The iPhone 11 Pro Max battery has been fantastic since the day I purchased it. Apple touts up to 80 hours of audio playback and 20 hours of video playback. Apple’s technical specs page says that it lasts up to five hours longer than the iPhone XS Max. With this increase in battery life, is a battery case still needed? I’ve been using the Mophie juice pack access for the past few weeks (which included my trip to JNUC 2019), so I wanted to share my thoughts.
I’ve never used a battery case before. My biggest gripe with a lot of them is they limit access to the Lightning port. I skipped the XS generation of phones, so I was never tempted by Apple’s official models last year. I knew I had some travel coming up, so I was excited to try out Mophie’s take on a battery case. There are a couple of things to like about the Mophie juice pack access at first glance.
The case uses Qi charging to charge the phone, so you get access to the Lightning port. A Qi charger can charge the case or you can use the included USB C to USB A. While I use AirPods Pro as my daily headphones, keeping the Lightning port open would allow me to use EarPods if needed. When the case is plugged in, it will charge your iPhone first and the case second. You can easily pop the case off to charge them separately as well. The main reason you might want to do that is if you wanted to use Apple’s 18W charger for a quick charge (up to 50% charge in around 30 minutes with 18W). Mophie’s juice pack access features a 2,200mAh battery, which will give you an additional 15 hours of audio playback or five extra hours of video playback.
So what’s it like in daily use? I think Mophie nailed this product. It does exactly what it says it will do. When traveling to JNUC, I didn’t even think about charging. I listened to podcasts, watched a few AppleTV+ shows, and stayed on top of my email. When I got down to under 40%, I decided to go ahead and turn on the battery (using the button on the back). It gave my phone an additional 25% charge while I was listening to some music on Apple Music (until the case went dead).
If you are a frequent traveler, you will know how an additional 20–25% of battery life can make the difference in finishing the day with a bit of battery left vs. a dead iPhone. If you frequently use Apple Pay, Apple Maps, or ride-sharing services like Lyft when traveling, you know that keeping a spare battery is not a luxury when traveling.
The case is fairly compact, but it is going to be thicker than using a standard case. If you are the type person who leaves your iPhone on a charger at night, keeps it on the charger in the car, and then leaves it on a charger at your desk, you’ll have no use for juice pack access.
But if you are on the go a lot (travel, in the field for your job, etc.), I highly recommend you purchase this case. Apple hasn’t released an official battery case for the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro lineups yet, so Mophie’s case is the best one on the market for the moment. I enjoyed having it while traveling to JNUC 2019 and having it around during the conference.
