mophie juice pack access for iPhone 11 Pro review: extend the battery life of your already extended battery life

When Apple announced that the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max had four to five additional hours of battery life over their predecessors, my mind was spinning. Though battery life of the iPhone XS was already pretty decent, the battery would be somewhat low by the end of a day of average use, but with the iPhone 11 Pro, I rarely see a day when I start to fret over the battery loss at the end of a day.

I do, however, sometimes drain my battery like a Mynock. If I'm out doing something all day, especially if I'm taking pictures or videos, I start to see that battery life dwindle. That's where mophie's juice pack access becomes a battery lifesaver.

I took the juice pack access with me on my trip to Japan to see just how well it handled all-day, multiple-day battery excesses. Traveling from town to town, taking a lot of pictures and videos, listening to music, watching videos, and trying to get a signal with an international plan will all suck your battery pretty fast, but the juice pack access kept my iPhone 11 Pro alive every day.

Icing on the cake

mophie juice pack access: The features

The juice pack access is first and foremost an iPhone case with an external battery pack. Since its first iteration, mophie has designed and redesigned the case to be ever-slimmer and easier to use with your iPhone. Today's version is incredibly thin, even though it does double the thickness of your iPhone 11 Pro.

The battery capacity is 2000mAh (2200mAh for the iPhone 11 Pro Max model), which is less than Apple's Smart Battery Case, but still powerful enough to keep your iPhone charged for another five hours or so.

It comes in two parts, a top and bottom. When putting the iPhone into the case, you'll slide it from the top-down into the main body and then close it up by sliding the top onto it.

It uses wireless charging to charge up your iPhone, so your Lightning Port is free to use whenever you want for whatever you want.

The case, itself, can be recharged using wireless charging or by plugging it with a USB-C cable (included) into a compatible wall charger (not included). Connected charging is faster than wireless charging, but if you're not in a hurry, you can just charge up your iPhone and the case overnight.

The juice pack access has priority charging, which means your iPhone gets charged up before the case does. It can also be charged with or without the iPhone connected to it.

slim but powerful

mophie juice pack access: What I like

I love the design of this case. It's not quite the "hump" of the Apple Smart battery case, and I love that it comes in two parts so it's super easy to put on and take off. It's pretty slim and lightweight for a battery case, even lighter than Apple's Smart Battery Case, and about as thick. The button pressing is very comfortable. They are separate buttons, not just moldings that have a bump, so they're very reactive to touch. The hole where the Mute switch is a bit small, making it harder to reach the switch, but I use the buttons much more than I use the Mute switch.

One major way that the juice pack access stands out from Apple's Smart Battery case is in the LED status lights. I really like having this feedback. When you press a button on the back of the case, up to four lights will illuminate, showing an approximation of how much juice is left in the case. If you have one light left, you know the case is running out of juice. When you're recharging, it's very easy to see when the case is ready to go.

It also has an on-off charging button. I prefer this to Apple's always-charging design. I have more control over when, and for how much I want the case to charge. If I'm on a trip and I've forgotten the USB-C cable and don't have a wireless charging pad handy, I can parse out how much of the case I use without having to take the case off when I want to stop charging my iPhone with it.

This happened to me on my trip to Japan. I didn't have my USB-C cable with me, only a Lightning cable, and wasn't going to have it again for a couple of days. I could charge up my iPhone every night but didn't use the juice pack access every time. I saved up the juice for one day when I knew I would be over-using my iPhone and need that extra jump.

These things make the mophie juice pack access much more versatile than Apple's Smart Battery Case.

Sticky fingers

mophie juice pack access: What I don't like

Though the juice pack access works really well, it doesn't quite have the same power as Apple's Smart Battery Case. For one, Apple's battery case has a larger capacity, offering up to nine additional hours of battery life. It also charges via the Lightning port instead of using Qi wireless charging the way the juice pack access does. This provides a faster charge. With that in mind, however, the iPhone 11 Pro has such a great battery that you're not going to need the extra power and extras speed that the extra cost of the Smart Battery Case has.

I have to admit that I was a little grossed out at just how much the juice pack access collects fingerprints. The oils from my fingers just settled right into the matte black case. It's not easy to clean these fingerprints off, either. It's not like I can just wipe it on my shirt. I have to use a damp wet cloth. I'm not sure how much the fingerprints show up on lighter cases, like Blush Pink or Product (RED), but I have a feeling that the darker the case, the more noticeable the shiny fingerprints appear against the matte back.

Bottomline

mophie juice pack access: Conclusion

mophie's juice pack access is one of the best battery cases available, second only to Apple's Smart Battery Case. In 2019, the company has perfected the design, with a slim (for a battery case) design, clean look, and comfortable hold.

It doesn't have quite the battery power and charge speed as Apple's Smart Battery Case, but that's less important in the iPhone 11 Pro than it ever was. And, though the battery is slightly slower, the juice pack access has an LED status bar and an on-off charging button, which is much better, in my opinion, than Apple's minimalist no-feedback design.

At nearly half the price of the Smart Battery Case, you're also getting a bigger bang for your buck. Oh, did I mention it comes in Product (RED)?