Battery power back up iPhone cases or sleeves are nothing new, in fact just a few months back I reviewed very favorably a case that I have been using almost daily until today. Why till today? Read on after the break.
This week we received 2 samples of a brand new product that is such a great improvement on my previous case that it now follows me and my iPod touch 4th gen and my iPhone everywhere we go.

MySolarLife is an American company based in California providing solar powered solutions for your mobile devices. Solar energy has been with us for many years now, capturing the warm rays of the sun and converting that energy back into a usable form of electricity or power. MySolarLife have taken the technology one step further by adding a solar panel to the back of a form fitting case for your iPhone, iPod touch 4 and Samsung Galaxy S.

The cases have a built in 1500mAh lithium polymer battery that can be charged either of two ways, firstly the case comes with a mini usb to usb cable to charge the case normally either via a wall mains charger or via the USB output on a laptop or PC. The second way to charge the case is by using the solar panel simply by placing the case, solar panel side up facing the sun or any other incandescent light such as an indoor florescent lighting fixture.

I first tested the battery using the provided usb cable and connected it to my standard Apple mains iPhone charger. Fully charging the case from empty took approximately 2 and three quarter hours. 4 led lights on the back of the case show you the charging progress in steps of 25%. I now drained my iPhone to a battery level of 5% and inserted the iPhone into the case and let the iPhone take on the power from the case. The iPhone was fully charged from the case in 2 hours 25 minutes.

Second test involved making sure the battery case was now drained of power and placing it in direct sunlight, no problem here it’s August and sunshine is in abundance. 3 hours later, although a little on the warm side we have a fully charged iPhone case boasting 4 bright LED’s indicating we are at 100% ready state to recharge the iPhone. Once again the iPhone battery was drained to 5% was reinserted into the case for charging. This time the iPhone was fully charged to 100% in 2 hours and 40 minutes.

The charging times are very acceptable and do not differ too much from charging an iPhone from a laptop’s USB port. The case is just a little on the bulky side and it’s not the kind of case I would want to use daily for protecting my devices but the case does have it’s uses for those times when you are out and about, maybe on a trip and are far from an electrical outlet. Having a solar panel on a battery case for times of real emergency is a wonderful idea and I’m sure it could even save a few lives.

MySolarLife cases are available to buy online at http://mysolarphone.com/

Specifications:

Weight: 90g
Capacity: 1500mAh
Cell type: Li-Polymer battery
Dimension: 125×63x16mm
Output voltage: 5V
Output current: 800mA max
Solar panel output 5.5v at 110mAh
Built in Apple 30pin connector.

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