Pros: An iPod backpack that adds 20-30 hours of life to recent iPod models, compatible with 3G, 4G, mini and photo iPods. Easy to travel with, and use with or without belt clip. Does better job squeezing juice out of AA batteries than competitors.
Cons: iPod’s backlight flips on and off during discharge cycle, requiring you to turn it off; can’t revive a dead iPod, so you’ll need to start with some iPod life left; not the most stylish low-capacity battery we’ve seen; requires you to supply new AAs.
If you’re not as concerned about the style of your iPod battery pack as its cost-to-performance ratio, you’ll be impressed by the total package offered by Battery Technology Incorporated (BTI)‘s new AA iPod Battery ($49.95). As the company’s cheapest, smallest, and lowest-capacity iPod battery solution to date, the AA iPod Battery uses four AA batteries rather than a rechargeable internal power cell, and connects to any 3G, 4G, mini or photo iPod via its bottom Dock Connector port. Like its predecessors, it boosts your iPod’s run time and outperforms the company’s modest estimates by a considerable factor.
As with the company’s iPod Battery ii (iLounge rating: A-), the biggest component in this package is a white plastic battery holder with four power indicator lights on its top, a button to activate them, and an official Apple Dock Connector cable hanging from its bottom. The AA iPod Battery has an significant on-off switch on its bottom, rather than the almost invisible one on its predecessor’s side, and no power adapter or port on its casing to recharge the batteries inside. In other words, if you want to use rechargeable AA cells, you’ll need to use a separate battery recharger.
The AA iPod Battery’s battery compartment has changed in a few other ways, too. It’s shorter – under 3 3/8 inches (.75 inches smaller than the iPod Battery ii) – and slightly less wide as well, measuring under 2 3/4 inches. Thickness has increased only a little to 11/16 of an inch to accommodate the four AAs. Consequently, the pack looks less obtrusive than its predecessors, and fits better alongside an iPod than ezGear’s PowerStick, for example. But it’s still in no way as svelte or contoured as the most recent rechargeable offerings from Nyko (iBoost) or Belkin (TunePower).
Overall, it is best compared in size and profile with Belkin’s older but more sleek Backup Battery Pack (iLounge rating: B).
Belkin’s Pack carries a current MSRP of about $10 more, but can be had for less if you shop around. However, unlike Belkin’s product, which works only with full-sized iPods, BTI’s AA iPod Battery also works with iPod minis thanks to a set of three included plastic iPod clips – one each for mini, thin, and thick iPods.
The holder’s front panel pops off to reveal a compartment with spots for each of the four AA batteries. Once they’ve been inserted, you replace the front panel, which loosely grips the pack until one of the three iPod clips is attached; at that point the whole unit becomes physically stable and significant feeling. A sturdy spring-loaded belt clip may be attached to the unit’s rear; or left off for non-belt carrying. Once you’ve inserted your iPod into one of the clips, you connect the Dock Connector plug and switch the power on.
We haven’t been totally thrilled by the clips on the previous iPod Batteries – they’re not super-protective, and don’t let you attach an already-encased iPod. The new clips are just like those on The iPod Battery ii – so-so. Each fit our test iPods, though they varied in tightness a bit from unit to unit – they were never too loose, but sometimes felt pretty tight. As better battery pack mounting solutions have appeared in recent months (the softer plastic in Belkin’s TunePower as just one example), we’ve become less enamored with this particular plastic clipping solution; whether you’ll mind its limitations will depend on how you use your iPod when attached to the battery. If you’re planning to make use of it in the safety of airplanes or someplace else where your iPod won’t be scratched, you’ll be fine, but just don’t expect to use it on the go.
Additionally, as was the case with The iPod Battery ii, you can detach the iPod and belt clips from the AA iPod Battery’s pack and connect them to each other instead. This gives you an inexpensive and not especially protective way to carry your iPod, but it’s a feature of the product nonetheless, so we note it.
The single best feature of the prior iPod Batteries was the extra play time they delivered: in each case, they outperformed BTI’s promised numbers by a staggering amount, delivering literally multiple days of continuous play time off a single charge.
BTI’s claimed play time extension for the new battery is a real lowball – 10 hours – that you’re unlikely to see unless you’re using terrible batteries and an 3G iPod with its screen on for excessive periods of time. In fact, we found that the AA iPod Battery delivered two or three times that number under our typical test conditions with recent iPods: randomized playback, equalizers off, volume on 50% with earbuds attached.
There were a couple of wrinkles, though, that impact the accuracy of any performance testing that can be done on the AA iPod Battery. First, since there’s no “standard” AA battery out there for testing purposes, we went with a fresh set of standard Energizers. Better or worse batteries may well vary from our numbers. Second, when we started with a fully-drained iPod and tried our tests – our standard procedure – the AA iPod Battery wouldn’t work. Consequently, we had to recharge our iPods for the tests and subtract their estimated run times from the total numbers we saw after our tests.
But the numbers were good – in fact, very good by comparison with competing AA products such as Belkin’s Backup Battery Pack. Our test first-generation iPod mini ran for a total of 32 hours, 25 minutes with the AA iPod Battery attached, which means that it added around 22 hours of additional run time to the iPod’s own charge. Our fourth-generation iPod ran for 42 hours and 45 minutes with the battery attached, suggesting that the Battery added around 30 hours of additional run time to the iPod’s own battery. Owners of iPod photos and second-generation minis can expect to see even greater play time extensions.
So the new AA iPod Battery’s positives – extended play time and full iPod/iPod mini mounting and belt-clipping compatibility – are fairly obvious. We did have a couple issues with the product, however, that may or may not be of great importance to typical users.
