I’ve used this battery pack a lot, and between my heavy daily use of my phone at work and long Pokemon Go or Geocaching sessions, it’s a very useful accessory and worth more to me than all the (to me, pointless) features they put in other phones these days. Problem is, using the battery means I cannot use a wallet case.
Initially I solved this problem by first modifying an off-brand wallet case, combining it with a style shell (a decorative magnetic shell for the back). The result is in the image to the right. The original wallet case was just an adapted generic design, using a plastic shell to keep the phone attached to the wallet. By making it compatible with the magnetic attachment system, I could more easily switch between the wallet and the battery, carrying the empty wallet on the side when using the battery.
This was a solution, but not a good one. It meant carrying a separate wallet again whenever I used the battery, and carrying an empty wallet case as a wallet seemed dumb. I started using the battery less and less as a result, leaving me checking battery levels and plugging in on occasion. I have a rule when it comes to the phone I use, which is that it needs to let me use it however I like without worrying about battery life. With everything and its grandmother turned on (including location scanning for AutoLocation) and mobile hotspot on and in use 8+ hours a day, that’s no easy task. As such, I finally decided it was time to attempt a DIY project that I had been wanting to for a while: integrating the magnetic battery into a wallet case.
Turning the Turbopower Pack into a wallet case
As luck would have it, the local store where I had bought the wallet case had one left (it’s discontinued, and I like this particular case’s general aesthetics). The case is for the slightly thicker Moto Z Play, so the original modded wallet case was absolutely perfect with the Z2 Play and style shell being about the same thickness as the Z Play and the original plastic shell that was in the wallet case. There was no way I would fit the battery and the Z2 Play inside the original pleather case without it being very off center, which would be an issue for the camera cutout. Covering the back with the pleather cover would also block access to the battery indicator button and LED. As such, I knew I had to cut off the back of the wallet case and glue it directly to the back of the battery.
For anyone interested in DIY software, the image to the right shows my KLWP homescreen, which actually has a battery indicator for the extra battery (the far right smaller circle around the clock). It pops up when any Moto Mod with its own battery is connected, same as a similar icon on the opposite side of the screen does for my Bluetooth headphones.
As for thickness and weight, adding a permanent 3400mAh battery to a wallet case obviously adds some bulk. I’ve never cared about the thickness or weight of a phone, however, and actually prefer to know by feel that my phone is with me. Furthermore, with the battery and a thin layer of Sugru replacing the plastic shell and pleather back of the original wallet, the end result isn’t as bulky as you’d think. Having the phone magnetically attach saves a ton of space, and makes it easy to remove.
Making the modular accessory have its own modular accessories
I could have left it at that, but as I was taking a final look at my creation, a thought struck me: modular attachments for my modular phone’s case. Last year, before I got the Turbopower Pack, I used an Incipio battery pack that I had glued some Lego on to make a modular system for my Pokemon Go Plus. It allowed me to stick the Go+ to the back and operate it with the same hand in which I was holding the phone. When an OS update completely broke the Go+ across the entire Z series, an issue that still isn’t fixed, I bought the third party Go-tcha instead. I’ve been using it with an armband, but missed having it attached to the phone. I’ve considered a Lego solution for it as well, but its charger requires a part of it to be left uncovered, leaving me with little surface area for a secure connection. Not an unsolvable issue, just not one I’d gotten around to looking at.
This DIY project isn’t the prettiest out there, but it’s very functional. The resulting wallet case allows me to roughly double my phone’s battery capacity, attaches magnetically, can be charged individually, and even has a solution to my “I don’t want to have the Go-tcha on my arm”-problem. It looking a bit rough just adds to the charm in my book.
Update: I decided to try to sand the back, and got a fine-grit sanding sponge. That really did the trick! Result below.