Hands-on

Review: the official Tesla case for iPhone X/XS

Tesla Motors has a nice side business selling accessories like apparel, chargers, travel bags, gloves, purses and—why not?—iPhone cases. They have a range of cases for iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X and iPhone XS, and today we're going hands-on with their iPhone X/XS case.

White vs. black unboxing: Smart Battery Case for iPhone X/XR/XS/Max

Apple's mid-January release of its Smart Battery Case for the new iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR models wasn't entirely unexpected. Our video editor Harris Craycraft has managed to get his hands on the new battery case, this is his unboxing experience.

For starters, the case now looks sleeker than the previous version. While the hump is still present, the bottom chin is gone because this case was specifically designed for the Face ID-enabled iPhone models that feature a fullscreen design (except the notch, of course).

And now, watch Harris's video covering the unboxing experience:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLPor9rHqMI Subscribe to iDownloadBlog on YouTube

Aside from improved appearance, other innovations in this Smart Battery Case include support for Qi wireless charging, meaning you can now charge either the case’s battery or both your iPhone and the case via any Qi-compliant wireless charger.

The new case also fits last year's iPhone X though charging requires Apple's recently-released iOS 12.1.3 software update. See how it increases each handset’s battery life:

iPhone XR: 39 hours of talk time, 22 hours of Internet use and 27 hours of video iPhone XS: 33 hours of talk time, 21 hours of Internet use and 25 hours of video iPhone XS Max: 37 hours of talk time, 20 hours of Internet use and 25 hours of video

The new Smart Battery Case has a larger battery capacity than the previous version. With a pair of integrated cells at 1,369 mAh each, you’re now getting around 1.4 additional watt hours and almost 400 more milliamp hours than before. Even though the mAh rating is lower, the new case does have a larger capacity than the old version when taking voltage into consideration.

Harris will be playing with these cases for a bit more before publishing his complete hands-on video walkthrough so watch this space for his full review.

You can find the new Smart Battery Cases for iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR on Apple’s website. It's available in Black and White and priced at $129 regardless of the version.

What do you think about the unboxing experience?

Let use know by leaving a comment below.

Using the new 2018 iPad Pro for school

iPad Pro for college

Our young video guy Harris Craycraft is a college student who doesn't shy away from using his Apple tablet for education. Quite the contrary, Harris is big on the new iPad Pro + Apple Pencil combo and has been vocal about the creativity and productivity afforded by the note-taking and sketching features of the Apple tablet. That's why we've asked him to put together a little video walkthrough to share how precisely he uses the latest iPad Pro at college.

Hands-on video walkthrough: Apple Watch Series 4 vs Series 3—worth the extra $120?

Apple Watch Series 4 is a seriously praised smartwatch for a good reason, but last year's Series 3 is no slouch and it comes with some pretty compelling features. You can get a baseline 38mm aluminum Series 3 with a sport band from Apple right now for as low as $279 versus $399 for a 40mm aluminum Series 4. The new Series 4 watch has been redesigned from top to bottom and offers even better features than the last year's model, but is it worth the extra $120? iDownloadBlog's video editor Harris Craycraft does the comparing for you, boys and girls, in his hands-on video walkthrough of Apple Watch Series 4 vs Series 3.