- [Presenter] Quick, what are the three things
you wish your iPhone 7 had more of?
If you said battery life, storage space,
and headphone jacks, good news.
Not only are you great at rhetorical questions
but they're might just be an accessory out there
that solves your problems.
I'm Michael Fisher and this is a quick hands on
with the Folio from iXTRA.
(digital music)
iXTRA calls this the perfect iPhone case
and while that's an overstatement
it does come close just in terms of features.
Some qualifiers, the version I'm using
is the Folio case for the iPhone 6S.
The case for the 7 is due in March so keep that in mind.
The company tells me it hasn't yet decided
where it's putting the headphone port
but it'll be 3-1/2 millimeters just like you're used to
so you can leave the dongle at home.
On the other hand that thing will never become a reality
if these folks don't hit their Kickstarter goal
so keep that in mind too.
The hardware is pretty basic.
The faux fancy look has never been my favorite
but at least the imitation leather is understated in black
and the rubber is rigid enough
that I'm not worried about the iPhone getting hurt
while it's inside this thing.
When it's installed
your phone draws power from either a 1,700
or 2,000 milliampere battery within the case
until it's topped up.
Unlike similar charging cases
there's no switch or button to toggle charging.
It does it automatically
or you can control it manually through the app.
Now, firing up an app to toggle charging on and off
isn't my idea of a good time.
But here's the thing.
You need the app anyway
to access the other halo feature of the Folio,
the additional storage.
Either 64 or 128 gigs of solid state memory
is built right into the body and the included file manager
lets you organize it into folders
and move media files around at your discretion.
The real space suckers of course are photos and video.
You can dump those directly into the case storage
and even set up automatic syncing.
Though, as you can see there's plenty of fine print there.
No official word on the read and write speed of the storage,
which will vary depending on what quality level you choose
for your backups.
This is not at all a final version of the app
so I can't weigh in on that as yet.
As a bonus, if you're storing sensitive material
you can hide the files behind a passcode or touch ID.
If I have a major complaint about the Folio case,
it's the lack of lights
and not just because I like a lot of blinkies
on my technology
but because there's no way to tell
the charge level of the case unless you go into the app.
If your phone is off you're outta luck
and if you're charging the case separately
the only way to tell it's working is by feeling it
to see if it's warm, lame.
But then maybe you're willing to take that hit
in exchange for a big price cut versus the competition.
SanDisk ofers a case with integrated storage
but it ranges from 70 to $130
and the battery is sold separately.
Mophie has a case that pulls the same double duty
of power and storage and its battery is quite a bit larger
but it's almost 200 bucks.
By contrast,
iXTRA is gunning for the wallet-conscious crowd here.
The Folio starts at $80 and maxes out at 190
and for 190 you get two of 'em.
Now those are Kickstarter prices
and they come with the usual Kickstarter risks
but for those
who've buttered up against the confines of the iPhone
in one way or another they may well be risks worth taking.
If you think so the link is in the description below.
From smartphones to electric cars,
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Until next time, thanks for watching
and stay mobile my friends.