Mophie Juice Pack Helium Battery Pack Case for iPhone 5 - Retail Packaging - Dark Metallic..
Grab Now Mophie Juice Pack Helium Battery Pack Case for iPhone 5 - Retail Packaging - Dark Metallic By mophieMost helpful customer reviews
185 of 199 people found the following review helpful.
Started with an excitement, now it is a disappointment.
By Dionne Jacques
I always been a fan of Mophie, their battery case for the iPhone 4 was a fantastic idea, it last my phone for almost two days and I really loved it. As I finally switch from the old iPhone 4 to the new iPhone 5, I immediately ordered one of the Mophie Juice Pack Helium from Mophie, expected to see a good result like before, but it was a disappointment…
My Verizon service dropped down two bars whenever I turn on the case in my house, where I always got full bars. As I got on the highway, I got no service at all. This really hurts me because I am an insurance Agent, every call means income to me, now I can not get calls or make calls, this is bad.
The battery life is not living up to expectation as well, it only provides about another 50% to my phone and this is NOT GOOD for $80, I paid about the same amount a year and a half ago for the 4’s version and I got a very good result…
The last and the most critical issue… it doesn’t support data transfer nor sync with computer. I will have to remove this case (which is very hard once you put it on) and plug it my Apple lightning connector if I want to listen to music in my car via the USB port.
These cons are killing this product; I guess I will have to move ahead and find a better solution…
Feedback: Started with an excitement, now it is a disappointment… kills my Verizon phone signal, less than 60% battery life and can’t sync nor data transfer, bummer…
161 of 195 people found the following review helpful.
Good case with design limitations
By Joshua R. Kagan
I received this case a few days ago, just in time for a business trip that would have me out and about for a 15+ hour day. I travel like this quite frequently, and typically these day trips come without access to a power source. Of course, during these trips I'll typically also need to use my iPhone for calls, emails, GPS, and the occasional camera snapshot or music at the airport. The iPhone 5's battery is pretty good and can usually get me through a whole day of heavy travel use, but on a few recent trips (I do this about twice per month) I felt like I was cutting it close when at the end of the day I noticed that I had less than 15% battery remaining.
In general I prefer to use my iPhone "naked," without a case. In my opinion the phone was designed to have a particular form factor, feel in the hand, and slimness that a case destroys. Also I generally prefer to carry my iPhone in my pants pocket, which is one of the reasons why I prefer the iPhone 5 over other less slender phones. I'm a male and my typical "work uniform" is typically pants and a dress shirt without a jacket (most of the places I go are warm), so I don't really have a place to hide a large or heavy communication device on my person.
The Helium case promises to be the thinnest battery case ever made by Mophie, which is a good brand known for quality stuff that I have used and liked in the past. It's thinner than Mophie's other offerings, but I wouldn't call this a "thin" case by any means. In the case the iPhone 5 feels noticeably thicker and heavier, but it's not that bad. The phone still fits in my pocket in the case, and even though I wouldn't use this case as my daily driver (just for long days or trips), it is an acceptable trade-off for much improved battery life. The case is, for example, noticeably thinner and lighter than the "Air" option that Mophie offers for the iPhone 5, that product offers even more increased talk time etc. but at the expense of more heft and around 25% higher price. The Helium option is, in my opinion, a good value and a good compromise.
As a protective case the virtues of this product are less clear. It's very easy to put on (or take off) the phone, sliding together easily. It does protect the back, sides, top, and bottom of the phone. It does not interfere with the operation of the camera or its flash like some poorly designed cases do. It leaves the side buttons free, which I actually prefer because it preserves their tactile feel. It does not in my experience affect the call quality of the phone in any way. I found cellular reception on Verizon to be identical with or without the case on, and I found that the case's microphone pass-through did not affect callers' ability to hear my voice clearly as we would expect from a high-end smartphone like the iPhone 5. The case also appears designed to permit the iPhone's multiple noise-canceling microphones to work as designed. In the hand, the case is very ergonomic and easy to grip. It feels great to hold; in some circumstances such as while playing games I actually found it to be preferable because of the slightly wider landscape grip area and improved ability to hear the phone's speaker. Mophie claims that the case actually improves speakerphone audio quality and it seems that they might be correct. However, I am not sold on the protective aspects of this case as they relate to drops. Although the case does do an adequate job of covering the back and sides from scratches, the case does not appear to extend over the screen at all. Other cases I have owned like the OtterBox cases will at least have a "lip" on the front that enables you to put the phone face down without having it rest on the screen; this case does not seem to have a similar feature. Also I am concerned that the added weight of this case might actually exacerbate damage in the event of a fall. Also, one of my colleagues owns this same case and has noticed that the material has begun peeling in a few of the corners because, in his words, he is "too rough with it" when putting it in and out of his pant pockets. I have not experienced this cosmetic issue yet, but it's something to think about if you're not careful with your devices.
The battery in the case is excellent. On yesterday's business trip, despite much more use of the phone than usual (or frankly necessary -- I was intentionally hard on it), I was unable to drain the battery even halfway after many hours of sustained intentionally heavy use, including a marathon gaming session of Infinity Blade II on the plane. I recommend using Mophie's included tips for getting the most out of your battery case (keep the case in "standby" until your iPhone's internal battery reaches 20%, then switch it on until you charge up to 80%, then go back to standby and repeat). The case did get a little warm while it was charging my iPhone but that did not bother me. I appreciated the security of knowing that I could use the phone almost twice as much as I normally could.
The bottom of the case has a micro-USB port for charging and includes an appropriate cable. While the case is on, it is not possible to use the iPhone's integrated Lightning port. My car has an iPhone dock with a Lightning port, and this is not able to be used with my phone while the case is on. I find this pretty disappointing. Then again, during long road trips the car's audio port would be charging the iPhone anyway and so there would be no need for the Mophie case. I still think this is a disadvantage because it is somewhat of an inconvenience to be forced to continually remove and put on the case. Some folks have complained about the recessed audio port and the occasional need for the included adapter but I did not find this to be a problem. I mean, if you do have a pair of headphones that doesn't fit, the adapter is included right in this product's box.
The quality of the product and its packaging seem to be first rate. This is a licensed "Made for iPhone" product and it shows, through and through. The unboxing experience is hassle-free and easy. Dare I say it even smells like an Apple product when you open it. The attention to detail is good. The product feels like a high quality item and you can tell that it is designed to safely and correctly work with the iPhone. Despite its limitations, I recommend it.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful.
Very Satisfactory For My Usage
By J H Murphy
I was in Las Vegas airport, which is pretty well supplied with outlets for charging, when I discovered that I had misplaced my iPhone charger and Lightning cable! I located an electronics supply kiosk among the slot machines and had a choice: buy another jejeune Apple charger and cable for about forty dollars, or this, which I had never seen before.
Did I mention that I really, really needed to make a lot of phone calls because my flight was delayed? And my ride home from the airport had to bail, so I needed to arrange for a shuttle?
Being a bit of a gadget addict, I bought this, and it completely met my needs that night.
So...thoughts on usage. I originally intended this to be an emergency purchase, but it is so useful that I have used it consistently since buying it. I don't have to check the iPhone charge all the time.
One huge additional benefit is that the Mophie uses a standard mini-USB cable, rather than the custom iPhone Lightning connector. I don't know what your luck has been, but I have broken four of them (two genuine Apple and two off-brand). In less than a year. So having a charger which uses a much cheaper generic cable will probably save me the cost of the Mophie over the life of the iPhone, unless Lightning cable reliability improves.
The unit has a very conformal fit on my iPhone 5. I would have preferred a stickier finish, like gel cases, to minimize sliding. I don't listen to music much on the iPhone, but the Mophie case re-directs the sound so that it provides more volume than the iPhone without the case in most positions.
I don't use headphones and the adapter cable is not an issue for me. YMMV.
I also rarely synchronize my iPhone with anything...iCloud makes that less vital nowadays. Again, YMMV.
So...battery life is extended, the case is very little larger than iPhone itself, I am freed from reliance on the Lightning cable...what's not to like? Five stars.
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Would be great but...
Very good, but has some issues
