PWR Case from Prong provides a unique way to charge your backup battery.
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I’ve been interested in battery cases for mobile phones for several years.. When I upgraded to an iPhone from a flip phone several years ago, I found myself surprised at the difference of energy use. With the flip phone, you had the option of getting a spare battery and exchanging out the dead battery for a new, fresh one. But, the iPhone has never had that option. When battery cases started becoming popular just a few years ago, I remember thinking what a great idea that was. Of course, these cases still meant you had to plug a cable to get your charge, but they solved a definite problem for iPhone users. Battery cases are supposed to help you in emergent situations when you need to charge your phone at a moment’s notice. So, what happens if your battery case is depleted and your phone is dying AND you don’t have a cable with you? You need the PWR Case from Prong.
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The PWR Case is very special detachable battery case that can be plugged directly into a wall outlet to charge — no cable needed. The nice thing about this case is that its design to charge independently of the phone. It’s composed of two pieces – the bumper case and the battery pack. The bumper case fits around the iPhone and then it slides into the battery pack for charging. The battery pack is available as a 1500 mAh or 1900 mAh battery and can be purchased in one of four vibrant colors – slate, pink/white, gold/white, or blue/gray.
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Prong’s PWR Case is currently only available for the iPhone 5/5S, but Prong developers are working on releasing a PWR Case for the iPhone 6. They are working on getting funded for their production run through an Indiegogo campaign, which ends in a little over a week. We can expect to see iPhone 6 versions of the PWR Case shipping in June.
Some additional features include:
- LED battery indicator
- Made from high-grade polycarbonate
- Micro USB port for additional charging options
- Enhanced Audio that redirects sound towards the front of the phone
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As mentioned, you don’t need a cable in order to charge the PWR Case. The reason for this is because there are retractable A/C prongs integrated onto the back of the case. The prongs fold flat when not in use. When I first heard about this case, I was thrilled. I thought, “What a great concept and option especially when you are traveling.” When I got the chance to actually test out the case, I was intrigued by the design. One of the features that I really like is the LED battery indicator that is activated by touching a sensor the sits in-between the prongs on the battery case.
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The phone with bumper case slides into the battery pack fairly easily, but it locks securely into place. One thing I don’t really like about the design is how the bumper case feels a bit awkward when not locked into the battery pack. Even though it’s designed to be used independently of the pack, it just doesn’t feel quite right. Also, the buttons – particularly the power button – are a bit hard to depress and connect with the button on the iPhone.
As far as the charging goes, I found that within about 30 minutes, I gained almost 30% of a battery charge. When you lock the bumper into place, the phone automatically begins charging. This is different from many cases I’ve tried where there is a power button on the case that you have to push in order to start the power exchange. At one point, I found that the battery was warm. This was after it had been charging the phone for approximately 3 minutes and it was sitting on its back on the arm of a couch. Also, one mistake I made at first was to attempt charging the case while the phone was still in it. While there is no warning to tell you not to do this, I wouldn’t recommend it. In my experience, the case pulls away from the wall. However, without the phone inserted, the case is light enough to sit flush against the outlet.
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Even though I found a few things that I’d like to see improved, I found the PWR Case a unique battery case that makes a mobile phone even more mobile. The Prong PWR Case is available for $99.95 or $119.95 – depending on the size battery you choose.
For more information, visit prong.com/pwrcase.
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