Review: Mophie Juice Pack Helium for iPhone 5

Smartphones, despite all their usefulness, are high drain devices.

Often to get the most out of your smartphone you have to tweak the settings like closing background programs, reducing screen brightness, or switching off mobile data.

However sometimes, despite being careful about your battery use, there are many uncontrollable factors which can still drain it, similarly to weak signals which cause your phone to continually search for coverage.

If you’re unable to charge your phone and are the type of person who can’t live without, having a case from the Mophie range would probably be ideal.

The Mophie juice pack helium for iPhone 5 is a great example of this new range of battery pack phone cases. The case has an inbuilt external battery which can be switched on when needed to charge up the phone, and switched off when no longer needed.

Pros:

* Battery has a capacity of 1500mAh, the website claims 80% additional battery but use shows around 150% extra.

* Case is protective despite being lightweight.

* Case charges the phone quickly

* Case charges up overnight and has a standard microUSB port.

* Indicator lights at the back show the battery life of the case.

* Phone can be added or removed from the case easily.

Cons:

* Case was initially slippery and since iPhone 5 is quite long it does extend the phone a bit as well.

*Since the earphone port is at the bottom there is an adaptor to extend your earphone jack, it can be a bit fiddly at times.

* Adaptor is not necessary for standard Apple earphones however if you’re using earphones with a curved jack, it is necessary. Adaptor also hangs out of the bottom of the case a bit.

After adjustment to the new length of the phone, use became similar to an iPhone 5 without the case.

The battery of the case performed better than expected, giving extra charge beyond claims and charged the phone quickly like it was connected to the wall.

If you’re a heavy user of your iPhone 5 or find yourself constantly plugging in your phone - this could be a good investment.

Score: 4/5