Solio Bolt Solar Charger

I took this on an 8-day backpack trip to keep my iPhone 4S charged. The phone stayed on airplane mode almost all the time so it usually only needed "topping off" from a base of 70-90% charge. The charger kept up with this level of usage. I was usually above 10,000 feet on cloudless summer days, which should be perfect charging conditions. I would tend it after sunrise and before dark whenever we were in camp to keep it oriented toward the sun, both in terms of direction and angle. This usually amounted to 4 plus hours a day. The charger still only hit 4 flashes (80% charge) only once. This is not as good as the described performance. Still, it met my needs. If you were hoping to attach this to your pack as you hiked all day, or leave it in camp while you're off on day hikes, you should probably consider a different solar charger. It must be carefully oriented toward the sun (which moves, of course) to really charge at all. Time to charge the phone from the charger was pretty good.

Initial impressions after +1 month of use is positive. Charged up the Bolt using the Kindle Touch(KT) AC charger. The Bolt at full charge was able to recharge KT battery that was at ~20%. Solar recharging of the Bolt took 5 days,~12 hours of winter sunlight exposure. ~4 hours outdoors under sunny, cool (+5*C,+41*F) conditions. The balance of the charging time was indoors facing direct bright sun shine. After the Bolt was fully charged it sat for couple weeks receiving ~1hr/day of optimal indoor sunlight. Days ranged from cloudy to clear. KT charge was down to ~10%. Recharge the KT with the Bolt receiving indoor sunlight through a window. KT was charged back up to ~90% of max. Bolt led was down to one green flash.Any solar charger requires optimal positioning for peak performance. The pencil stand is an elegant multiple use design element. Outside of a pencil it allows for simple ideal pitch and positioning of the Bolt towards the sun. Think Lahaina Noon! If you are unwilling to deal with this fiddle factor solar may not be a good choice. If your primary source of recharging energy is an electrical socket, but would like solar as a backup or charge maintenance option the Bolt should meet your needs. For those going solar only one must consider the Bolt limitations. Relatively long charge times even under ideal conditions and relatively low capacity. Realistic limitations given the price & size of the bolt.Purchased the Bolt to primarily charge two low capacity items(Petzl Core battery pack & KT)that I take traveling. Electricity is either unavailable or bit sketchy at some of the destinations. Weather resistance & high temp rated Li-ion battery are a plus. Gave only 4*. Wish it was a tad bit more compact(thinner) and not sure of the overall durability of the Bolt.Overall consider the Bolt a relatively compact, light and functional solar powered charger. Solio Bolt Solar Charger (Pearl White)March 20,2013 update:Upgrade to 5*. The Bolt is little over 1 year old and still working. Just completed charging the Kindle Touch(KT). The KT charge was at~50% depleted. The Bolt still had couple green flashes of charge left. Heavy overcast today. Doubt if the Bolt was drawing much solar energy while charging the KT. Most extensive daily use was for little over 3 weeks while on the Sinai. Plenty of strong daily sunlight to keep the Petzl Core, mobile phone & KT charged. The Bolt has been subjected to hot temps (+30*C), cooler temps (-3*C), sandstorms and days of consecutive use. Packing the Bolt beats packing a bunch of plug adapters and spare batteries.August 15, 2014 update:Recent purchase of the iPad Mini Retina. + 6000mAh of battery capacity packed into this tablet. On paper the Bolt with a new fully charged battery should add ~2000mAh of juice to the iPad. Use & time has reduced the Bolt's battery capacity down to charging the iPad only by ~15% or ~ 1000mAh. The old Bolt is starting to look a bit travel worn. 5 different continents, exposure to sea salt mist, sandstorms, freezing to + 35*C temps except for a tired battery have not degraded the function of this unit. Contacting the people @ Solio with a suggestion to increase the next gen Hub capacity from the current 2000mAh(same as the Bolt) to at least the Classic2 3700mAh battery I commented about my dying Bolt battery. Did not request & did not expect a replacement battery. They read my suggestion and are sending a replacement battery. +5*****customer service.Note regarding lipos and solar charging. The slow nature of solar charging reduces the chance of exceeding the C(charge rate), reducing the chance of premature death of the battery. Or worst, the lipo fire. For long term storage (>a few days) lipos are happiest at ~3.85v or ~ 3 blinks of the Bolt''s LED.If the relatively slow charging character of solar & limited capacity is not an issue. A reliable, durable, relatively compact & light unit are important. The Bolt will meet your needs.

The product works. The price compared to other more expensive models is reasonable. I took it to Disney and used it several times to recharge my iPhone. In general it took about 10-15 minutes to charge the phone to a point that was 50% from where it started ( i.e. 20% to 70%). I tied a short length of doubled para cord through the hole and was able to secure it to carabiners on my backpack for charging. For stationary charging it works great. I took it outside and left it sitting and it fully charged. I use a small Blackhawk molle padded pouch to store/carry it.Negatives; it appears to need to be open to charge the device. As in other reviews the "power" button is not recessed enough and it's difficult to tell when it's on or off except to see it blinking. The concern is being inadvertently turned on. I apparently left it on once and there was no charge when I went to use it. It's not as rugged when open as I had hoped so I was concerned about it hanging on my backpack and getting damaged. I was looking for something to take on hiking trips, etc. This is the main reason for the 3 vs. 4 star rating. I haven't been able to tell if it will still charge itself while it's charging a device once the device is fully charged.

I pre-charged this charger as instructed by the instructions. I charged my iPhone 4s 1 time and got a complete charge from the Solio Bolt and it was completely empty - so 1 charge not 2 charges as claimed by the company. I then did a 'home test' for charging in the sun. I aligned the unit properly with the sun and actually changed its position several time during the day so I'd be sure to get a complete charge. No such luck! The most it charged was a good solid 1 bar. So I thought that at least I can charge it up and use it just as a backup charge for my iPhone while I'm backpacking in the wilderness. I just got back from a trip into Florence Lake, Ca. where I use the "Bolt" to charge my phone once. I got a partial charge this time and again emptied the charger....Bummer!!! I'll probably keep the unit to use as an emergency backup for hurricane season down here in sw Florida but I definitely would not count on it in the backcountry. I would not recommend this to anyone else. I really just does not work well. Doc

Terrible solar charger. Took on my pack trip and placed in full sun the entire day, only charged a little bit. Wish I could return it...

Great gift.

First time out using it with a full charge and it charged my iPhone 6 Plus to 45%after 6 hours. Not impressed.

Very good and useful. The solar charging is a bit slow but I charged it behind the window. It works exactly as advertised.

Super inexpensive price on this article and it came in new condition, works great. Arrived quickly after purchase.

Not nearly as useful as I thought it would be. Maybe newer solar ones would be better these days. Its certainly starting to show its age.

Great little solar panel for charging your phone, iPod, etc. It folds up for easy storage.

Didn't work well for my backpacking trip. Takes too long to charge via sun.

Fantastic

Great in a pinch!