I have been using this contraption for past 1 week and I find this too slow to charge using the Sun as the energy source to charge the internal battery. Also the internal battery capacity is not adequate enough for new power hungry tablets and smartphones.
Charging:
It can take up-to 30hrs of direct sunlight to get the device up-to 85% charge capacity. That actually translates to about nearly 1 week outside in the sun for 8 hrs a day before you can fully charge this device. That in my opinion is a failure of the product if you solely trying to depend on the availability of direct sunlight to charge this device. Thankfully the device also accepts regular 'USB' based charging source but that too takes in the upwards of 6-9 hrs before the LED indicates full charge.
Discharging:
Now that you have a fully charged power source, using this to charge smartphones and small Tablets does work but is severely limited by the 5000mAh capacity as most of this stored capacity is lost (upwards of 30%) by DC-DC conversion and you end up getting up-to little above 3500mAh usable capacity. That translates to about 2 full charges of any regular Smartphones with little room to spare which in my opinion is not very good if you solely depend on this contraption for charging.
The main reasons I did not like this product are because of these limitations:
Charging:
It can take up-to 30hrs of direct sunlight to get the device up-to 85% charge capacity. That actually translates to about nearly 1 week outside in the sun for 8 hrs a day before you can fully charge this device. That in my opinion is a failure of the product if you solely trying to depend on the availability of direct sunlight to charge this device. Thankfully the device also accepts regular 'USB' based charging source but that too takes in the upwards of 6-9 hrs before the LED indicates full charge.
Discharging:
Now that you have a fully charged power source, using this to charge smartphones and small Tablets does work but is severely limited by the 5000mAh capacity as most of this stored capacity is lost (upwards of 30%) by DC-DC conversion and you end up getting up-to little above 3500mAh usable capacity. That translates to about 2 full charges of any regular Smartphones with little room to spare which in my opinion is not very good if you solely depend on this contraption for charging.
The main reasons I did not like this product are because of these limitations:
- It does not charge your smartphone when it is charging itself via the Solar module.
- It takes too much time to fully charge the device using direct sunlight
- While it is charging using SUN it wastes power by constantly flashing LED
- It is very costly to own for a mere 5000mAh storage capacity.
- The size is big and awkward to hang in your backpack and they do not include any lanyard or chain either.
Bottom-line: The product works but is severely limited by low capacity & long charging times.
You can buy one of these from Amazon by using the link below: