We have to hand it to Seidio. While most companies have abandoned cell phone belt holsters, Seidio has held steady, continuing to offer them along with its cases. The latest of these is the Innocell Plus Combo Protective Battery Case + Holster for iPhone 5/5s ($80), which packs together a battery case that is sold alone for $70 along with a holster. Although the case isn’t physically distinctive compared to other battery packs we’ve reviewed, it did perform surprisingly well for its 2000mAh capacity. A Micro-USB cable is also included for recharging the case.
Seidio’s case looks similar to Incipio’s offGRID, with the battery held inside a rear sled made of fingerprint-attracting matte black plastic. Slide the iPhone onto the Lightning plug, and then the plastic frame snaps around it to complete the case. It includes pleasantly clicky coverage for all three of the buttons around the perimeter. Because the headphone port is recessed on this one, and there’s no adapter included, you’ll have to rely on headphones with long, narrow plugs such as Apple’s own EarPods. The Micro-USB port is also on the bottom edge, with the power button and battery indicator lights found on the back of the case.
As for the holster, it’s pretty well designed. The six-armed plastic holder securely snaps around the iPhone’s corners and its long edges. A slider at the top can be locked in place, ensuring the handset doesn’t come out unless you want it to. The belt clip itself rotates 180 degrees.
In the past few weeks, we’ve experienced some pretty strange results from batteries we’ve been testing. Many of them have been turning up far better results than similar batteries have in the past, and have been coming in well above the average results we’ve recorded. Innocell is another such example. A 2000mAh battery should be able to provide a charge of right around 100 percent to a fully depleted iPhone 5. Over three separate tests, this one came in much higher though, registering 139 percent, 138 percent, and 125 percent, respectively. We ran an additional test with an unrelated battery that was rated before these strange results started, and it came in at the level we expected, so while we can’t really explain these figures, they appear to be valid.
An affordable battery case that performs impressively well, Seidio’s Innocell Plus earns our strong general recommendation. There are $80 cases that perform better—with a larger cell, offGRID charges a few percentage points more, and comes with more accessories—but the results were are very good. Especially for those who require or want a belt holster, it’s a smart buy. It would be nice if a headphone adapter were included, but that’s only a minor fault. Everything else is solid.
Our Rating
Company and Price
Company: Seidio
Model: Innocell Plus Combo Protective Battery Case + Holster
MSRP: $80
Compatibility: iPhone 5/5s
