Theo, a company heretofore unknown to us, has released two new battery cases for iPhone 6 — Power Jump ($90) and Power Jump Wireless ($130). Power Jump promises a full charge to an iPhone 6, while Power Jump Wireless is said to offer an 80 percent charge. As you might expect, the latter model allows for wireless charging, as a charging pad with built-in USB cable is included. Both Power Jump cases have the same design otherwise. A thin TPU case has grooves on the back to accommodate the battery pack, which then plugs into the bottom of the iPhone via Lightning connector.
The battery itself is charged with a micro-USB cable.
The Power Jump case itself is thin, and while we wouldn’t go as far as to call it flimsy, it probably won’t offer much protection in the case of a drop. Button coverage is offered, however. Sliding the battery onto the case’s back is a bit tricky. Though it slides on easily, you have to be careful to properly line up the Lightning connector with the iPhone’s port. We’ve seen similar designs before, but Theo’s implementation is awkward.
The battery pack has four LEDs to denote how much power remains, and we found that capacity in both cases is as advertised.
Power Jump fully recharged an iPhone 6 in a speedy 1:56. After that, it was out of juice — 100 percent, right on the mark. Power Jump Wireless slightly surpassed the company’s claim, delivering an 83 percent charge to an iPhone 6. The charging pad works fine, charging an iPhone before charging the battery itself. Theo is also promoting Power Jump’s Power Share feature — as far as we can tell, it’s just the ability to unplug the battery pack and use it on another Lightning-compatible iPhone.
Although it’s sort of clunky, we can see some appeal to using Power Jump, as it delivers a fast full charge and offers the ability to share your battery pack with others.
