For whatever reason, there were tons and tons of smartphone cases on display at the 2014 International CES. Among the litany of phone cases, the newest offering from EnerPlex really stood out.
Above is the newest EnerPlex line of cases, the Surfr series. The Surfr case comes equipped with a 1400 mAh battery, which nearly doubles the size of your battery. There is also a pretty interesting feature, a .36 watt integrated solar panel. The solar panel is more of an emergency feature than a realistic way to charge your device. Owing to the small size of the panel, EnerPlex notes that “1 hour of sunlight provides 10 minutes of talk time and 15 hours of sunlight provides 3 hours of talk time.”
Beyond their Surfr cases, EnerPlex offers a variety of different products. The Packr backpack has an integrated 3 watt solar panel, and can charge most smartphones in under five hours. The Jumpr is a lightweight portable battery that holds enough power to charge an iPhone 5 more than six times. The Kickr is a 6.5-watt regulated solar panel that provides enough power to charge an iPhone 5 in a little under an hour and a half.
The most expensive of these devices is the Kickr, at $129.99, but every other product is well under $100.
We had a chance to speak with an EnerPlex representative at CES. The rep told us a little bit about the Surfr series of cases and how the device works: