If you're not a fan of battery cases or bulky portable battery packs, the PhoneSuit Flex might be just the ticket.

Design

This little device is designed to give your iPhone 5 & 5s (Lightning connector version) or Android devices (micro USB version) a surge of energy discreetly. It's no wider than the iPhone and its body is constructed from a stylish machined aluminium. The Flex is available in three colours; red, blue and black. Plus an included cap is supplied to cover the lightning connector, making this a desirable object to carry with you on your person. We've been using this for around four months and judging from our own experience the PhoneSuit Flex is pretty rugged; it has stood up to being taken on a regular basis in the front pocket of our Rickshaw Messenger Bag.

Battery Status

One design element that particularly stood out to us was the electrostatic touch button. It's a button with no moving parts; simply place your finger on it and the PhoneSuit Flex will display a reading of its battery level in the form of up to four blue LEDs.

Charging

The PhoneSuit Flex will charge the iPhone 5/5s battery from drained to fully charged, with excess energy, in around 2 hours. Its capacity is 2,600mAh, which outweighs many battery cases in capacity. But it's worth pointing out that 2 hours time charging makes it slower than we've come to expect with charging solutions such as this one. Because it has a 5V/1A output as opposed to the 5V/2A that most companies choose to use, it takes about twice as long to charge. The Flex has a micro-USB connection on its right hand side for charging its internal battery.

Use With Cases

When using the PhoneSuit Flex to charge an iPhone it was hit and miss with regard to it connecting to the Lightning connector when the iPhone was within a case. The thinner the case the more likely the PhoneSuit Flex will connect, but in general a limited number of cases were thin enough. Those who use cases with a two part design, allowing the bottom half of the case to be removed quickly for docking purposes, should find that the PhoneSuit Flex is convenient to use on the move.

Overall

A lot of people don't like battery cases due to the bulk and the restricted access to their Lightning connector, and some get put off taking a battery pack with them due to having to remember things like cables too, so the PhoneSuit Flex fills an interesting gap that we can see gaining popularity. An all-in-one tiny charging solution that is rigid enough to throw in your bag or purse and just forget about. The biggest negative about the Flex is its price: for a battery of 2,600mAh capacity it's on the pricey side, retailing on Amazon for $69.99 within the USA. You could purchase a traditional battery pack such as the Arctic Power Bank 4000, with a larger capacity, for less than half the price. But this is a refined purpose built product, that some may think justifies the premium.