Mophie Juice Pack Helium: Longer life for your iPhone 5

The Mophie Juice Pack Helium is a rechargable battery case that can deliver extra uptime for iPhone 5 users while adding a layer of protection to the back and sides of Apple's £529 (inc. VAT) smartphone.

The smooth and rounded case, which costs £69.95 (inc. VAT)/$79.95 in the Apple Store, holds enough charge to power the iPhone 5 from zero to 70-80 percent in a couple of hours thanks to an integrated 1,500mAh lithium polymer battery.  

The Juice Pack Helium comes with a microUSB cable that can simultaneously charge the case and the iPhone 5 when plugged into a computer or an Apple wall charger. 

The extra power offered by the battery case is welcome because the iPhone 5 is known for its limited battery life, often failing to last much more than a day.

All of the iPhone's buttons remain easily accessible when the case is fitted, but you may need to use the supplied pass-through audio jack cable to use your favourite headphones.

The case is relatively light (62.9g/2.44oz) and slim (15mm/0.59in.), but does add 15mm to the iPhone 5's overall length, making it slightly cumbersome to fit in a jeans pocket, for example.

There are four LED lights on the back of the case that tell you when the case is being charged and indicate the current charge level.

To charge the iPhone with the case, you toggle a switch on the back so it displays the colour green.

Overall this is a nice case that's perfect for occasions when you're likely to be away from a power source for more than a day.

Since we reviewed the £69.95/$79.95 Helium product, Mophie has launched a higher-capacity iPhone 5 case called the Juice Pack Air, which costs £89.95/$99.5, uses a higher-capacity 1,700mAh battery and is slightly thicker and heavier.