Seidio Innocell Plus Combo Hardware Review

I never quite understood the importance of battery back-ups until I started going to conventions and taking more long trips. Generally speaking my iPhone 5’s battery lasts for a respectable amount of time, but more and more I find myself needing it to last longer. A lot longer. And while the Innocell Plus isn’t exactly breaking new ground by acting as a case that doubles as an extra battery, it does the job quite well and relays important information a lot more reliably than I’d have expected from an iPhone case.

Sandwiching the iPhone into the case is pretty straightforward: it just snaps apart, you connect the iPhone to the lightning connector inside the case, then snap it back together again. The case itself uses a microUSB cable to charge (either by itself or with a phone attached), and four LED lights on the back are used to indicate how full the charge is.

Those LEDs are also a good way to tell at-a-glance how much juice is left when on the go. Four lights means a full charge (or something close to it), two means around half, and so on. What’s great is you can see just how much power is left by pressing a small button on the back of the case, and that same button can also be held down in order to activate the battery and start recharging your phone. It’s a great system for monitoring how much power you’ve got left. It takes a little while to reach a full charge, but it provides several hours of energy even during heavy use so it’s really a minor complaint.

The included belt clip is also a nice touch. I’m not really a belt clip sort of guy, but I have to admit it’s still pretty cool. The clamp used to hold the iPhone in place can be locked with the flick of a thumb, and the holster itself can even be detached from the clip if needed. If nothing else it makes it a lot easier to attach to your pants.

Aside from the fact that it takes some time to fully charge, the Innocell Plus is very capable (and useful) battery back-up case. And if you’re into belt clips then hey, it comes with one of those, too!