Third Rail Trio Slim Protective Case and Fuel Universal Rechargeable External Smart Battery Combo Kit for iPhone 4 and 4S

by Third Rail

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.8 x 2.4 inches ; 2.2 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0050SHBRM
• Item model number: TRL1B1C
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,606 in Cell Phones & Accessories (See Top 100 in Cell Phones & Accessories)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Providing the ultimate 3-in-1 mobile solution, the first of its kind Third Rail System features a super slim protective case, a convenient and optional power case when needed, and a universal external charger for 100s of other devices. Contrary to bulky traditional power cases, the System lets you decide when/where/how to add on-the-go power. This may be the only mobile charger you ever need.

The Slim Case is the thinnest battery enabled case on the market

Traditional power cases add bulk, even when you don't need the extra power

Ultimate Flexibility

Daily power use may vary and your solution should vary with it. Contrary to bulky power cases without removable batteries, with the Third Rail System you have the flexibility to add additional power only when you need it. Have another device that needs charge? The Smart Battery also doubles as a backup battery for hundreds of other devices.

An everyday protective case with a slide-on Smart Battery for extra power. View larger

Durable hard-shell protection with access to all iPhone 4/4S features. View larger

Unlimited Power

On those extra long days, don't fall victim to the limitations of ordinary power cases, the Third Rail System gives you the ability to swap on and off multiple batteries (sold separately) for longer periods away from outlets.

Share your Power

Feeling generous? The Third Rail Slim Case is compatible with all Third Rail Smart Batteries so you can easily share Smart Batteries among family, friends, and coworkers.

Complete Coverage

Durable hard-shell protection with a soft touch coating provides access to all iPhone 4/4S features. The soft touch finish also helps prevent the phone from slipping out of pockets--a major cause of lost or damaged iPhones.

Power Hub

Using one outlet, you can charge both your iPhone and your Smart Battery. Simply plug the included Micro-USB cord into the USB port on the Slim Case, attach a Smart Battery and charge on. You can even charge other devices (i.e. Bluetooth headset) via the USB-out on the Smart Battery using the same outlet to create the ultimate power hub.

Future Proof

The Smart Battery will work with all future Third Rail cases. So, as you upgrade devices, you just pick up the appropriate Third Rail Case and continue to use your Smart Batteries--good for the environment and great for your wallet.

Universal Power Solution

In addition to charging your iPhone 4/4S, the Third Rail Smart Battery also doubles as a universal charger for hundreds of other devices such as smartphones, Bluetooth headsets, MP3 players, gaming devices, and Mi-Fi Cards.

"Works with iPhone" Certification The Third Rail System is officially certified as a "Works with iPhone" product. This ensures that 100% compatibility with your iPhone 4/4S.

What's in the Box

Third Rail Slim Case for iPhone 4/4S, Smart Battery, Micro-USB cable, USB adapter, user's manual.

Third Rail System Comparison

Easily swap on and off multiple batteries (sold separately) for longer charge periods

Third Rail System		Power Cases with Non-Removable Battery
	Multi-use and flexible solution		No user flexibility
	Add battery for on-the-go power		Cannot remove battery between uses
	Battery can be used to charge hundreds of devices		Only charges iPhone 4/4S
	Smart Batteries are compatible with all future Third Rail cases		Model Specific--have to scrap entire solution with each new phone purchase
	Batteries can be shared with other users		Can't share battery with others
	Fore longer use, swap dead batteries for charged ones		When battery dies, users are left with a useless brick
	One plug power hub charging for multiple batteries and devices at once		No power hub capability--limited to charging only the battery and iPhone 4/4S

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this product September 10, 2011

By P. Baker

I bought this when it first came out and I love it. It's the first case I've kept on my iPhone for months at a time. It allows me to use my iPhone from early morning to night while using my personal hotspot an hour or two each day. Normally the personal hot spot drains power rapidly and I used it very sparingly.

I've found the product has numerous benefits. If I forget to charge my phone overnight and it's dead in the am, I snap on the battery and when I get to the office it's charged. This week when we had a power blackout in San Diego and my cable's Internet service was out, so I used my iPhone as my connection to the Internet to monitor the news.

With regard to another comment, I use a MacBook Pro and sync it without any problems. This is one of those products that has to be tried to be appreciated. The convenience and the fact I never worry about my iPhone battery gauge any longer is why I recommend this wholeheartedly. I purchased an extra battery as well. The 2 batteries and iPhone can all be charged with a single adapter by snapping all 3 items together like Lego blocks. This is a well-conceived and clever product that works well.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best battery case on the market June 23, 2012

By James Scobey

Amazon Verified Purchase

I've tried a number of extended battery cases for the several generations of the iPhone I've owned. It's not that the iPhone's battery life isn't great (it is), it's that I use it a lot and I need additional battery life as a fall back, occasionally, particularly when I'm mobile. My biggest issues with all of these cases is that they a) generally look pretty goofy and b) they add way too much bulk to the iPhone's slim design.

Enter This Rail's Slim Case and removable battery system. The idea here isn't an overly complicated one: you keep the case on your iPhone all the time and clip on an external battery only when you need it. This simple idea is fantastically executed in this case.

First: the basics. This case does a great job of not hindering any of the iPhone's controls. An issue I've had with several battery cases is their thickness: the case is so thick that it makes the buttons and switches on the iPhone too recessed to access easily. Not so, here. The volume buttons and mute rocker are completely exposed. The headphone jack and power button are slightly recessed, but very slightly, and to a degree I don't find onerous. The front of the case is perfectly flush with the front of the iPhone, so the home button access is not affected at all. The camera lens and flash are slightly recessed, which is good for protection, and it doesn't change the functionality of the camera at all. The finish on the case is a nice (not uncommon) matte finish that adds to your ability to grip the iPhone during use. There are openings to allow sound from the iPhone speakers out, and I've found that there is no significant impact on the volume output as a result.... The case provides a micro-USB port for charging and syncing, and I have had no problems using it with any number of chargers and cables. The phone also connected to a Mac and a PC via a micro-USB cable with no issues. Switching to micro-USB from iPhone dock connector might seem like a negative to some, but I see it as an huge advantage of this and other battery iPhone cases; I have tons of micro-USB cables and if I never need more they are cheap and easy to find as opposed to the iPhone dock connector cable for which Apple charges a premium. The only read downside here is if you use an iPhone accessory that plugs into a dock connector -- you're going to have to take your phone out of this case to use it. However, I don't know of any battery case on the market that is not true of. The other thing the case adds is an on/off switch to control charging when an external battery is connected. The idea here is that you could attach a battery and carry it around throughout the day, but only use it to charge your iPhone when it's low.

The system to attach the external batteries is dead simple; there are four holes on the back of the case and four posts on the battery. Just slide it into place -- it clicks when connected and a three pin transfer system connects the battery to the phone. Very easy. The external battery can be charged separately from the phone (again with Micro-USB) or charges along with the phone when it is attached. All very intuitive and flexible. The external battery can also be used to charge third-party devices, either when connected to the iPhone or not. This is a real bonus to this system, as you can charge your phone and headset, or some other device, with one micro-USB connection to a USB port. This is my only real gripe with the design of the system, though. In order to output a charge from the external battery to a third-party device you have to attach an (I believe) proprietary cable that converts from whatever format the output on the battery is to full size USB. The output connector might not be proprietary, but if it's a standard, it's not one I've seen before, which means I don't have cables lying around for it. I assume the designers were worried users might confuse the input and output if they were the same port, but I don't think that's worth the trade-off of having to carry around a special cable (really a dongle) to use this functionality. Given the overall attention to design for this case in general, I'm assuming there was an additional technical reason this had to be done. Let me know if you know what that was.

The battery system Third Rail uses is also stackable; this means you can buy additional batteries and piggy-back them on a single battery to charge all the batteries at once. According to the documentation this works either on the iPhone Case or off of it. I only have the one battery that comes with the case, so I haven't tested this functionality. Though it initially seems like overkill, it makes sense for power-obsessed power users to be able to have maximum battery availability with a single cable to charge the whole battery stack plus the iPhone at the same time. Flexibility is the name of the game.

All the functionality aside, the true beauty of this case is the form factor. It is incredibly small compared to all the bulky battery cases on the market. The case adds about 3/4 of an inch to the bottom of your device to make room for the dock connector, speaker holes, and control circuitry. The rest of the case adds a very, very thin layer of plastic that protects your phone without adding unnecessary bulk. It's easily comparable to the various small form factor shell cases on the market, but adds the ability to connect an external battery.

To give you an idea of my use case for this device; I've occasionally switched from an iPhone to an Android device in order to have the option of a swappable battery without having the bulky case that was the only option for iPhone external power. I would charge two Android batteries and carry one around with me -- when I was low on juice I would swap them (not an easy procedure on some of the devices, and one which always requires a phone reboot).

I preferred the iPhone functionality, but really needed the ability to go extra innings without being tied down to a wall charger or carry around a bulky battery case.

This case does one better than either of my previous use cases: it's a case I don't mind the bulk of that allows me to attach an external battery without rebooting the phone or going through other gyrations that I had to with the Android devices, so I get extended battery life on the iPhone. Very, very nice.

A word of warning, this case is built to careful tolerances -- there' no room inside the case for anything other than the iPhone itself. I had a silicone protector on the back of my iPhone -- translucent and adhered to the device; I had actually forgotten it was there. When I put the phone into this case I pushed it in despite it not going very easily, and I got the iPhone stuck at the very top of the dock connector. I pulled and pulled and couldn't get the phone out. I ended up using a butter knife to pry the phone out and removed the protector. No issues after that but I did dent the front of the case. It's not the cases fault it's mine -- I should have removed the protector. Since the front of this case is open I suspect you would not have the same issue with screen protectors. Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars DID NOT WORK out of the box, REPLACEMENT ALSO DEFECTIVE. November 27, 2012

By stonefawkes

Amazon Verified Purchase

After doing a LOT of research, I settled on getting this charger case for my iPhone 4S.
The battery did not charge my phone right out of the box so I was sent a replacement.
Then after just 2 weeks of use, the replacement stopped working and I was left with nothing but an expensive piece of plastic around my phone. Really, avoid buying this--NOT WORTH IT!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars no November 24, 2012

By zack

bought this, used for three days, returned due to design flaws:

A. every time you wipe the camera lens to take a photo, the top of the case falls off. this is unacceptable.
B. separable battery is fairly easily bumped off of case
C. design is not very sleek. very 80's boxy feel, in a bad way
D. no face protection for phone.
E. adapter difficult to fit into phone or battery in bad light - not easy to navigate.
F. am unsure just how much the battery extended phone life even when fully charged

I'm hard on my phone. also, I shoot photos CONSTANTLY. the fact that the top (non electric) section of the case falls off every time you clean the lens is an absolute no go, for me.

(four days later) just bought the iBattz Mojo Armor Removable Battery Case for iPhone 4 and 4S Black 1700mAhX2 fits all version of iPhone 4S/4 and am MUCH MORE impressed with it: it's half the price, doubled the run time of my Iphone4 per charge, has the protection of an otterbox and comes packaged with TWO additional batteries not one, plus since the batteries are standard you can buy additional batteries cheaply, for about $15 not $70ish. don't get the third rail trio - get the iBattz Mojo Armor Removable Battery Case for iPhone 4 and 4S Black 1700mAhX2 fits all version of iPhone 4S/4

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great buy! May 30, 2012

By David R. Wisniewski

Amazon Verified Purchase

I like how the case does not encumber the face of the phone. I use the phone with the battery pack attached all the time so I'm certain to get a full day out of my overnight charge (of both the phone and battery). It also makes the whole unit larger which makes it it feel more secure in my hand (large hands). And as a blackberry convert I didn't. Red to purchase all new wall and car chargers as this is microUSB. Only drawbacks are that the case is not necessarily shock proof and that it needs to be removed if you need to connect to iTunes to access the iDevice blade connector.