Pro tip: Don't fall for that $80 'solar charger' brick on Amazon

Bought this solar panel charger from a random blog's recommendation for a trip to Moab, claimed it could charge my phone in 4 hours of sun. After 3 days of direct desert sunlight, it barely got my phone from 10% to 30% and the whole thing felt like a scam. Has anyone else gotten burned by those off-grid gear blogs hyping up junk?

2 comments

2 Comments

wren30718d ago

My buddy bought the exact same kind of thing for a week long camping trip in the Smokies. The packaging said "30000mAh" in big letters but I looked closer and the fine print said "solar panel rated at 1.5W". That math just doesn't work out for charging anything in a reasonable time. Most of those bricks have a tiny solar panel glued on top that barely trickle charges the internal battery, let alone your phone. A real solar setup for charging devices needs at least a 10W panel and direct aiming at the sun, not just sitting in your backpack. The problem is people confuse a backup battery that has a solar panel on it with an actual solar charger.

perez.christopher17d ago

The blog probably got paid to hype that junk, simple as that. Those "30,000mAh" numbers are a joke when the solar part is basically a toy panel glued to a battery pack. Saw a review once where a guy tested one of those in full sun for two days and the internal battery barely charged. It is annoying but the real scam is people buying them thinking they are getting a real solar solution for cheap. At least you found out before relying on it for something serious like an emergency.