I just upgraded to the iPhone 8 and am looking for a battery case both to protect the phone and for the extra juice for when I travel. Has anyone used the Apple Smart battery case and what do you think of it?
I don't use wireless earphones so I need to use the port for music. That's why I'm leaning toward Apple. Thanks for your advice/input.
Apple doesnt make a battery case for the 8. I wish they did. I had the Apple one for my 6 and loved it. Got an 8 two months ago.
You can get an after-market battery case for the 8 on Amazon.
Thanks. Do you have a recommendation for an after-market battery case?
How do you like the 8 so far? I’m exploring it now. 😊
I like the 8 very much. I’m going to buy an after-market battery case on Amazon for my trip this Sept but i haven’t researched it yet. I favor the top 3 most expensive ones, then i read all the info, compare, then choose.
I like the battery case better than a separate charger that you have to plug into the phone, it’s cumbersome and inconvenient when i still need to use my phone for taking photos.
When choosing a case, i’ll choose one that has a button you push to start the charge. Apple battery cases don’t have that capability, it just automatically starts charging your phone when your phone is less than 100% charged - this is a big negative. You shouldn’t charge your phone until it’s close to 0%. The more you charge your phone battery before it’s close to 0%, the sooner your battery runs out of life.
Susan, all I could find outside of the Apple smart battery case on Amazon is the Mophie.
Like you, I want the convenience of pressing a button on the case to charge my phone. I had the Mophie case on my iPhone SE and it worked beautifully. I could listen to music while I had the Mophie case on by putting an extender on my headphone jack so I could plug it into my phone.
Since the iPhone 8 no longer has a headphone jack, the charging port is the only one available and I have an adapter for my headphones as I am not ready to buy wireless headphones. The Mophie case blocks the charging port and there is no extender on the market making it impossible for me to listen to music with my headphones while the Mophie battery case is on the iPhone 8. So I don’t think it’s of interest to me while I don’t have wireless earphones.
I have done some research on apple’s smart battery case. Like you said, what it does is drain the case’s battery first even if my iPhone 8 is fully charged. Then once the case is drained, then the iPhone battery is used. The explanation I read is that the iPhone battery won’t be used as much and will last longer because the case battery is used first. For me, I wanted the battery case as protection for the phone in case I drop it and also as a back up battery. Apple has it the other way around in terms of which battery drains first. To me, it looks like Apple wants the battery case to keep draining again and again so it will run out of cycles and people will need to buy another battery case.
I do have a lightweight Anker tiny cylindrical portable charger whose length is my index finger. Maybe I will carry that in my purse as back up in the meantime.
Whenever you start your research, please let me know how it goes. Thanks.
My son works for Apple, and i know from using one, the case keeps recharging the phone until the case is at 0%, then the phone battery is used. Not good.
I’ll ask my son what he thinks might be best for you when i see him this weekend and will let you know what he says.
Your son works for Apple.....wow. Thank you for asking him! I would appreciate his advice as an employee as to what to do for a battery charger for the iPhone 8. :-)
Continental, my son thinks this one might work for you:
Scroll sideways on the photo and it shows how you can still use wired headphones with the case.
My son researched more options for you but the only one he found (below) does not work with the 8 unfortunately.
https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/7/18168914/mophie-juice-pack-access-iphone-x-xs-max-xr-headphones
I like the one he recommended. It's affordable too. Could you ask your son if my iPhone headphone adapter can still be plugged directly into the iPhone as I am concerned the battery case may impede my headphone adapter from actually reaching the phone.
Thanks Susan!
Best thing to do is buy it, try it, and if it doesn’t work, return it.
Thanks again.
Most welcome. I’m going to buy the same one... : )
