerSkin iPhone 4 Case Video Review: