Thunder18
07-12-2009, 02:13 PM
Accessory Type: Phone case with supplemental battery supply
Brand:Monster
Price: $12-$20 on eaby, $80 retail at Best Buy
Where Purchased:Ebay
Time Used: three days
Used With Which Phone: Samsung Instinct
Rating (1-5 Stars):4 stars
So far so good. I initially charged both my phone and the case Thursday night so I would be able to really test them on Friday. Usually, I manange to get down into the yellow part of the battery life while at work, but strangely enough, I was too busy on Friday to really use the phone so that was kind of a bummer. Anyway, I managed to use the phone all through Friday, so Saturday morning I went to the news app and watched a crapload of the news articles with the videos attached to them in an effort to use up what was left in the internal battery. After about an hour of that I finally got into the red zone and started getting battery warnings so I turned on the case's battery and in about 2 hours, the phone's internal battery was completely charged. I used the phone all through saturday and managed to run the battery down to red again by Sunday around noon. I turned on the cases power supply again and managed to get into the green level for the phone's internal batter once again, but not full. I think it was around the 60% mark as the level was less than when you just go under full power. I'm pretty happy with the results so far though.
One minor issue may be the velcor strap used to keep the cover flap over the face of the phone. It's weird, but I think the velcro they used for it is almost too fine. You really need to kind of squeeze the strap onto the case to assure a tight fit, but once it's there, you can lightly try to knock it off and it's secure so I don't feel like it's an issue really. Time will tell though. A magnetic closure might have been a better choice or maybe even just coarser velcro that grabs more easily.
Another interesting tidbit is that the case's literature states that any computer synching will have to be done with the phone out of the case as the computer won't recognize the phone while it's in the case. Some may think this a disadvantage, but for me, I'm ecstatic. My company does not allow you to connect any usb data devices to their computers so if I can leave the phone in the case and still charge it without the computer identifying it as a storage device, then it's all good! I no longer have to bring my AC charger to work and can just tote the much smaller usb cable instead...and I won't get flagged for connecting a usb storage device to the computer and possibly lose my job. I know I could always just connect the external battery charger case, but who really wants to remove the phone from the case and take the battery out when you have the convenience of just leaving it plugged in while at the desk. Not saying I want to go non-removeable battery like another well known phone because batteries do fail and the inconvenience of not easily being able to replace it yourself is not something I'm willing to sign up for, but in this Case, you really don't have to. I'll probably put the spare battery and external charger back in the phone's box and store them until I need them again.
The case's battery is rated at 1800 mAh whereas the stock Instinct battery is rated at 1000 mAh. The rating seems accurate as I was able to get enough juice for just over 1 1/2 charges of the stock battery. The case uses a sliding switch to enable the case to charge the phone's battery so it's not just running all the time. It also includes a red/green led which lights up green when you are charging the phone's battery, and red when the case itself it charging or when it's activated and there is less than 30% power left in it.
I've given it a rating of 4 out of 5. I think it's a pretty great product that could be enhanced by the addition of a magnetic closure and I kind of have to wonder if it might not be better if the flap went sideways instead of flipping down as this would keep it out of the way of your right hand when typing on the phone's keyboard. That may seem somewhat minor, but I have very large hands so I can only imagine that someone with more normal size hands may actually have some real difficulty typing on the phone with the flap in the way. I'm very pleased with the look and the quality, excepting the velcro clasp.:tu:
Brand:Monster
Price: $12-$20 on eaby, $80 retail at Best Buy
Where Purchased:Ebay
Time Used: three days
Used With Which Phone: Samsung Instinct
Rating (1-5 Stars):4 stars
So far so good. I initially charged both my phone and the case Thursday night so I would be able to really test them on Friday. Usually, I manange to get down into the yellow part of the battery life while at work, but strangely enough, I was too busy on Friday to really use the phone so that was kind of a bummer. Anyway, I managed to use the phone all through Friday, so Saturday morning I went to the news app and watched a crapload of the news articles with the videos attached to them in an effort to use up what was left in the internal battery. After about an hour of that I finally got into the red zone and started getting battery warnings so I turned on the case's battery and in about 2 hours, the phone's internal battery was completely charged. I used the phone all through saturday and managed to run the battery down to red again by Sunday around noon. I turned on the cases power supply again and managed to get into the green level for the phone's internal batter once again, but not full. I think it was around the 60% mark as the level was less than when you just go under full power. I'm pretty happy with the results so far though.
One minor issue may be the velcor strap used to keep the cover flap over the face of the phone. It's weird, but I think the velcro they used for it is almost too fine. You really need to kind of squeeze the strap onto the case to assure a tight fit, but once it's there, you can lightly try to knock it off and it's secure so I don't feel like it's an issue really. Time will tell though. A magnetic closure might have been a better choice or maybe even just coarser velcro that grabs more easily.
Another interesting tidbit is that the case's literature states that any computer synching will have to be done with the phone out of the case as the computer won't recognize the phone while it's in the case. Some may think this a disadvantage, but for me, I'm ecstatic. My company does not allow you to connect any usb data devices to their computers so if I can leave the phone in the case and still charge it without the computer identifying it as a storage device, then it's all good! I no longer have to bring my AC charger to work and can just tote the much smaller usb cable instead...and I won't get flagged for connecting a usb storage device to the computer and possibly lose my job. I know I could always just connect the external battery charger case, but who really wants to remove the phone from the case and take the battery out when you have the convenience of just leaving it plugged in while at the desk. Not saying I want to go non-removeable battery like another well known phone because batteries do fail and the inconvenience of not easily being able to replace it yourself is not something I'm willing to sign up for, but in this Case, you really don't have to. I'll probably put the spare battery and external charger back in the phone's box and store them until I need them again.
The case's battery is rated at 1800 mAh whereas the stock Instinct battery is rated at 1000 mAh. The rating seems accurate as I was able to get enough juice for just over 1 1/2 charges of the stock battery. The case uses a sliding switch to enable the case to charge the phone's battery so it's not just running all the time. It also includes a red/green led which lights up green when you are charging the phone's battery, and red when the case itself it charging or when it's activated and there is less than 30% power left in it.
I've given it a rating of 4 out of 5. I think it's a pretty great product that could be enhanced by the addition of a magnetic closure and I kind of have to wonder if it might not be better if the flap went sideways instead of flipping down as this would keep it out of the way of your right hand when typing on the phone's keyboard. That may seem somewhat minor, but I have very large hands so I can only imagine that someone with more normal size hands may actually have some real difficulty typing on the phone with the flap in the way. I'm very pleased with the look and the quality, excepting the velcro clasp.:tu: