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LifeProof's Fre Power iPhone 6 case packs a burly lineup of durability features and a battery that promises to double your plug-free lifetime. Ryan Dunfee photo.
I’m a klutz. My partner says it’s a “choice,” but if that’s the case, I made it the choice long ago, when a pair of sunglasses lasted only a few months at tops before receiving fatal scratches or getting lost altogether, while my brother’s were cautiously bagged and tucked away. I don’t take care to make sure there’s no possible way two bikes on the hatchback mount will scratch each other, and am big into condiment stains. Maybe it’s a rebellion against parents who meticulously care for their goods and own more cleaning products than any two people reasonably should, but I’ll refrain from going into my own personal issues much further.
I’m also suffering from an obsession with being in places made up of dirt, water, and snow. When you take all that into account and throw an expensive, delicate handheld computer in the mix, I need a Fort Knox-level protective device to prevent me from smashing it all to pieces. Enter LifeProof’s Fre Power iPhone 6 case, which promises such protection while also packing a slim battery unit that LifeProof said would double my iPhone 6’s battery life. Alright then, to the woods!
Features, Features, Features
The Fre Power's proprietary, screw-in watertight headphone jack adapter. Tana Hoffman photo.
After laboriously snapping the case into place (you have to lean your full body weight on a desk to get the case to snap shut over the watertight O-ring), it was time to note the case’s many features, which I hope would add up to justification for the $130 price tag. Despite the Fre Power’s heavy, thick casing, most regular iPhone functions go down relatively unimpeded. You don’t lose any tactile contact typing out texts, and the phone’s thumbprint fingerprint scanner even works through the clear plastic protective screen cover. Volume and power buttons take a little more force to engage, but photos through the anti-reflective lens cover are as clear as normal.
Two proprietary connections might annoy some, as a watertight headphone connector has to be screwed in to connect headphones to the case, and a snap-down cover reveals a micro-USB port that charges the phone instead of Apple’s Lightning cable. Not a huge deal as all cables are included, but if you’re stranded without your USB cord, you’ll have to pop the case back open and charge with a friend’s Lightning cable.
Durability
Yes, that's an iPhone under water, intentionally. It survived... Ryan Dunfee photo.
As far as durability, LifeProof claims the Fre Power is waterproof in up to 6 feet of water for an hour, lock tight enough to keep out dust, dirt, and snow, and can survive drops from up to 6 feet in the air without any kind of damage. Impressively, all these claims came true, which generally meant that outdoor outings could be enjoyed without the stress of worrying about where the expensive smartphone was located and whether it was at risk of getting scratched, bent, watered on, or dropped.
I’d throw it in the pocket of my board shorts while paddle boarding, shot videos of the dogs while swimming in ponds with them, and took it mountain biking without any issues. I did, however, make the mistake of confusing the lenses that protect the camera and the flash, and rubbed the more flexible plastic flash covering to the point of rupturing its seal, which meant some moisture began to enter the case next time I was dunking it under the water. Not enough to affect the phone at all, but you’ll want to be more mindful that I was when wiping those down.
The Fre Power comes with a one-year limited warranty you can read more about here.
The Fre Power Battery
Slam the button for a few seconds and give the phone an hour or so to reach back up to a full charge. Ryan Dunfee photo.
All that can be had, however, in one of LifeProof’s normal iPhone cases, which typically clock in around the $80 range. The extra $50 is counted in the Fre Power’s backpack battery, which sits in between the back of the phone and the case, and is engaged by holding the button on the back of the case until the phone buzzes and the power meter slowly starts to climb back towards 100%.
LifeProof said this battery, when fully charged, would fully double the phone’s plug-free lifetime, and this proved to be true in tests we did. A normal charge might get my iPhone 6 28-30 hours of normal use with wifi and Bluetooth on. Giving both the phone and the Fre Power’s battery up to a 100% charge got me around 63 hours, which kept me going from Monday night almost to lunch on Thursday.
The case, with battery, more than doubles the size and weight of a standalone iPhone 6–so if a slim profile is a major priority, be warned–but it was impressive to see the battery worked as promised.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The most rugged way to view your Instagram feed. Ryan Dunfee photo.
LifeProof’s protective cases are a solid investment for people who’d otherwise be ponying up to replace an entire phone due either to personal clumsiness, smartphones’ intentional fragility (so you buy another one), or simply the rugged reality of toting electronics along in the great woods and rivers of this fair land.
Those who will find utility in adding the Fre Power's battery pack to the mix might be folks taking on overnight trips in the mountains, guides or others for whom having backup power for their lifeline to the outside world is pretty handy in an emergency situation, or simply heavy travelers who usually burn through phone batteries as they check flights and emails as they traverse multiple airports in a day.
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About The Author
stash member Ryan Dunfee
Former Managing Editor at Teton Gravity Research, current Senior Contributor, current professional hippy at the Sierra Club, and avid weekend recreationalist.