Today I will be reviewing a ergonomically designed phone case which comes with charging capabilities, such products have been long been in the market and across the last few years, with the emerging devices; most of such cases is only for a few niche and popular products like iPhone and it rarely comes to other unsaturated devices like to those powering Android, as there are many different models and specifications to fit.

I will be reviewing the Powerskin which I had received via USPS this week and it claims to be able to charge my Desire HD up to 2 times. I will unbox the product and will provide you with interesting statistics about this add-on.

This image shows the back of the box.

On the front of the Powerskin case, there is a flap which you could open to reveal the product itself. That’s some information about it .. and probably you are awaiting to see the product itself ..

Yes, the product’s packaging is simple and straight to the point, there’s a hole so you can touch the product’s interior before buying it.

After taking out the exterior packaging, I will now unveil what is in the internals of the package.

The package comes with a super simple quick start guide, a small “Thank you for buying” card, a MicroUSB cable, and of course the product itself. However, it does not come with an AC adapter, so that is up to the user to purchase.
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Now onto the device itself, it does not come with wireless charging capabilities, you definitely have to plug in a charging cable to your phone, which you can see in this picture:

And let me tell you frankly, all it really do is just acting like another wall socket on your phone, its basically a charging stone that powers the device in times of emergency. Once the USB of the phone is hooked up with the Powerskin, you can use the given MicroUSB cable (which is an open standard for the most recent Android devices) to charge both the phone and Powerskin itself; however, you can’t synchronize your data on the computer nor access your SD Card contents on the computer itself when your phone / Powerskin is charging.

The MicroUSB port for charging both the Powerskin and/or the phone is on the side, so its not that intrusive while talking on the phone, although it can be quite awkward (to hold the phone) and I would tend to keep conversations the point when I speak on the phone with the Powerskin while its charging. Do you also notice another thing? How thick the thing is ..
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Sometimes it can be really thick. The image shows a Powerskin in comparison to Apple’s iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad charging port. The Powerskin is pretty thick, However the weight compensates for it, and its quite light actually.

Operating this device is quite simple, its documentation is really basic, probably 6 images on the instruction manual itself? The LED indicators will tell you the battery’s internal charge and basically that is pretty much it, and a simple button below the indicators to turn on/off the Powerskin when you don’t need to use it. Although the Powerskin will be pretty smart, when you plug in your phone to the port on the Powerskin, it will detect the phone and charge it directly. And once you are done, plug it out, the Powerskin will stop charging. You have to remember to de-activate the Powerskin once your phone is charged full, I don’t remember it being able to cut off by itself automatically.
During my own internal review for the last few days, I would dare say the Powerskin had charged my device fully (0 to 100) about once and did provide slightly more juice (about 20 more percent?) before it died on me. So that’s about twice the power, it depends on how you look at it; the marketing is quite vague.
I would recommend it to you if have the budget for this product (Do keep a lookout for discount codes), as the price could be quite steep. However, the design is cool, fresh, interesting and definitely an eye-opener for accessories on Android devices.
Nevertheless, there are always other products available in the market which can do it for a cheaper rate, but it requires you to carry a separate brick which will not be too convenient anyway.
I believe XPAL/Tennrich, the parent company for the Powerskin product will be coming out with a battery replacement programme, where once the Powerskin internal batteries start to degrade, they would offer a replacement for a slight fee.

J.

Jeremy Goh

Jeremy is a friendly geek with a passion for Social Media and all things Technology/Design. When he is not obsessed with anything tech related, you can catch him emceeing, speaking in public or at Toastmasters, playing a quick game and coming out with some killer ideas! And yes, I offer Social Media Consultancy and Branding services. (more..)