It may not have been Apple’s biggest product announcement in recent memory, but the introduction of the company’s first battery pack accessory managed to blindside most of us. The new Smart Battery Case, which has been designed predominantly with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s in mind, represents Apple’s first stab at conquering the battery pack accessory market. It may not be to everyone’s tastes from a visual perspective, but it contains some pretty impressive tech that makes it worthy competition for existing solutions. Here’s 16 things you probably didn’t know about the case.
- Smart Battery Case lets you check the status of the case’s internal battery directly from the connected device itself. Simply invoke Notification Center to see how much battery is left before deciding whether or not it needs a charge. This is something that third-party case manufacturers simply can’t do.
- Similar to above. Those who own the Smart Battery Case are able to view the available battery status for the internal battery via iPhone’s lock screen without ever having to unlock the device.
- Apple has opted for a single, user friendly design and manufacturing process for the Smart Battery Case. Unlike a lot of the competition in this space Apple has built a battery case that is offered as a single piece rather than two bits that join together. There’s also a gorgeous, premium feel to it thanks to the soft lining including to protect the aesthetic of the iPhone from scratches.
- The case is capable of providing a connected iPhone 6 or iPhone 6s with an approximate 85% charge from 0%. This is offered when the internal battery case is fully charged and the iPhone battery has been fully depleted.
- The internal capacity of the integrated battery of the case is recorded at 1,877 mAh.
- The Smart Battery Case contains an internal LED light indicator on the inside that provides visual feedback of when the device is charging. It comes with three states; Amber, Green, or Off.
- The case itself has been designed to work efficiently with some of Apple’s existing accessories. The embedded iPhone sits perfectly in Apple’s own Lightning Dock with the case on without needing to remove the Smart Battery Case.
- Lightning connector passthrough means that there’s no need to charge the case using microUSB and there’s on need to carry a microUSB cable either. This type of integration also means that the case can be plugged into a variety of existing accessories while still on and in use. Again something third-party battery cases don’t do.
- The “Smart” part of the name is actually relevant. The case contains passive antenna technology that reroutes radio frequencies and minimizes interference to ensure the experience of using the device for making phone calls and receiving full cellular signals are unharmed.
- There’s also a similar setup for the headphone jack on the device so that it can be used with Apple’s EarPods and other headphones with the case on. It may be that some third-party headphone solutions still require an adapter to work efficiently.
- The Smart Battery Case is designed with enough intelligence. Most third-party battery cases charge the phone first and then charge the battery pack second. Apple’s crossover technology ensures that the case’s battery itself is also charged mid-way as part of phone charge cycle.
- The case is designed in a way that ensures sound is rerouted from the bottom speaker to a front-facing opening on the case. This results in a general improvement in all round sound quality.
- The same goes for the microphone. Which is now front-facing and designed to capture input sound and noise at the highest level possible with the utmost clarity.
- Unlike a lot of third-party battery case solutions, Apple’s Smart Battery Case doesn’t contain a dedicated power button to turn the case on or off.
- It adds a bit of weight to the device. With the case in place, Apple’s iPhone 6s weighs more than the larger iPhone 6s Plus with one of the company’s existing silicon or leather cases on.
- Even though it’s primarily designed to serve up additional power on demand, the case also offers enough protection. The edges of the case extend up over the front of the iPhone display to protect it from drops, and scratches when placed face-down.
Now that you know all of that, will you prefer it over third-party offerings?
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