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iPhone 5 On-Board Battery Pack
© 2013 BOB SKIDMORE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
BOB SKIDMORE
CORRESPONDENT
Many months ago I reviewed the Mophie Juice Pack, an
external power source for the iPhone 3 series. In the months that followed an
iPhone 4 version was introduced. It too was a great power source, but poor
molding resulted in connection and lens port issues. Factory revisions offered
little or no improvement. So, let’s revisit Mophie and its latest product, Juice
Pack Helium for the iPhone 5.
One of the biggest downfalls of any smartphone is
battery time. iPhone is certainly no exception. Yes, there are many tricks to
conserving power, but the fact is, it’s hardly possible to operate one for a
twelve-hour day without a recharge. So, the Mophie Juice Pack Helium offers a
solution, in he form of an attached, on-board, battery pack that looks and
feels like part of the phone.
(TIP: To
conserve power turn off your apps when they’re not is use. Just double click on
HOME button > A set of apps
appear at the bottom of the screen > Hold finger on any one till apps wiggle
> Tap each red dot and they will disappear. You’ll not loose anything.
You’ve turned off the app’s thus eliminating non-essential power drain.)
The Juice Pack Helium easily attaches
to your iPhone 5. Its built-in lightning plug automatically connects when the
Juice Pack is mounted, thus connecting and supplying power from the Juice Pack
when needed. A cutout for the camera’s lens, unlike the previous model, allows
for non-reflective picture taking. A pass-through audio connector slot allows
access to the accessory jack. Since this slot is considerably recessed, a short
extender cable is supplied. If there’s a negative, this is it, as it’s just
another item to loose and certain external microphones dangle from the phone.
Operation is like any other Mophie product. When your phone shows a battery
time remaining percentage of around 25% you switch over to Juice Pack mode. The
Juice Pack now begins charging the phone’s internal battery without service
interruption. This takes about an hour and generally results in a 100% charge.
You’ve now almost doubled your battery time. Charging of the combined unit is
accomplished with a supplied special USB cable.
(TIP: The
Juice Pack Helium is rechargeable for over 500 cycles. A full cycle means
charging is from 0% - 100%. Partial cycles do not count as full cycles. Some
days you may never need to engage the pack, so the usable lifespan could be
several years.)
The MOPHIE Juice Pack Helium works very well.
The improvements made add much to its usefulness and the slight additional
weight of 2.44 Oz gives it a better feel. I did, however, notice that a slight
bit of case pealing took place on the left side of the silver metallic model I
tested. This happened only days after receiving the unit and with very careful
usage. Since then, no further peeling has taken place.
(TIP:
Rocketfish mobile makes the perfect hip-mount case for this combination. For
further details go to http://bit.ly/15XGjKl.)
MSRP: $79.75 • Rockfish hip case $24.95
GADGETEER’S
RATING: *****
Bob Skidmore is a freelance
writer, who may be contacted at bob.thegadgeteer.skidmore@gmail.com, or followed at twitter.com/bskidmore for the latest gadget industry news. He does not
represent, or endorse any of the products he reviews and his opinions are
solely his points of view and not those of the manufacturer. The manufacturer
generally supplies products at no cost for the articles and no other
compensation is received. THE GADGETEER is highly selective as to products he
feels worthy of review so as not to waste the reader’s time, thus the reason
for many superior ratings.
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