PhoneSuit sent over their newest product for the iPhone 4: PhoneSuit Elite. This is a combination battery pack and slider case. They claim that it’s the thinnest, fastest charging iPhone 4 battery case which provides over 100% power.

You’re probably familiar with products such as the Mophie JuicePack Air  which combine an external battery with a case to protect your phone. However, they all seem to have some shortcoming which makes them impractical. After using this battery case for the last week, I’m very pleased to tell you that it delivers on all of the features it promises.

Let’s look at those:

• Fast 5 Watt/1 Amp charging – fully charges iPhone 4 in less than 2 hours
• 2100 mAh capacity
• Charge and sync with iTunes via microUSB connector
• PhoneSuit Power Saver Technology prioritizes iPhone power consumption to ensure your iPhone always gets the charge it needs
• ClearAir technology alleviates any potential signal interference (common in competitor’s products)

Construction

The battery case itself is very well made. It has a nice sturdy construction with soft touch paint. The unit I received was black, but they plan to offer a variety of colors soon. Placing the iPhone in the case is very simple. Slide it down from the top until it clicks into the dock connector, then slide the top piece into place. PhoneSuit includes two different top pieces for compatibility with both AT&T and Verizon iPhone 4s.

Aesthetics

This case adds a bit of bulk to the iPhone. Overall dimensions of the case are L126 x W62 xH17mm. It does add noticeable bulk to the iPhone, but what you give up in bulk you gain back in battery life. PhoneSuit claims that it will more than double battery life  for all use cases. In my testing with the case, I found that these figures were accurate. At the end of a normal day’s usage, the iPhone 4 would have about 25% battery remaining. I routinely saw the iPhone’s battery meter still pegged at 100% with 1 bar of power remaining on the case.

Do I really need it?

If you’re someone who spends a lot of time on your iPhone, whether it be talking, gaming, or surfing the internet, you undoubtedly know that even though it has excellent battery life, there is no such thing as too much power. I’m the type of person who would not want to give up the slim design of my device all the time in exchange for additional power. However, carrying around a spare battery isn’t an option for iPhone users. I could see using this phone on days where I knew I was going to need that extra power (such as traveling, camping, at a sporting event, etc). This case would give me plenty of confidence that my phone would have the power needed to get me through a heavy day and still have power to spare when I finally made it to a charger.

Conclusion

The PhoneSuit Elite Battery + Case is the best external battery pack case I’ve used. While it adds bulk, it also protects the iPhone and still provides access to all buttons and camera functions. It is an Apple Certified, Made for iPhone product that  is priced at a reasonable $79.95 and it is available directly from PhoneSuit’s website.

Make sure you let them know you saw it here!