A ADDTOP Solar Charger Power Bank – 25000mAh Fast Charging
A ADDTOP Solar Charger Power Bank – 25000mAh Fast Charging Portable Charger with 4 Solar Panels Solar Cell Phone Charger External Battery Pack for Phone Table
A ADDTOP Solar Charger Power Bank – 25000mAh Fast Charging Portable Charger with 4 Solar Panels Solar Cell Phone Charger External Battery Pack for Phone Table
The solar panels only charge when in direct sun.
The bank doesn’t hold charge very well and it’s very heavy.
But I do take it wa liking and get it out whoever we stop for a rest or drinks.
I didn’t have huge expectations of this when I got it, I just thought it would be something handy to have, but it was a game changer!
You have to charge it up fully from mains like a regular power bank. Don’t assume that sunlight will keep charging it up fully, it won’t. The solar side of it is more of a trickle charger to slow down the depletion. BUT, if you have devices plugged in and there is good light, the solar panels will charge them directly.
This means that when I go out on the kayak now, I have both my phone and a GoPro plugged into this which I strap to the front of the boat. This keeps both devices charged for as long as there is sunlight, and there will still be charge left in the power bank at the end of the day. Seriously, I can paddle and film all day long!
It’s also waterproof(ish) so it’s fine in the rain.
I was also using it at camp at night, so eventually was drawing down the battery. But only once on my whole trip did I have to stop and recharge from mains, which gave me a nice excuse to stop at a pub and treat myself to Sunday lunch anyway!
I really thought I was going to have to stop a lot more to charge stuff, so it was such a nice surprise that I could just keep moving and get on with my trip without being slowed down by stopping to charge all the time.
Can not recommend this enough.
Hard to know what to expect from this but so far, having had it in bright sunshine for most of a few days I have never seen any of the blue lights (showing each quarter of battery) filled by solar charging. It definitely gets some charge as I was draining it when charging my phone but despite very bright sun it doesn’t seem to charge the battery very well. I know it is a large battery (although questioning whether it really is lithium ion rather than something like NiMh) but the solar charging (I have the 4 panel version) seems pretty slow. I will do more thorough testing (like trying to solar charge battery over a period of days and also connecting to a power meter) but so far I am a bit disappointed. I guess you really need bigger panels for a decent amount of charging speed. 🙁
Update: so this definitely does charge much better in direct sunlight than through windows. Whilst it ended up not being quite what I was hoping for (wanting to be able to get enough charge to fully charge my phone each day but from the solar panels being indoors) my overall experience ended being a very positive one due to the amazing customer service. My questions were answered really quickly and every effort was made to resolve my concerns. I would definitely buy from the sellers again. 🙂
I bought this charger because I spend a lot of time camping and attend festivals which are on rural sites with no mains power.
I road-tested the charger at a 4 day festival held on one of the wettest weekends on record, so I had low expectations about how well it would perform. I needn’t have worried. I charged the power bank from the mains supply at home before departure until it was at full capacity. During the festival I fastened the unit via its hanging loop to one of the poles on my tent and left it there for most of the time we were there. Despite some heavy showers and overcast skies in between, the trickle charge from solar was constant and returned the device to full capacity relatively quickly after each time I used it to recharge my devices. The capacity was superb. I recharged my Android phone from around 20% to 80% about 5 times during the 4 days we were on the campsite and also took my mp3 player from around 30% to full twice. The time it took to recharge my devices was not as fast as when on mains, but was still pretty impressive, and the unit’s ability to keep itself topped up to full using solar was very reassuring. It’s made a massive difference to my peace of mind about being able to stay in touch whilst away from mains power sources and although a bit weighty, its performance definitely justifies its inclusion in my walking rucksack and camping supplies bag. This might actually be my favourite thing to take camping from now on.