Anyone that owns a smart phone these days knows that there never seems to be enough battery life. This is even more true for those of us with the HTC EVO 4G from Sprint. The phone is excellent (once it is configured properly). But has the worst battery life in a phone I have ever seen. In a normal day just in typical usage (for me) I get about 7-8 hours of life. If I am in an area with poor reception it is even worse (sometimes as little as 3 hours). There are multiple ways to try and extend this life; everything from killing tasks to running around with an extra battery pack to externally charge your phone. None of these really work though and all are time consuming. Trust me there is nothing like trying to talk with a giant tumbdrive dangling from your EVO. Fortunately there are battery packs and cases that do not require you to leave them hanging from the phone. We are taking a look at one of these today; it is the PowerSkin Silicone case with Bulit-in Battery for the HTC EVO 4G.
Performance - Performance of a battery case is more than just “how long does it let me use my phone” it is also about incidentals and of course aesthetics. Incidentals are items like grip, weight, heat buildup and ease of use. Aesthetics are important because if you buy a $400 phone you do not want a case that makes it look like garbage. So let’s talk about each of these in turn and see what we get.Battery Life - The battery life on the PowerSkin for EVO 4G is pretty good. It allows for an almost 90% increase in longevity on the phone. The built in battery on the EVO gives roughly 6-8 hours of life if you are in an area with good signal and you do not have much running. If you hit low signal or actually want to use your phone, then things get worse. On average in a low signal area with two e-mail accounts running I have seen the EVO get less than four hours. When I put on the PowerSkin in that same low signal area I can get almost through the whole day (around 7 hours of life). On a Good day the PowerSkin can net me between 14 and 16 hours of usage. This is not bad at all really, but there were some side effects; which brings us to heat buildup.Heat Buildup -The bane of all electronics is heat. Heat breaks down silicon, slows electrons, and reduces battery life. Here is the kicker; the PowerSkin is silicone, silicone is an excellent insulator. Anyone that has owned an EVO knows that these things can get hot, very hot. When you warp them in silicone they retain that heat and it affects much more than battery life. While using the PowerSkin with the GPS function on the EVO the phone got so hot that I was unable to use the touch screen until I cooled it down. To test this again I tried a few other things to see what the heat buildup would be like. I kicked on the Bluetooth and then the WiF; I then made an hour long phone call and found that this built up moderate heat but not enough to kill the phone.Next I wanted to see how much this would hold ambient heat. I place it on the dashboard during a normal Florida summer day (about 85F). After about ten to fifteen minutes the case became warm and seemed to maintain that heat for quite a while. This one thing can be a huge issue if you plan on using this case with the EVO. The final issue with heat was when charging. The EVO gets warm under normal charging but when you are charging the EVO and the PowerSkin at the same time things get even warmer. There are things that you can do to help with this though. These are common sense things like keep the EVO and PowerSkin combination out of direct sunlight (which honestly you should do with most smart phones these days). If you drain the PowerSkin you should recharge it separate from the phone as it will help reduce the heat buildup or charge it in a cool place. Like I said, simple things. Aesthetics - The PowerSkin for the EVO 4G is a nice looking product. It has a clean and classic look to it. Unfortunately it makes your phone very large. To some this will be a deal killer. I know for my Wife it was. She did not want a phone that was that cumbersome or heavy. Personally I did not mind except for the fact that it would not fit into any of the holsters that I own. Which brings us to an interesting point; All of males that I asked about the PowerSkin thought it looked ok. They were more concerned with the battery life than the looks. If it worked, that was what was important. On the other hand the females that I talked to were not happy with the look. It was too big, they did not like the color, and it was heavy. These were primary concerns; it was not until I explained that it could extend the life of the EVO that interest grew. Still after working with this for about a month my wife decided to discontinue using it.
