Mophie Juice Pack Air is here, and it's not perfect (review)

Mophie Juice Pack Air photos

View the full gallery

Following a long wait after my first blog, I finally got my hands on Mophie's Juice Pack Air for the iPhone 3G. The company announced the availability of the accessory Tuesday with a price tag of $79.95.

If you own an iPhone 3G, you know how bad the device's battery life is, especially when you have 3G, GPS, and Wi-Fi turned on. For this reason, extended batteries, such as the original Juice Pack from Mophie are a must. However, this juice pack is rather bulky and doesn't cover the top of the phone. This is where the Juice Pack Air comes into play.

The new Juice Pack Air is thinner, though not by much, and has a top part to make it a complete protective case for the iPhone 3G while doubling the phone's battery life.

Unfortunately, the Juice Pack Air comes with a Micro-USB port, instead of the Mini-USB port that's used in many handheld devices, including the original Juice Pack. This makes it a little inconvenient to use. Other than that I liked it.

Before making the purchase, make sure you read the full review of the unit here.

[bmchen]

Bought one at the Apple Store today. Had purchased 2 Incase Power Slide Cases, and both were defective. I would loose my signal within 30 seconds and it would connect and disconnect. Phone was tested at the Apple Store and worked fine. Tried the 2 cases on other iPhones, same issue. Tried the Mophie and it worked flawlessly. Returned the Incase Power Sliders and couldnt be happier.

[dumbtexan]

I've had this product for exactly three days and the micro usb connection is already broken. Beware.

[mike51133]

ive had this thing for less than a week. the micro usb broke on mine as well!

[creakyrider]

I've had mine for two days and the thin plastic piece next to the volume control already broke off. The top is impossible to remove without pulling so hard that you end up snapping the cheapo plastic on the top right off. Also, the case is way too slick. The thing is like a slippery bar of soap. On top of that, it kills my one bar of service at my house down to zero, so now I have a brick when the thing is at home. Taking it back tomorrow and getting one of those dongle things. The Air is a good idea, but the construction is cheap, and it kills reception, so why bother.

[Baumbachii]

Had mine for two weeks, and the micro usb is also already broken

[k188p]

I had mine one week and I thought this was great. a bit inconvenient to charge but loved the extra battery life. already it stopped working. for no reason its dead. yes it is very slippery and I have dropped it because of the slickness. I do love the purple color. maybe they can improve on a great idea.

[Sparkr]

I purchased one of these and found it wouldn't sync with iTunes and it wouldn't charge the iphone directly,although it would charge the battery case. I called and talked with Sean in the technical support area and was quick to suggest it was a bad micro USB cable. I filled out a form to get another. In the meantime I went to two other stores and bought the same device and it had the same exact problem - wouldn't charge the iphone directly and wouldn't sync. Windows (Vista) doesn't recognize the driver. There is something seriously wrong with the product that the company is not reacting to, or doesn't know how to.

[S8140]

I purchased mophie air and will not sync with windows xp.No problem with incase. I'm taking back to Best Buy to switch out. What a pain.

[mokemorgan]

My Mophie air SEEMED to work okay, but either the USB cable went bad, and the replacement doesn't work as well, OR the main unit has a problem. Sometimes my iMac just doesn't see it when plugged in or it starts to recognize, and stops. Either way it doesn't work.
FUNNY thing... I assumed that it always was connected to the internal iPhone battery, and NEVER ever moved the switch on the bottom until I started having problems. I now know that it had never supplied ANY power to the phone, and I wondered if it was actually extending the life of the battery. Obviously NOT. (duhhhhhhhhhhhhh) Now I seriously want the Mophie to work properly.

[lusterb]

Keep your money and stay away from this defective product! I went through three Mophie Juice Air packs, purchased/received from three different locations (the first Mophie from an Apple Store, exchanged it at a second Apple store, and received a third Mophie from the company) with the same result. After roughly 21 days, each pack failed to charge the phone and lost it's ability to hold a charge. When plugged in, the unit would flash rapidly between charged and unplugged mode. Getting a refund has been a nightmare also. Initially, the company repeatedly refused, saying they do not refund products not purchased from them, only exchange them. The sole point of contact, if using email, is a Tech Support guy who did little more than repeat the "exchange" line. The company eventually offered to refund my money after I returned the product. I followed their instructions fully but the Tech Support guy sent me another Mophine instead of my refund. When I questioned his actions (via email) he again offered the "exchange" excuse. If you have issues, it's best to phone Mophie and talk to someone in customer service.