Case-Mate Fuel Lite
MagnumMac has kindly provided me with a Case-Mate Fuel Lite iPhone case to review. In the past we’ve looked at the Mophie Juice Pack and the Ecosol Powerstick and it’s great to get our hands on another player in this market – anything that helps the iPhone’s battery life is a blessing!
Does the Fuel Lite stack up? Read on for my review of this new contender.
My first impressions of the case were that it was quite large, but after the first day I started getting used to it.
First off, some specs. The Fuel is supposed to extend the talk-time, standby-time and internet usage by 1.5 times the normal amount.
The actual times are (as stated on the box):
2 hours more talk time
2 hours more internet time
2.5 hours more video playback time
5 hours more audio playback time
and a crazy 100 hours more standby time (but I mean really, with an iPhone who worries about standby time – we just want to be using it all the time!)
Fuel Lite Unboxed
There isn’t much in the box, the case itself, a cable (not 30 pin) and some instructions.
When you plug the phone (with case on) into a power source with the button on the back off, just the case is charged. To charge the phone, you must press the power button, and at this point I am guessing that power is just flowing through the case to the phone. In this mode, if you have it plugged into a computer, it will allow you to sync the phone too, although I have had varying success with this.
So, I hear you asking, what is the actual battery life like? Well, I’ll tell you. First off I should say, I am using my iPhone on XT so my battery does drain a lot quicker that those of you on Vodafone (3G requires more juice). However, I used my phone to play some games and let it die down to 40%. Then I switched on the Fuel. Once the case was empty, the phone said it was back up to 70%. 30% boost is always good, expecially when you don’t have access to an AC or car charger. Now, I don’t think that this is quite the 1.5 times the manufacturer specifies, but it is good to have the extra battery none-the-less.
The case itself feels very nice in your hand and doesn’t bulk your pocket out very much.
Inside iPhone interface
The phone slides very snugly down into the case and clips into the 30-pin dock connector. The top quarter of the case comes off to allow you to slide the phone in and clamps back on very firmly and feels very good.
Case back, with Power on.
The back of the case is nice and smooth and doesn’t grab as you slide it into your pocket, which is especially important to me and one of the main things I look for in a case. The power button is situated at the bottom with three status lights just above that.
Case Bottom and Power Input
As I mentioned before, the power input is not a standard 30-pin connector so you will need to carry this cable with you or charge the case during the night and the phone separately.
As a side note, I’ve not personally used the Mophie Juice Pack before so I checked out the specs for comparison, which are as follows:
Mophie Juice Pack Specs
Since seeing the specs of the Juice Pack, I feel that if I had the money to spare I would go for this, but at $99.90 for the Case-Mate vs $159.95 for the Mophie I think I would stick with the Case-Mate
Both the Case-Mate and the Juice Pack are now available from MagnumMac. The Case-Mate is $99.90 and the Mophie is $159.95. One of these is definitely a MUST for anyone on Telecom XT.
– Case-Mate Fuel Lite
I have a Mophie Juice pack air ordered it from States day one they came out and paid premium shipping. Was it worth it? No! The stated battery life increase is (for me) nowhere near what they claim to be. This may be because as Allan says XT iPhones do use more power but as I say, for me not really worth it. Great for an emergency I have needed and used a good few times and it’s always in my bag but I am never really away from a charger (Home, car, office) long enough to use on a regular basis. Based on the review above I would advise anybody tossing up between a Mophie and this product to go with this one due to the much lower price. The battery life on the new iPhone is “allegedly” 16% larger but I think this extra power will be taken up by the Multitasking features announced, I think we will just end up with a similar battery life to what we have now. The only way I would buy another power case type accessory is if it had a 30 pin connector, the Mophie and this product both require you to carry another cable around and if you do use this on a regular basis it becomes a pain to keep removing your iPhone from the case to charge. I told myself I would use the Mophie all the time due to the money I paid for it, however removing day to day case, putting on Mophie, removing Mophie to charge iPhone and charging Mophie with separate cable all became a little tedious lol! to say the least! Sure you could use the power case as your day to day case but I found it a bit big. One final point about the Mophie is it seems to lose charge even when not in use and switched off, you fully charge and use maybe a week or so later and it’s down halfway. My Mophie will be getting sold with my iPhone when its upgrade time
P.S. Nice review
(Paul has made 323 comments)
As you say Paul, great for an emergency, it’s the sort of thing that you could keep in your car as a backup, just in case. And as you said, carrying around the extra cable is a bit tedious, however, they are a great idea and if on XT pretty much a must (or a car charger)
Cheers
I like!! I would get one but I'll soon be upgrading to the next iPhone so I'll wait and get one that is compatible with is… that is if the next iPhone has a battery with the same duration as the current one, which I doubt.
(Yaman_NZ has made 184 comments)
My Mophie Juice Pack has died ( not nearly keeping its charge) after 6 months. Mophie sent me the Juice Pack Air as a replacement-so there service was excellent, but im still not impressed with the proposed life of the charge. Its better than nothing id have to say!!
(Psychrn has made 131 comments)