• expired

Solar Battery Bank - Emergency Charger - for Phone, Mp3 etc. $5.40 Including Post from China

80

(My first post, hope it entertains someone) Its nifty, but mostly a toy. Dyed anodised aluminium surround, epoxied solar cells. The solar cells do not have a great output, and serve more to keep the unit topped up with power than charge from flat (I took it apart and measured - only a few milliamps charge). There is a USB type jack for charging from a PC. It comes with a US plug wall charger that is not type approved for Australia, so I would suggest that part should be binned. It comes with a whole range of adaptors, probably one of which will suit what you need.

It looks really quite good, there is a bright blue LED on the end that busily turns any excess charge into a distracting blue beam. A range of colours available (I chose Silver). The instruction manual has an amusing English translation - but really the device is mostly self explanatory. I have purchased a few items from this company before - despite their name they seem to be pretty reliable. I think this company might be associated with buyincoins.com.

Related Stores

gamesalor.com
gamesalor.com

closed Comments

  • So portable lights? looks like the whole thing should just be binned.

    Whats with all the crap deals all of a sudden?

  • +1

    Never had any luck getting this kind of crap to work

    • What do you want it to do? Its just a battery, really.

      • +5

        I guess most people would want it to work as a minimum!

        • You mean, as a battery? Or have you a D&M to add to a first time poster…

      • +1

        Even if they do work, at most they will work for low end phones.

        The charging is not very efficient either… I have a Pico Freeloader (cost $25!) which is similar to this but its just a massive fail (doesn't charge past 20 percent on my S2 and it becomes flat really quickly)
        It also requires about 2 days worth of daylight to fully charge via solar.

    • That also goes for the human race too!!

    • I'm with you - I've probably owned about 3 solar phone chargers and none have ever really worked correctly.

  • Build in 1350mAh high capacity rechargeable polymer battery
    going by past experience what's the real battery capacity, closer to 350mah?!
    waste of $$, for a battery bank that costs next to nix, find an old laptop battery pack, rip apart, choose the best 2 or 4 18650 cells, solder together with lead, shrink wrap, voila!

    • Tick, tick, tick, boom…

  • That's gonna be good quality cells in that thing for $5. 1350mAh too, that'll charge your phone by 5%!

  • +3

    It looks really quite good, there is a bright blue LED on the end that busily turns any excess charge into a distracting blue beam.

    Awesome.

  • +2

    I have one that looks exactly like one of these. Not saying it is the same, but by gum it looks similar. It managed to partially charge my iPhone 4 once, but now all it will do is make the led glow. Pretty bright too - frankly it would have been good if there was a switch to turn the light on/off and it could have doubled as a torch. But no…. basically, it would glow whenever light hit it. Which was pretty much when you don't need the glowy thing.

  • I had one similar it worked a couple of times then stopped charging, even when plugged into the wall

  • +3

    Didn't buy today.
    $5.40 saved. I'm happy :)

  • As the original poster, I sort of find it interesting that all comments have focussed on the inability of a device like this to completely recharge their phone. It happens I just use it for an MP3 player so it manages.

    Lithium ion cells are sold by the watt hour. If you want something to Completely recharge your phone, you'll probably need to pay about as much as the price of a replacement battery for your phone - but if you want enough to make a call or two, then you may get it a little cheaper, as with this gadget.

    • +2

      …all comments have focussed on the inability of a device like this to completely recharge their phone.

      Not all, mine focused on the irritating blue light that you kindly disclosed upfront! :p

  • OP. Welcome to whingebargain.

    I think this is worth it for the battery and adapter parts alone.
    The solar cells are claimed to charge the battery at 80mA, so it would take a few days of sun to make sure the device could perform. so it is ok for backup only.

    • yeah, so if you are planning on getting stuck in the desert then this thing would suit your needs (though you would probably be out of range).

  • $4.99 including shipping at buyincoins.
    http://www.buyincoins.com/new_en/details/solar-usb-ac-power-…

    It's still a hopeless device though. I think that one of those basic devices that take 4AA cells is much more robust.

  • Solar panel recharger - this sounds like a good idea but not too sure if this device is any good. Might cause my new phone to die an early death.

Login or Join to leave a comment