What do you think?
Using The Technaxx In-Built Camera Flash
The battery life on an iPhone is pretty poor – I know this is well-documented and I’m not the first to comment on it.
To help with this short-coming, several manufacturers have seen an opportunity to make some money and produced external battery cases.
These battery cases are all pretty similar in design, you slide your phone into them and effectively double the thickness of the iPhone.
I have an iPhone 3GS and have used Mophie Juice Packs for a couple of years. The original design developed cracks along the inner edges and Mophie very helpfully replaced it with their newer model, the Juice Pack Air. The battery life on this product wasn’t as good as it’s predecessor and the shiny shell made it more vulnerable to sliding out of my hands!
When I developed a problem with this one (the USB connector came loose after general use over time), and I was out of my warranty period, I was faced with the possibility of paying out another £69.99 to extend my iPhone’s battery life.
That’s a lot of money to pay, so I Googled external batteries and managed to track down several other similar products, all for considerably-lower prices…
I finally settled for the TeckNet Technaxx TE01 Protection Case, which I found on Amazon for £18.99. Reviews were good so I decided to give it a go and have not been too disappointed. It has the non-slip feel of the original Mophie Juice Pack, which I prefer, and the same USB connector arrangement so you can either charge/sync whilst the case is on, through your computer or using the iPhone mains plug adapter.
The real bonus with this model over some of the other battery packs, is the inclusion of a mini flash-light at the top of the device. This is intended as an aid to the camera in low-light situations and whilst it’s not the most powerful flash, it is certainly useful in some situations.
However, the documentation doesn’t even mention it exists, let alone how to use it. It’s very simple to use, but maybe not so obvious – just press and hold the charge indicator button to switch it on. When you are done, press and hold to switch it off.
As for the extra battery life you gain from this unit, a totally flat iPhone 3GS battery gets topped-up to 67% in my experience. That’s pretty much on a par with the Juice Pack Air, but for a third of the price and on that basis, I would definitely recommend the Technaxx TE01.
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