Although the battery life on phones has gotten better, there are times I still find the need to charge my iPhone on the fly. In general, I do not keep a charging case on my phone mainly because of the added weight and size. There is a company out there that not only makes a case that is lightweight and has a manageable size, but also provides adequate protection to your phone. The company is tech21 and the case is the Evo Endurance charging case.
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Some of you may be familiar with tech21 as a provider of quality protection for mobile phones and tablets. What makes tech21 different is their use of a material called FlexShock that not only absorbs shock but dissipates it. This material is used in the construction of the Evo Endurance case allowing for a thinner lighter case with solid protection.
The EVO Endurance comes with the following:
- EVO Endurance case
- Headphone jack extender
- USB to Micro USB charging cable
- Instructional booklet
The top of the tech21 EVO Endurance case has no real features.
The bottom of the case has an opening for an earphone jack (you will need to use the included jack extender) and a micro USB battery charging port.
The right side of the EVO Endurance case has the on/off button cover. The cover extends nicely and feels solid when using it. The right side button along with the ones on the left side seem to be made out of the same FlexShock material as the case.
The left side of this case has the two buttons for your volume controls and a cutout for the iPhone’s mute slider.
The back of the tech21 EVO Endurance case is where this case differs from tech21’s other offering, with the addition of the battery. The upper part of the case has a cutout for the camera and flash, this is made of the FlexShock material. The rest of the back (the part that holds the battery) is a harder plastic. At the bottom of the plastic are the tech21 logo, 4 LED lights, and an on/off button. The on/off button is also used to tell you the status of the battery charge. While we are on the subject of batteries, the one used in this case is unique in the fact that it is a Lithium Ceramic battery. What does that mean to us the consumer? In simple terms it means this battery should be safer, the tech21 website says that it has no leaks, heat emission and is nonflammable. With all of the battery fires over the Christmas holidays, this should put your mind at ease. So far with all my use and testing, I can say the battery does not seem to get hot when used. The phone actually gets hotter than the case when I had it out of the case the other day.
The front of the tech21 EVO case is pretty minimal except at the bottom where it extends past the bottom of the phone. The extended bottom piece is plastic and has holes that act as sound ports for your phone speakers and microphone. The inside of this case has the Lightning connector and the case information.
So, what’s my bottom line here? In short I love the case, but let me preface that by saying I love it for my user situation. Before doing this review, I did some research on the tech21 EVO Endurance case, mainly other reviews. One of the biggest negatives I saw was the fact that you could only get about a 60% iPhone charge from the 1800 mAh battery. For my use that 60% extra battery life is fine. The fact that this case will allow you to use the case’s battery before my phone’s battery is another nice feature. The tech21 EVO Endurance not only offers extended use time on my phone but protection as well. The price point on this case may be another factor that keeps it from getting the highest marks on reviews. At $109.95 from the tech21 website, some would consider this priced to be a little high. I will have to be honest, I have paid more for cases that did not offer the protection of the tech21 EVO Endurance, so adding a Lithium Ceramic battery to the mix is a major plus. For me, it also comes down to form, function and usability, the tech21 EVO Endurance has it all.
Source: The sample for this review was provided by tech21. Visit their site for more info.
