Mophie Juice Pack Air for the iPhone 5 [Review]

With every new iPhone release, Apple tries to improve or maintain a certain battery standard while cramming in new features that love to suck the life out of our iPhones. It also means there’s usually more than a few users who complain their battery life isn’t very good.

Until the iPhone 5 I hadn’t had too much to complain about. However, with this phone I found I was running out, or coming very close to running out of battery life before I was done using it for the day. My job doesn’t always lend itself to having access to a place to charge my phone. So I needed a solution to help get me through the day.

I decided to give the Mophie Juice Pack Air a try. While I wasn’t overly excited to use a battery type case, I figured I could just put it on when I was at work, or when I really needed it.

Here’s my video review of the Mophie Juice Pack Air for the iPhone 5.

If you didn’t have time to watch the review, here are some quick points to consider.

If you’re buying the Juice Pack Air from an Apple Store or the Apple Online Store, you need to be aware it isn’t a slide on case. The bottom piece still slides off, but you have to snap your iPhone into the case. If you plan to keep your iPhone in the Juice Pack Air then this may not be an issue, but for someone like me who changes cases often, it can be a struggle to pop the phone out of the case. There were a couple of times I thought the case was going to break while I tried to get my iPhone 5 out. Juice Pack Air’s sold from Mophie or other retailers are the slide on versions.

I was pleasantly surprised at how lightweight and thin the case actual was. It’s not adding a ton of bulk when you consider there is a rechargeable battery inside it. Where you will notice the change to your phone is along the bottom. The bottom piece adds a fair bit of length to your iPhone, something you’ll have to get used to.

As for how much extra battery power it provides – Mophie says the Juice Pack Air adds up to 100% extra battery power. However, in my testing I get on average 82% more power. Still really good. It easily gets me through a full day of even heavy usage.

If you use your headphone jack a lot with your iPhone 5, then you do need to be aware the port is very recessed. Your Apple headphones will still fit, as will some other headphones, but there is a chance your favourite headphones will not. Mophie has included an extender so you can use whatever headphones you want, but the dongle isn’t the most elegant solution.

One thing I forgot to mention in my video review are the speakers. They are along the bottom and face outwards. During calls, when receiving calls, or even listening to audio from my phone I haven’t noticed any difference in sound quality or loudness.

However, when I receive an email or a text, the notification sound is extremely quiet even with the volume pumped all the way up. I’m not sure why this is, and Mophie didn’t have an answer. I’d be concerned if the sound was quiet for all other uses, but it’s not. So it’s something to keep in mind.

Overall the Mophie Juice Pack Air is a solid battery case for your iPhone 5. If you’re in the market for for some extra battery help, I’d recommend you give it a try. It does come in three colours – Black, White and Red.

Let me know in the comments what you use to extend your iPhone’s battery life.