- High capacity internal battery stores energy for up to a year
- Adapter Tip System reduces waste and increases compatibility
- Rechargeable from included USB cable or the sun
- A full Solio Mono will charge a typical mobile phone 1-1.5 times
- Durable and weather resistant
before you buy this product check on the charging time. In order to actually use it to solar charge you need to leave it in the direct sunlight for about 5 days!!! If you plug it in to a wall socket or computer to charge it takes about 4-5 hours.If you are planing to use it as a practical extra battery or solar charger don't waste your money. I live in california with direct sun all the time it charges terrible!!!!
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I received my Solio Mono as a promotion from my local public radio station. My box came with: a hemp bag, instructions, carabiner, AC cable plus 4 changeable prongs, USB cable (for charging the Solio), charging cable that connects to the charge tips, and 4 tips: female USB, mini-USB, micro-USB, and a Sanyo 6 tip. There are additional tips available from Solio's website if none of these will work for you.
The micro-USB tip attaches directly to my phone, and I use the USB female tip to charge my iPod Touch via its USB cable. You can use it to charge anything that has a USB charging cable, so that's really handy. My AC adapter came with interchangeable prongs for the USA, Australia/NZ, UK/Europe, and those round prongs possibly used in Asia, which is really neat. I have a trip to NZ planned, and I'll take the Solio instead of my devices' respective charging paraphernalia. While this means I can charge only one device at a time, I can charge one device overnight while the device is plugged in (and charging itself too), then charge the other device during the day while it and the Solio are stowed in my backpack!
Note: you can't charge a laptop or any heavy power usage items with the Solio. It's designed for "personal electronics" like cellphones and MP3 players. It will work with digital cameras that can charge via USB, they say on their website.
The thing that loses Solio points is solar charging. I've owned it for 4 days and it charges very slowly using just the sun. I've had it outdoors on my sunny porch for a couple of days and it's only gotten one "tick" of charge. Now, I live in the Northeast US, and that spot gets direct sunlight only in the afternoon. Both days have been partially cloudy, but this seems sad. At this point I'm ready to ask for some sort of protective cover for the solar cell and just use it as a charger/spare battery! Solio claims it takes 20 hours to get a full charge, but unless you're under ideal conditions it's going to take much longer. So can't recommend that anyone count on it for seriously charging a device using only the sun. If that's your need, you should go for Solio Universal Hybrid Solar Charger, which is heavier but has 3 collectors instead of just 1.
So I like it as a travel charger and emergency battery. I don't think you can expect to reduce your energy use and count on getting any significant charging from the sun, unless you live in a sunnier clime and can keep it in stronger sunlight more of the day. You might get enough charge for an emergency call, or to keep a device topped off, so it's better than not having a solar collector, I guess. But if you have multiple devices that you travel with, and you'd like to have some spare charge and not carry all those different charge plugs, then this might be useful for you.
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AWFUL. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY AND ESPECIALLY DO NOT USE AS EMERGENCY BACKUP. IT WILL NOT SUPPLY ENOUGH POWER TO CHARGE ANYTHING.
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It does tale kinda long to charge it, but I got it to charge in my car easy, in the winter even. Your windows need to be clean (it won't charge under half of my back window because of this), and your car needs to be in the direct sun, but even driving, in my boyfriend's hatchback, we clip it to the cracked window & it charges fine.
It's great for trips, where I know I'm going to burn out my battery on my smart phone, as an emergency back up.
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To be honest, this thing sucked. I bought it to use on a 16-day trip to Europe, to charge my iPod Touch (I used it to call home with wifi where I could find it). It didn't work at all. Luckily, I was on a music tour and a few of the 46 band members had computers I could plug into. The charger could charge via USB, but it never charged in the sun, and it would stop charging a device after a few seconds; you had to keep pressing the start button.
I assume it was defective; after I returned I returned it, and traded it in for the three-panel version (I had the choice of another mini or trading up, so I decided to see if the bigger one worked. It does, and I'm pleased with it. As for this mini, it either needs more work or needs to be abandoned.
