iLounge

Eton Mobius NSP300B Solar-Powered Battery Case

By Jeremy Horwitz

Editor-in-Chief, iLounge
Published: Monday, October 17, 2011
Category: Batteries, Cases - iPhone 4 / 4S

Eton's focused a lot on solar-powered iPod and iPhone accessories, including Soulra-branded speakers, so the release of a new solar-powered battery case called Mobius ($80, aka NSP300B) is right in line with its earlier efforts. Mobius combines an 1800mAh battery -- enough for around 80% of an iPhone 4/4S recharge -- with a rear solar panel that is said to be "high efficiency," but takes quite a while to refuel: one hour of solar charging time restores 1/20th of the rechargeable pack's energy, so if you wait an hour, you can talk on the iPhone for 25 minutes. Not surprisingly, Eton includes a USB charging cable so that you can actually make use of the battery under most conditions, though the solar panel adds enough thickness to the otherwise modest plastic shell that we'd consider this an option for "lost in the forest" emergencies only.