Sad as it seems sometimes, few things in life are as uniquely stressful as using a phone whose battery is on the brink of death. It's little surprise then that battery cases have become so popular. But unfortunately, owners of Apple's 2018 flagship smartphones haven't had many great options to choose from.
Apple iPhone XS Max Smart Battery Case
Pros
- Provides several more hours of iPhone use
- Integrates well with iOS
- Supports fast charging
Cons
- Makes a big phone feel even bigger
- Difficult to remove from pockets
- Arguably not as necessary as the XS version
Apple iPhone XS Smart Battery Case
Pros
- Gives the XS a much-needed battery boost
- Integrates well with iOS
- Doesn’t feel overly cumbersome
- Works with the iPhone X
- Supports fast charging
Cons
- Adds significant weight to a small phone
- Difficult to remove from pockets
Recently, though, Apple made that list a little longer with its new Smart Battery cases for the iPhone XR, XS and XS Max. This move might have been inevitable, but you'd be forgiven for thinking Apple had given up on its battery case plans altogether -- after all, the company hadn't released a new mobile battery case in more than two years. Stranger still, devices like the XS Max and XR offer some of the best battery life we've ever seen in iPhones. Does Apple really need to be making these cases?
For the right people, yes. After a few days of testing, Apple's new Smart Battery cases are mostly great options for the power-paranoid person. Still, there are a few things you should keep in mind before giving Apple even more of your money.
Editor's note
Thanks to some shipping delays, the iPhone XR battery case arrived after cases meant for the XS and XS Max. Because of that limited testing time, this review focuses on battery-case performance for Apple's two XS models. We'll update this story after we've tested the XR version more thoroughly.
Gallery: Apple Smart Battery case review (2019) | 9 Photos
Gallery: Apple Smart Battery case review (2019) | 9 Photos
The broad strokes
If you've seen one of Apple's older Smart Battery cases, you're mostly up to speed here -- these aren't unlike the company's standard silicone options, just with some big ol' battery humps. More importantly, these new models work as nicely with iOS as the originals did; when they're connected to an iPhone, you'll be able to check battery levels for the phone and the case through a widget in the Today View. (That said, it would've been nice if Apple included a readout for the case in the Control Center too. Right now it only shows the phone's current charge level.)
Don't be fooled by the similar design though: In the two or so years since Apple has produced a new battery case, it's changed its approach to these products. For one, the hump now sits low on the XS and XS Max's back rather than toward the midsection. That's a big deal for people who weren't so fond of the original design, which -- in the words of my boss Dana -- made iPhones looked like they had just "finished a big lunch." This time around, Apple's giving its phones big butts instead of big guts, and that's a good thing.
These design flourishes aren't pretty, but they give your hand something substantial to grip while you're texting or taking phone calls. The downside is, these make relatively thin phones like the XS feel much chunkier. Things get even dicier with the iPhone XS Max, which was already a handful. The added heft won't be a deal breaker for everyone, but there's little question these cases make iPhones less comfortable to use.
You'd never know just by looking, but Apple did considerable work under that soft-touch exterior too. Rather than stick a single large battery into the frame of the case, it instead used two batteries that collectively work out to a total capacity of 1,369mAh. But here's the thing: 1,369mAh might not sound like a lot when you consider that the smaller iPhone XS has a 2,658mAh battery. On paper, one might easily assume that the battery case only extends that phone's longevity by about 50 percent. Not true. We'll dig into this more a little later, but the battery case generally doubled the XS' battery life.
Anyway, there's also a Qi wireless-charging coil baked into the top of the hump, so you can plop the whole thing down onto your wireless charger. It's a helpful flourish if you've already invested in the right charging accessories, but you'll almost certainly want to use a Lightning cable if you want to charge the whole package quickly.
It's also worth noting that device-charging priority changes depending on what kind of charger you're using. If all you have is the standard, tiny 5W iPhone charger, the phone charges before the case does. The 18W charger that comes with devices like the new iPad Pro fast-charges the iPhone, assuming you have the right USB-C to Lightning cable. And if you're using a 30W charger, the phone and the case will fast-charge at the same time.
