My friend Victor first pitched me on CoBattery about six months ago. And at the time, I was skeptical.
"Don't ever worry about charging your phone again", he said, "it will change your life".
"Change my life?" It didn't sound like a problem I had. A single charge would typically last my phone all day, before charging it again at night. Having an extra case with a bunch of batteries sounded like a hassle.
But I decided to try it, mostly to humor him.
Well... I was surprised.
As my phone stayed at a perfect green 100% charge all day, every day–I started to use it a lot more actively. And as my behavior changed, I began to notice the hundreds of little moments throughout the day where I would subconsciously try to save my battery life.
Refusing to stream music AND use maps on the drive back from Yosemite. Deciding against using Strava during a century ride through Marin. Turning my phone off entirely and not taking pictures during Coachella. And thinking twice about every time I'd share my location with friends while running late, knowing it would drain my battery life.
I was constantly saving the battery in case I needed to pull up last-minute driving directions. Or if I needed to call an Uber from wherever I ended up that night. And all that time I was really sacrificing something else: memories, experiences, and having to worry about my phone dying.
CoBattery made me realize that I actually would change my behavior if my phone's battery were limitless. And at this point, I'd never go back.
The product itself works well, and a single battery will last a day. Two batteries is more than enough for a 3-day trip, and swapping them out is painless. At this point, I'm buying them for friends and family members as well.
Would recommend to a friend.
Wow, @calvinfo thank you for this awesome recommendation!
You've clearly identified the hardest part to explain about CoBattery: even if your phone never dies. your phone's limited battery life still affects you.
Often people dismiss CoBattery with "well my phone never dies". But then late they put their phone on airplane mode for hours. Or if not airplane mode, they subtly alter their phone usage similar to the ways you mentioned.
The iPhone is supposed to "just work". And for the most part it does, which is awesome! But it should "just work" and also keep working when you need it.
An hour before a flight, you should be able to download videos to keep you entertained, watch them on the flight, and then have enough charge to figure out how to get to your AirBnB.
After a long day using your phone for business calls, you shouldn't have to wait while your phone charges before meeting your friends for dinner. You should swap batteries in seconds and have confidence you will easily make it home that night.
And, more importantly, if you want to go on a 14 hour Angry Birds binge because you *need* to save those eggs, you should be able to do that too!
@bentossell holy smokes. This is rad. My battery is on 30% right now FYI. I wish it were something that could plug right into the phone though not an additional battery pack. I have no case on my phone at all and love it that way. Part of what I paid for is the beauty of the phone lol I like seeing it 😭
@imcatnoone@bentossell I always felt the same way. Apple spends millions of dollars in engineering effort shaving that last millimeter off the phone, perfecting the surface finish, etc. It seems silly when people buy it and immediately slap a $5 case over it defeating all that effort.
CoBattery changed that for me. It's the first phone case I've ever decided to continue using. The functionality blows away my general dislike of cases. We tried as hard as we could to make the case stay out of the way, so the phone's original beauty shines through. For example, many cases use clunky pass-through buttons to interact with the phone. Instead, we just used cutouts, so you can interact with the original controls directly.
I hope you'll give CoBattery a shot!
Thanks @gwintrob for posting this! Gordon was an early backer on our Kickstarter and has given us invaluable feedback along the way.
CoBattery started because we got fed up of carrying around heavy rechargeable battery packs and using battery cases that still required us to plug in our phone over night. No matter what I tried, I would have to either run home and charge my phone or spend the rest of the day with a dead phone.
CoBattery allows you to swap your battery for a full charge in seconds. The case comes with two batteries, so as soon as the battery on your case is depleted, you can swap with a fully charged battery.
Up until last week, CoBattery has been a side project. Now I am working full time on CoBattery and am excited to help you cut the cord!
Let me know if you have any comments/questions. :)
P.S. Follow our link for a **special discount** for Product Hunters...
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