Review: PowerSkin Protective Case for Samsung Galaxy S

Cellphones today do so much more than what they originally were meant to do. We use them constantly for various things from checking our email and text messages to browsing our favorite websites while we take a photo that we later post on twitter. Of course that’s not even half the things that we do daily on our mobile devices, especially with countless apps being released constantly that expand the uses of our phones even more. How much we do with our mobile devices depends greatly on the battery life of our phones. How many of us have hesitated from using our phones because the battery life was low and we were trying to conserve the little bit of juice left for later on in the day? I’m sure the vast majority of us have gone through that situation and now we constantly carry a charger cable or battery to save our day. Well here’s a different approach, it’s called the PowerSkin. Basically its a combination of a case and battery rolled up into one package. How good is it at trying to solve this problem? Check out the full review with photos after the break.

The PowerSkin we are reviewing is compatible with the Samsung Vibrant and Galaxy S 4G, but there’s a PowerSkin for most of todays popular phones like the HTC Evo, iPhone 4, and Thunderbolt to name a few. When you open the box you will find the PowerSkin, a charger cable for it, and also some basic instructions. You simply have to connect the re-charge port of the Powerskin which is tucked away near the top of the case to the charger port of your phone and then fit the phone inside the case and you’re done. If you’re on the go and you want to charge your phone simple hold the soft button found on the back of the Powerskin for 2 seconds, and it will start charging your phone. To stop, hold the same button for 2 seconds and it stops. If you want to check the status of the batter on the PowerSkin then press the botton briefly and 4 blue LED lights appear which indicate the status of the battery, with 4 blue lights meaning it’s fully charged. We tested the case for a couple of days, and found that it really doubles the life of your phone, fully recharging the Samsung Vibrant we used. So as an extra source of battery juice we know it works, now let’s move on to see how good it works as a case.

The case itself is made of silicone rubber and feels strong. The Vibrant we used to test it fit just right into it. The case also has a non-slip grip, so if your hands get sweaty, there’s no need to worry. The downside of the case is that since it’s packing a battery logically it’s going to be thicker than regular cases. How much thicker, well in our testing, the case basically doubled the size of the Samsung Vibrant, which depending on your taste could be the biggest factor in making a purchase. Don’t get us wrong, the case itself looks like it would protect the phone from a fall, but it doesn’t look that visually pleasing.

The PowerSkin is for those power users who don’t mind how their phones look in the case, as long as their getting double the use of their device. It’s like the saying goes, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

The PowerSkin for Samsung Galaxy S i9000, Galaxy S i9003, Vibrant, and Galaxy S 4G can be found on the official PowerSkin website for $59.99, along with the other PowerSkins for popular phones.