A battery case when you need it, a simple protective case when you don't—that's the theory behind the Tylt Energi Sliding Power Case ($99.99 direct). It's similar to the Unu Ecopak, but with a built-in Lightning connector making it far more useful. It's a bit bulbous in design, though, and removing the battery pack is trickier than it should be. Still, it offers superb battery life and at least gives you some more options for use. If you're looking for just an extended battery, a more traditional case like the Unu DX, which is our Editors' Choice, is the better option. It's less expensive, offers comparable battery life, and it's easy enough to find a slim protective case to swap on when you don't need the extra juice.
Design and Setup
The Energi is fairly unique in the world of battery cases—it's really just a slim protective case with grooves that let you slide on a battery pack with integrated Lightning connector. The slim case provides protection for the sides and back, and the lip is raised above the screen so it'll provide some protection should you put your iPhone face down on flat surfaces. There are cutouts for the buttons and switch along the side, while the top and bottom have large openings for easy access to the rest of the ports and buttons. It's a minimal case that provides just enough protection without adding any bulk. Tylt also includes two slim cases with each Energi; a black case and your choice of blue, red, or green cases. The battery pack itself is only available in black.
The battery pack slides easily onto slim case, lining up seamlessly with the grooves along the side. With the pack installed, the Energi measures 5.5 by 2.6 by 0.6 inches (HWD) and weighs 3.2 ounces. It's only slightly bigger and heavier than the Unu DX (5.5 by 2.5 by 0.6 inches, 2.9 ounces) and the Mophie Juice Pack Helium (5.5 by 2.5 by 0.6 inches, 2.44 ounces), but the bulbous design makes it feel bulkier than it is. There's a button around back that activates the power flow, while an embedded LED glows green or red to indicate battery life. Like all iPhone 5 battery cases, the headphone jack is recessed and requires an included adapter for bulkier plugs.
Removing the battery pack can be a bit of a chore and requires some breaking-in. It holds very securely in place, which is a plus, but it took a good deal of effort to release the pack the first few times I tried. It got a little smoother over time, but still required a bit too much force than I'd like to apply to the screen of the iPhone. Tylt suggest a few methods, but I found the best way was pressing your palm against the screen and using the friction between your skin and the glass to force the phone out. It's much easier to take off the Helium or DX and just snap on a standard protective case, which sort of defeats the advantage of the Energi's design.
Performance and Conclusions
The Energi features a 2,500mAh battery pack, which is pretty sizeable as far as iPhone 5 batteries go. The Unu DX uses a 2,300mAh pack, while the Helium uses a much smaller 1,500mAh battery. In my tests, making a continuous call with LTE enabled with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth switched off, the Energi added 8 hours, 7 minutes of talk time to my completely drained AT&T iPhone 5. That's actually the best result we've seen, but not by much—the DX lasted 7 hours, 52 minutes and the Juice Pack Plus lasted 7 hours, 23 minutes.
Though the Tylt Energi Sliding Power Case offers about as much extra battery life as you'll find, it's not the best value and its bulbous, hard-to-remove design is a bit of a bummer. The Unu DX is $20 less and offers virtually equal battery life and a design that feels slicker. If you're looking for the thinnest and lightest, the Helium still offers substantial battery life and costs less than the Energi. The convertible design might appeal to those who don't always need the extra juice, but the convenience is negated by how tricky it can be to remove the battery pack. I recommend the DX and an inexpensive standard case instead, which would let you swap out cases more easily than with the Tylt.
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