External battery /case

http://shop.brando.com/Power-Jacket-For-Sony-Xperia-Z1-compact-Z1f-3200mAh_p10993c1599d003.html

Sent from my D5503 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

No worries, the instruction manual explicitly mentioned that you can certainly charge the phone while it's attached to the case, and it will charge the phone first before charging the battery. :good:


Unfortunately for me, it arrived with a broken packaging case... I reluctantly threw it away due to the sharp broken edges. The case itself is fine.


You can see that the case is drawing about 1 A input to charge the phone first (charging the battery does reduce that to its specified 800 mA rating)


The connector, overall I will say the case is well-constructed. The clips latch on the the phone easily and yet firmly, so you don't have to worry about them separating accidentally or scratching the phone's metallic frame. The dimensions are spot-on and it feels good in the hand.


The positioning of the microUSB port meant that it can even prop the case up vertically.


Here, you can see the tapered side profile and unobstructed microSD card slot. This is one advantage over the equivalent version for the Z1.


The cut-out for the camera is just nice, and you should also be able to see the glossy white surface. I had the impression it was going to matt from the Brando website's photos though, not a big issue...


The kickstand in action. Unfortunately, this is where I have to deduct some points off the case... the kickstand is a little short and requires an absolutely flat surface to be stable. It is quite easy to push the phone over otherwise. In other words, it gets the job done, but just barely.

Very observant, you are correct, sir. I guess that answers my question.

This phone already has great battery life- I still had 80% left when I got home from work yesterday, so I guess the extra battery might come in handy for camping trips and stuff like that, but I wouldn't want to have to take it out of the case every time I was charging it. Daily use might not be practical.

I'll post my first impressions of it as soon as it gets here and I've had a day or so to play with it.

dave

Mine came in last night, and the box it came in was also cracked in one corner. Your review is spot on. I got the black one, which does have a matte finish. The only thing I would add is that they could have rounded the hard corners a little bit more to make it a little more comfortable in the hand. It does double the thickness of the phone. I always carry mine in a holster, so that doesn't bother me a bit, but it might be an issue if you normally carry it in your jeans pocket. It will take a few days to see how well it works, but overall I'm pretty happy with it.

dave

Sorry to burst the bubble of anyone monitoring this thread, but after weeks of usage, I realized the battery capacity does not live up to the claims on the website. My observations:

The battery is fully depleted in about two hours, and can only recharge no more than 70% of the Z1 Compact's internal battery. This puts the actual capacity at around 1600 to 1800 mAh.

The battery indicator is not well-calibrated. According to it, the first 25% of the battery is depleted in about 10 minutes, and the next 50% is depleted in almost 2 hours, meaning about 25% in less than hour. The last 25% is also depleted quickly. The discharge rate is inconsistent with the constant charging rate I see for the Z1 Compact's internal battery.

My testing was done while the phone is idling, and I wasn't using the phone at all while it was being charged by the Power Jacket. Wi-Fi is enabled. I have feedback this to Brando Workshop, let's see what they have to say... maybe I got a defective unit.