While the iPhone 7 design isn’t that different to the older iPhone 6 or 6s it is sufficiently changed that you’ll likely need a new case for your new phone, and that includes battery cases for the iPhone 7.

The iPhone 7 is the same size (138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1mm) as the 6s but slightly (5g) lighter; it’s 9g heavier and a little fatter than the 6 (138.1 x 67 x 6.9mm). The design change that means you need a new case for the iPhone 7 is the larger camera bump on the back. iPhone 7 Plus users will have a similar need for a new case, with its new dual back-camera. So when Apple changed the camera from 6s to 7, in a swipe it made the new phone incompatible with older cases.

Apple says that the battery life of the iPhone 7 is two hours longer than with the 6/6s, which is great but sadly not enough to get many of us through a busy iPhone day.

That inconvenience and weight is much reduced by fitting your iPhone in a case that includes a built-in extra battery.

There are some terrific battery cases for the older iPhone 6/6s, but very few right now for the 7. Check out Amazon UK or Amazon US as more become available. Be careful though as some cases claiming to be for the iPhone 7 are still just 6/6s cases – you can check quickly by seeing if they still have the port for a headphone jack.

So what’s available? It’s little surprise that the first iPhone 7 battery case is Apple’s own iPhone 7 Smart Battery Case. The Apple iPhone 7 Smart Battery Case looks much like the iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case, and is available in either gonna-get-messy-quickly White or more-practical Black. One alternative is the incredibly cheap PEMOTech Battery Case, which has a rear-camera cutout that's big enough for iPhones 6, 6s and 7; read our PEMOTech Power Bank Charger Battery Case review. Mind, though, that, unlike the Smart Case reviewed here, this isn't officially certified by Apple.

iPhone 7 Smart Battery Case: price

At £99 (US$99) the iPhone 7 Smart Battery Case is not cheap, but then what do you expect when buying an Apple-branded product.

As other battery cases become available for the iPhone 7 you’ll have a wider choice and cheaper options but for the time being that’s what a battery case is going to cost you.

iPhone 7 Smart Battery Case: extended battery life

While the 6s Smart Battery Case (with its rather weak 1, 877mAh capacity) promised to charge your iPhone and battery case simultaneously for increased talk time up to 25 hours and Internet use up to 18 hours on 4G, the 7’s Smart Battery Case claims 26 hours talk time and 22 hours on 4G. Video playback time is also 4 hours longer, according to Apple.

The new Smart Battery Case has a decent 2, 365mAh charge capacity. As the iPhone 7 itself has a 1, 960mAh capacity this means that theoretically the case should be able to recharge a dead iPhone 7 and still have 17 percent charge left. In practice, however, you’re unlikely to get more than the one full recharge, but that’s still a great power extension when you’re away from a power source.

2, 365mAh is still a light capacity compared to most battery cases out there. Mophie’s Juice Pack Ultra packs 3, 950mAh, enough for a recharge and a half. But Mophie doesn’t yet have a battery case for the iPhone 7. See Mophie Juice Pack reviews.

The iPhone and case are charged simultaneously via the iPhone’s Lightning port. Most battery cases require a MicroUSB cable for case charging so the Lightning option is an advantage for Apple, negating the need for extra cables. See Best Charging Cables for a look at some we really quite like.

Source: www.macworld.co.uk