Test of the Mili “Power Spring” iPhone 5 battery case with its retractable Lightning cable

Already our 117th
iPhone accessory test and we continue with the tests ofshells
batteriesto give the iPhone 5 some juice when the day
is long!

We were able to discover in detail and already judge several models: the
iPhone 5 battery"Pop
‘n charge" de Powerskinand thehull
batterie iPhone 5 Powerskin.

Today, it is a case of the brandMiliwhich presents the
peculiarity of havinga retractable Lightning cablein order to
reduce its size. It has a capacity of 2200 mAh and is approved
"Made for iPhone".

The Power Spring 5 case
is sold in black or white here on Amazon

We were able to try it, photos and test results below:

Premier contact

The battery case offered by Mili is available in two colors:
white or black and has a shiny appearance characteristic of the products of the
mark, corollary, it is sensitive to finger marks on the black model.
Apart from this point, thefinish both exterior and interior with its
soft rubber material for the reception of the machine appears
perfect. The varnish paint seems thick.

We can see at first glance what makes this hull specific,
knowthe integration of a mini charging cable in the format
"Lightning"introduced by Apple with the iPhone 5 last year. Its
compactness now allows accessory manufacturers some tricks like
that used here, namely, integrating the cable connected to a flexible part
(gray) directly in the hull instead of placing the plug fixedly in
bottom of the hull, thereby gaining a lot of space in height.

In terms of size, it is very slightly thinner than thePowerskin
but it happens at a fraction of a millimeter, while being much less
high. it weighs approximately 75 g, slightly less than the Powerspring (80 g
environ)

Here are photos of the hulls already tested to compare their size
respective :

And photos (updated) to judge the thickness:

A button allows you to know the charge level by pressing it: it
is displayed via discrete blue LEDs, 4 in number (25% per
Led therefore)

The Mili Spring case is supplied with a micro USB cable used for its
recharge (on a classic USB port of a computer or on the transformer of
the iPhone) and a brief English manual, but the use is
extremely simple.

Utilisation

The installation is classic, you must insert the iPhone into the case in
placing one side and pushing lightly to bring in the other. The whole
is then perfectly homogeneous and not a wire would pass between the iPhone and its
protection: perfect fit.

The additional thickness linked to this shell is reduced to its simplest
expression on the sides, almost like a normal protective shell as well
only on the top and bottom of the machine. It is the thickness which is therefore more
imposing and for good reason, it was necessary to accommodate the battery, the cable and the plug
micro USB which is used for charging.

Thehandling, is overall very pleasant and can
almost forgetthe thickness (thanks to the thinness of the iPhone 5!)
thanks to the curves of the hull. Just one remark on the subject, we
really regrets the location chosen for the micro USB socket and its
shape. It is in fact the only part of the hull which is not
rounded and no luck, shefalls right into the palm of the
main. It's not catastrophic, but it's a shame because it spoils
a comfortable fit that could have been truly perfect. Therefore, these are the
left-handed people who will be the happiest because the grip will be on the outside for them
of the hand.

Otherwise, it should be noted, as for a standard hull, whether on the
top, bottom or sides,all functions remain usable,
particularly the jack socket allowing the connection of headphones. It is
a notable difference with the Powerskin case tested previously, which
limited the size of the usable headphone jack.

The connection of the iPhone will be done at will, that is to say when you
will need to recharge it. To do this, simply extract the small plug
from the back of the case and plug it in directly. It's clever and
winks. The square section cable seems quite flexible and
flexible to last a long time but it will have to be checked with use. For
unplugging and storing the cable is just as quick and easy. The cable is
really well held, it will not come out of the pocket itself. Good
conception !

As soon as the cable is plugged into the iPhone's socket, it starts
charge, this will last until the battery is empty or that of
iPhone full. It is possible to know the remaining level in the
Backup battery at any time by pressing the button on the back
of the hull.

The battery capacity is announced at 2200 mAh, more than both
other batteries already tested. With 2000 MAh, we had achieved a recharge of
the iPhone at 95% with the"Pop
‘n charge" de Powerskin, will we do better with this one?

Here are the measurements taken with the battery case fully recharged and
an iPhone unused during the test but connected (WiFi, 3G, reception activity
push standard) :

starting with a completely empty iPhone (it no longer turns on)
5 minutes later it reboots
approximately 1 hour later, it has regained 50% of its charge, the battery displays
3 more bars of charge (75% or more)
after 1h15, the iPhone is charged to 65%, 2 charge bars for the
battery
the iPhone will reach 100% approximately 2h30 after charging, the
battery still shows one bar

Banco, that’s it, here it isa battery which is capable of ensuring
full recharge, so you need 2200 mAh for this. Note: the
remaining bar gave hope for the possibility of recharging a little more
the iPhone later, but it was negligible in the end.

To recharge the battery, as we have seen, simply plug it in with the
micro USB cable provided on computer or an iPhone transformer (USB
female),its complete recharge takes approximately 3h30.

You should know that the USB cable provided not only allows charging but
also sync iPhone with iTunes on computer if iPhone
is plugged into its hull. In this case, the iPhone recharges as a priority on
the battery.

Removing the iPhone from the case is done in the classic way, by extracting
first one side then the other, so slightly in force. It's not difficult
but you need to have a little length of nails and be careful not to
cause the iPhone to fall during handling, like a hard case
standard.

And finally, here are some photos of the version
blanche :

Conclusion

No doubt, this hull succeeds in marrying asuccessful design
available in a color that can match the iPhone, relatively
discreet and above allminimal in terms of bulk for a hull
battery. The trick of storing the cable in the case and plugging it in
at leisure turns out to be profitable since there are therefore no constraints on the
headphone jack or other functions of the iPhone while restricting the
height. Finally, the grip would be absolutely perfect without this little
fault of the USB socket which falls right into the palm of the hand. As for
the capacity is the best we have seen
until then. In the end, a successful product sold at a price
competitive price of around 55 euros on the date of the test.