Seeing as smartphones are now commonplace at events, concerts, and festivals, we may as well make them stand out as much as possible. That seems to be the idea behind Candel, a music-activated extended battery case, with its own built-in light show. It’s on Kickstarter now, and provided the campaign’s successful, it should arrive for those late summer gatherings.
The main feature is the light-up panel on the rear, which is controlled by a microprocessor that captures music and sound from the microphone, and turns it into a synchronized visual display. Cleverly, the case monitors the amplitude and compensates for sound that’s either close by or far away, so the display always performs at its best.
While this sounds like an easy way to drain the battery in your phone, Candel has made sure the light panel only uses the battery that’s inside the case itself, and will last for about 24-hours. That’s enough for most parties. When you’re not using the light feature, the battery can be used to charge your phone, just like any other extended life battery case. Oddly, the campaign says the battery has a capacity between 1800mAh and 3000mAh, so we’re getting clarification of what that actually means.
If you’re dreaming of changing the image on your Candel case on the go, that doesn’t look like it’ll happen. You purchase the case with a single image — there are three to choose from — and if you select an upper tier, you can add one of your own. However, it appears that once the choice is made, you’re stuck with it forever. The case is quite large, but comes with specially modified speaker channels, and a headphone extension cable.
The Candel’s creator had the idea after experiencing the Burning Man festival, where we can see the case working well. We’re not sure about flashing phone cases being particularly welcome at intimate concert venues though. Thankfully, it works just as well to notify you of incoming calls and notifications too.
Candel’s Kickstarter campaign is underway here, and the case is initially suitable for the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, but a survey will be sent out to backers regarding other phone models, where backers will be able to choose from certain Android devices. Samsung Galaxy and HTC One models are most likely to be included. If yours isn’t there, you get a refund.
The Candel will cost you $59 if you’re fast enough to catch an early bird offer. If not, you’ll need $74 or for a custom image Candel case, a massive $250. The campaign ends in late February, and the case is expected to ship in July.
