Unfortunately missing: a Lightning cable. Given that the case uses Apple’s relatively new Lightning cable and can be charged independently of the phone, it seems like throwing in a Lightning cable only makes sense — plus it’d help justify that $99 price tag.”
Since Apple has full reign over the protocol, the case can do everything the phone’s own Lightning port can do.”
I wish they’d gone with some sort of multi-LED status indicator to display charge status, so you could check if your case is ready to go without slapping everything together or finding a Lightning cable.”
A smooth, suede-like material inside makes it feel pretty high-end, with the added bonus of cleaning up all those fingerprints off the rear of your phone whenever you slide it in.
That chamber pictured next to the Lightning plug, meanwhile, funnels sound forward from the iPhone’s speaker. It’s not going to boost the sound a whole lot, but it keeps you from having to cup your hand near the bottom of your handset to hear your jams”
Curiously, as far as I’ve found, these icons only show for a few seconds when you first put the phone into the case, or when you plug/unplug a Lightning cable. After that, it fades back to the standard lock screen. I wish it stayed onscreen.”
My thoughts on the design, so far: is it gorgeous? Nah. It gives your iPhone a growth. But, if I’m being honest, I… don’t think I’ve ever seen a battery pack that wasn’tu00a0kind of uggers. And the hump, while controversial, actually feels really nice in the hand; it makes the device contour to my hand a bit better, giving my pointer finger something of a ledge to rest on.”
+ It’s built very, very well, and feels like a $99 case should.
+/- The design is a love-it-or-hate-it kind of thing, but the same goes foru00a0pretty much all battery cases. While not as much of a looker as the bare iPhone, that hump is actually pretty nice to hold.
– $99 price tag seems a bit steep for what you get, particularly given that the long established competition offersu00a0similarly sized batteries for less, and much bigger batteries for about the same price.
+ That price, though, comes with a few perks: the aforementioned software-level battery indicators, and the fact that, with full Lightning compatibility, you… basically never need to take this thing off unless you get tired of it.
– I do really wish this thing came with its own Lightning cable, though. That it doesn’t seems really bizarre to me.
If you want a bigger battery on your 6S but still want that shiny Apple logo on the back, or want a case you rarely have to take off, the Smart Battery case gets the job done. If you’re just looking for an battery caseu00a0for occasional long days, I’d consider the competition.”
