iPhone 3GS / 3G Dock and External Battery Pack Reviewed

Over the past year my iPhone 3G’s battery life has decreased. This may be due to my reading emails, checking Twitter, playing games, listening to music or web surfing. Lately I have been charging my iPhone every night and even with a fresh charge to start the day I usually get the “less than 20% charge” warning by 6 pm. Today’s review is designed to avoid that dreaded warning and keep you iPhone up and running as much as possible.

For today’s review, the folks at MobileFun sent over the iPhone 3GS / 3G Dock and External Battery Pack which features a double dock and comes with an external battery. The dock can simultaneously charge both the iPhone and the external battery pack or two iPhones at once.

With the battery charger on the dock is right behind the iPhone there is less of chance of forgetting to grab it before heading out for the day. If you have two iPhones, then the second one can charge within the battery pack allowing two phones and the battery pack to be juiced up at once.

The iPhone 3GS / 3G Dock and External Battery Pack works off either a USB connection from your Mac or PC or via an AC adapter.

Info:

iPhone 3GS / 3G Dock and External Battery Pack

This is a desktop charging cradle with a difference. There are two docking stations which are situated one behind the other. This makes for a whole lot more fun. With the front one acting as a normal sync and charge dock, the behind dock acts as an additional battery charger / second charging dock.

Docking Station 1
With this docking station you are able to sync and charge your iPhone 3GS / 3G via your computer using the USB cable provided. This is very convenient for use at work or for home.

Docking Station 2
Always run out of power when your out the house?? Well with this you will never need to worry about that again. With the battery charger that is included with this pack, charge it via the USB cable and then when you get to up and go, just unplug the battery charger and slot your iPhone 3GS / 3G which will then just carry on charging your phone. This is brilliant if you are out of the office a lot and use your phone throughout the day. You will be reassured that you will always have battery. The battery charger while in the docking station will also act as another charger, so if someone else needs to charge their iPhone up they can just slot it in and watch it charge.

Features:

• Data Hot Sync and charge function on the front dock

• Additional battery charger for the back dock.

• Blue LED indicator

• Emergency charger

Specifications:

• Capacity : 1200mAh

• Input : 5V/500mA

• Output : 5V/400mA(max)

• Cradle Size : 81 x 81 x 19

What’s in the Box?:

The iPhone 3GS / 3G Dock and External Battery Pack arrives in a plastic clamshell. Within the packaging we find the dock, battery pack, mini-USB to USB cable and an AC adapter. Unfortunately I was sent the European plug so I was unable to test the device with an AC adapter.

The cradle and dock are solidly made as they are composed of the same plastic as many other iPhone peripherals. The dock has two cradle slots – one designed to accommodate the iPhone directly and the second one behind it made to charge the external battery via a mini-USB connection. At the back end of this cradle/dock is a mini-USB input which is designed to work with a mini-USB to USB cable. The set comes in either white or black to match your iPhone version. For this review I received the piano black model.

On the external battery we see the standard iPhone connector seen on the batteries inner portion. At the base of this charger is the mini-USB connector which allows the battery to be charged either via the dock or directly via a mini-USB cable. At the bottom right of this battery pack is a charge indicator light.

Installation, Performance and Comparison:

There are a couple of installation/charging permutations for the iPhone 3GS / 3G Dock and External Battery. Since the proper AC adapter was not sent I could only use the USB connection to connect the dock or to sync the battery to my PC or Mac. Charging the battery via the USB took around four hours using a USB port on my MacBook Pro and off a Dell laptop.

The dock works as advertised; it allows the iPhone to sync with iTunes as well as charging the phone. If you have a multiple iPhone user home like mine then both iPhones can be charged simultaneously by inserting the battery pack into the back slot allowing it to act as the second dock. The second dock does not function as a sync cradle since iTunes does not recognize that the iPhone is attached via the battery connection. Syncing can only be done from the front dock.

So how does the battery work when called upon? I was able to recharge my iPhone once it was down to less than 20% twice off one battery charge. The second charge was able to recharge the battery to about 75% capacity. That is pretty similar to the charging capacity of the Mophie Juice Pack I reviewed last year.

Aesthetically the dock and charger have a nice piano black finish. The battery covers a little more than half of the lower back portion of the iPhone. The bottom right LED on the battery lights up red when charging and turns green when it is at full capacity.

I did notice when the battery is attached to the iPhone it feels awkward to use as the weight of the battery and its bulkiness makes the pair feel bottom heavy. The battery also does not have a secure locking mechanism to stay on the iPhone as the only attachment point to the iPhone is via the dock connector.

Conclusion:

Having reviewed external iPhone batteries in the past, I know how handy they can be. Most batteries are sold individually so having a dock that can charge the battery is a very nice feature. The battery can provide two full charges to a nearly depleted iPhone. The dock acts as both a cradle for syncing an iPhone or as a charger for either two iPhones or one iPhone and the external battery.

Since I was unable to test the AC charging capability of the device I can not report whether this speeds up the battery charging time as versus USB charging. Although the battery is a bit bulky and it does not lock on securely onto the iPhone it still does the job required – recharging a drained iPhone. Due to the batteries bulk, I would recommend to leave the iPhone charging on a table as opposed to carrying it around with battery attached.

The price for the iPhone 3GS / 3G Dock and External Battery is on par with some external iPhone batteries by themselves. If you are in the market for an external battery with a double dock then the iPhone 3GS / 3G Dock and External Battery is not a bad option to acquire.

Pros:

+Battery can provide almost two full charges

+Dock works as a sync cradle and charger

+Can charge two iPhones at once

Cons:

-Battery is bulky

-Unable to test AC charging ability

-Battery takes some time to charge off the USB

I would like to thank MobileFun for the chance to review the iPhone 3GS / 3G Dock and External Battery Pack and for their support of iGadget Life.