Slender Kuke battery case keeps the iPhone running for days
Kuke battery case for iPhone 6, 6 Plus
apple's field trip
Battery cases for the iPhone usually have a common attribute -- a big battery that adds significant bulk to the slender phone. Some even have a hump on the back, like the battery case from Apple. The Kuke case changes that.
The Kuke battery case from Kuner has a unique design. It is a daily case for the iPhone first and a battery case second. The case as tested has a smooth white plastic hard back and a black bumper guard that protects the sides of the iPhone. It is 11 mm thick and only adds about 2 ounces over a regular case for the iPhone.
Once the iPhone (6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus) is inserted into the case, an integrated Lightning connector connects the phone to the case. A Lightning port on the bottom of the case is used to charge the case as is done with the iPhone alone.
The thin, light design of the Kuke case facilitates using it as a regular daily iPhone case. This is how I've been using it since receiving it. It looks and more importantly feels like a simple case, yet has a 2,400 mAh battery inside. There is also a memory module from 16GB to 64GB (depending on which case you buy) to allow loading up with music or videos for a trip.
The Kuke case can be used two different ways: left turned off as a simple iPhone case, turning it on when you need to top off the iPhone battery; or leaving it on all the time which gives at least two days away from an outlet.
The latter is the way I've adopted after using it a while. I leave the Kuke case turned on, which is done by long-pressing a small button on the lower back of the case. There are four LED indicators that show the battery level of the case when it's turned on. To see the level when the case is turned off simply tap the power button and the LEDs are lit, indicating the remaining charge.
The design of a thin iPhone case impresses those who ask to see the Kuke case. It's as thin or thinner as most non-battery cases for the iPhone. When they find out it also has a battery it is impressive to most.
Having used the Kuke case I am impressed with it too. It has become my full-time case for the iPhone 6 Plus. It is thinner than my iPhone case and only adds about two ounces to the package. I head out for the day without thinking about making the battery last. This is a big advantage over those days when I sweated making it through the entire day on a single iPhone charge.
I regularly get two full days on a charge with the Kuke case. This doesn't take into account that when the battery in the case is depleted, the iPhone battery is at 100 percent. I suspect I could regularly get almost three days between the two batteries if I stretched it.
The extra storage is nice to have, too. Using it is as simple as connecting a Lightning cable to the case and the a USB port on the computer that hosts the files needed to copy. Dragging and dropping moves files quickly to the memory in the case. This is a great way to get music and video on the case for time on the plane.
When the case is plugged in to charge it does so smartly, The iPhone battery is charged first, followed by the Kuke case.
There is a companion app for the iPhone that is installed from the app store the first time you turn the case on with the iPhone in place. This simple app has a battery gauge for the case and a breakdown of storage and memory usage on the phone.
The Kuke case starts at $79.99 for the 16GB model and I find the utility to be worth the price.
Pros:
- No thicker than a regular iPhone case
- Only adds a couple of ounces over cases without a battery
- Great for travelling
Cons:
- Hard to get phone out of the case