Smart Battery Case

Power–up your iPhone

$129 From Apple, apple.com

Features Silicone body, passthrough Lightning connector, Qi wireless charging

Apple’s big phones use big batteries to meet the needs of their large displays and heavy usage. But it’s still easy for an iPhone to fall short on a busy day, so Apple has introduced iPhone XR, XS and XS Max models of its humpbacked battery pack.

The hump on the iPhone 6s version was a little raised from the bottom and inset from the left and right. Here, it’s more neatly integrated. You can fully charge both iPhone and case overnight — that took Apple’s 5W USB–A adapter 6 hours 14 minutes, and its 18W USB–C model 3 hours 17 minutes.

The case lasted us through more than 17 hours of navigation, email, social media, music and Personal Hotspot without plugging in, with about 15 per cent charge left on the XS Max’s battery.

The silicone is welcome protection, but there’s no screen cover like on Apple’s Leather Folio ($129). Price is the big issue, though — see page 53 for our review of Mophie’s $99.95 Juice Pack Access.

THE BOTTOM LINE. A good battery case that integrates with iOS’s status widget, but it costs a packet.