PowerSkin for Samsung Galaxy S III – soft case with portable charger all in one (Smartphone Accessory Review)

by Antonio Wells Dec 31, 2012 11:04 AM – 5 Comments

PowerSkin for Samsung Galaxy S III offers shock absorbing protection as a smartphone case and additional battery power with 1500mAh battery built inside. It adds significant bulk to your S3 but adds some smart features, let’s get into the review to see if it’s worth $80 bucks!

Price: $79.99

AndroidTapp.com Smartphone Accessories Review:

Pros & Cons:

Pros

Adds extra battery charging to your Galaxy S3!
Easy to slip the cover on!
Charge and sync!
Battery level indicator on the back!
NFC tap to share still works through the cover!

Cons

Case has only 1500mAh battery, therefore, it won’t offer full charge for S3′s 2100mAh battery.
Adds significant bulk to the S3.
Cannot charge case after phone is fully charged, you must disconnect it.
It is a silicon soft case only, no hard cover included.

The PowerSkin for Samsung Galaxy S III is one of many supported Android smartphones as well as the iPhone. It acts as a protective soft case made of silicon that’s easy to slip on but more importantly gives additional battery power when needed. The only disconnect I see with the product is that the battery offers 28% less power than the one in the phone, so don’t expect it to give a full charge if your phone dies; though it would give a decent charge. It also adds extra bulk to the slim S3. Overall, if you’re a heavy user like myself, with this case and your phone’s battery, you can get well over 18 hours battery life with heavy usage on the Galaxy S3.

PowerSkin for Samsung Galaxy S III The Bulk

The design of the case is a dull matte charcoal black finish. The front has a small lips almost flush so I’m not sure how protective it would be on the glass. On the back is a sloped design for the opening of the camera leading to the battery bulge. Toward the bottom you will find the button to check the 4 blue light battery status indicator. Along the bottom right side is where you’ll find the micro USB port for charging/syncing. On the inside is the other micro USB cable which has a few inches flexible slack to tuck it or use it to charge another device (I’ll be relying on this and others when reporting at CES next year).

I like that you can sync to your computer and charge at the same time. Though you cannot charge the case after the phone is fully charged, you must disconnect the USB cable from the phone. You can toggle the case charger by holding the button on the back for 2 seconds. If you’re worried about NFC functionality not working with the case, no worries it still does (this is a problem with some other cases).

: PowerSkin for Samsung Galaxy S III

: PowerSkin for Samsung Galaxy S III Front View

: PowerSkin for Samsung Galaxy S III Charging Port for Phone

: PowerSkin for Samsung Galaxy S III Charging Port for Case

: PowerSkin for Samsung Galaxy S III The Bulk

: PowerSkin for Samsung Galaxy S III LED Battery Power Indicator

: PowerSkin for Samsung Galaxy S III Front

: PowerSkin for Samsung Galaxy S III Back View

AndroidTapp.com Rating

AndroidTapp.com Rating! (4.1 out of 5)

Should you buy the PowerSkin for Samsung Galaxy S III? Extending the battery life on the Galaxy S3 or other supported phones is where this product excels Though it won’t offer 100% full charge on a dead battery, it will tip you over 65% in that scenario. It acts as a soft case, so absorbing shocks from shorter distances should be no problem, I’m not sure how well it will do against a serious fall, especially on the front. At $80 it’s expensive but the portable charging aspect of it makes it worth the spend.

Developer: PowerSkin

Tags: Case Review, PowerSkin, PowerSkin for Samsung Galaxy S III, Smartphone Accessories

Categorised in: Featured, News

5 Comments

By Lady Di on December 31, 2012 at 11:18 am:

The GS3 gets some really cool stuff. I knew I should have picked that phone up when it first came out. I don’t think I’d like that case but it does look rugged. Nice features but me and silicone don’t mix. I want a hard case to do the same but for the GS2

Reply
By Jeffro on January 1, 2013 at 1:46 pm:

That’s odd… You keep mentioning that you cannot charge the case if the phone is already charged up 100%…. I have the exact setup and have never had a problem charging it up… In fact, my phone is at 100% as i type this, case connected, i just plugged the charger up and it is charging the case up now.. So i don’t understand what you mean.. I would love it if it was the same size battery, but other than that, this is a great case and i have been very happy with it aye about 3 months. You mentioned being able to use NFC, the other thing i am curious about is if it can be used on a power mat.

Reply
- By Antonio Wells on January 1, 2013 at 1:54 pm:
  
  @jeffro I did find it strange that I cannot get the case to charge after the phone as charged 100% unless I pull the cord inside. Powermat test would be interesting to see.
  
  Reply
By Jeffro on January 1, 2013 at 2:41 pm:

I do recall reading in the manual about the charging process, and i thought maybe you had confused it, but maybe not …. It stated if charging while the phone is connected with the case, that the case would not charge until after the phone had reached 100% first.

Reply
By Jacob on January 5, 2013 at 1:34 pm:

Forget this power case. I discovered the same thing. Yes it does add some bulk but from the looks of this s 3 Samsung thats advertised its about 10% less bulk and is made for the Samsung s 3. And I have gotten on just about dead charge, not only a full charge but still had atleast another quarter to half chrarge. No disconnecting this or tucking that. Check it out. Look up Mophie.com. looks just like it in all ways aside all the extra cords. You just switch a button and then push the other button and its charging. And has a indicator stating how much the charger has left. About ten dollars more but could possibly find under 90.

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