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Have been waiting for a price drop so happy to be alerted by 3camels
Anker 21W Dual USB Solar Charger $69.99 (RRP $139.99) Delivered @ AnkerDirect Amazon AU
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Gotta get in those TikTok videos wherever, whenever!
Solar USB chargers are good if you're using your phone as a GPS for hikes, or if your bringing drones, cameras, etc out camping.
Not for the rest of our lives…
Only those under the coveted leadership of Gladimir Putin.
@pdtmathieson: I don't agree with the implication that a lockdown is unnecessary but fairs fair that's a great nickname
@captaincabinets: Just a joke from a Victorian who has been through it all - any excuse to roll out the name Gladimir Putin for me
@pdtmathieson: Gladysfail with a new nickname. All for it. All her coverups and stuff. Murdoch is in on everything too.
Sydneysiders are like Americans I swear. They think their city is the whole world. It's admirable but also depressing.
@King Steuart: Not true..we occasionally venture out to remote outposts of civilization like Newcastle and Wollongong.
King?…
Actually, we’re not down here in Melbourne #oppositeday
Unless you're gone for many days it still seems far better to bring a power bank..
This thing is big and weighs half a kg. Requires sunlight and difficult to use on the move.
Yep various reviews I've seen of different products say that you usually don't get enough sunlight while hiking to make it worth while, so you need to set it up while at camp.
Even on extended hikes people often stop for resupply every few days so you can recharge a big power bank and save on weight.
Wear it as a hat. fashun.
My personal problem with power banks is that for like 98-99% of the year they sit unused, and very few are intelligent enough to automatically discharge themselves to storage voltages (and then there are some that unintentionally self-discharge until they're completely dead). End result either way is that the battery pack ends up having issues like not holding as much charge as it used to, or they develop weird charging behaviours, like charging super slowly, or having elastic voltages where they'll think they've reached 100% but then if you put it on the charger again after an hour it'll only be at like 80% and want another couple hours of charging.
I'm sure half my problem is just that I'm using power banks made by random companies with poor quality control or whatever, but often even (eg) Anker batteries on special are more expensive than those from assorted random Chinese companies. In any case, 2/3 of the power banks in my house are almost useless and the third is somewhat unreliable.
As for on the move, the (non-Anker) one I've got fits well to my hiking / camera / drone bag, but that's definitely a your-mileage-may-vary situation; mine also still outputs 5W while in the shade of a building at like 3PM, so it puts out enough to keep a charge going (would have be nice if I bought one with fast charging however, for when there is direct sunlight).
@JS1: what're you on about? I owned about at least 6 powerbank ranging from 3000mah to 20000mah and only 1 no name one became dud, the rest still going strong despite sitting idle for most time of the year, even the cheapie from the old dick smith era still survive being left dead flat over a year. All the xiaomi I had are decent until now, sure they probably lost a bit of capacity but not much. They're so stubborn to the point that i find no excuse to upgrade unless I find a way to get rid of them, probably open them up to get the cell inside and have some fun with it.
Yes, it would be useful if you are out on hikes but only if you are away for more than a few days. Otherwise, just pack up multiple large capacity power banks.
Hi OP, nice find. anyone have experience from ozbargain? the reviews seem mixed.. so i'm assuming it won't charge off a winters sunlight?
None of these will charge that well unless directly sunlight on the panels. Still doesn't mean it won't work if you have direct sun to charge your phone, torches etc while camping.
21w haha
The product works, just because it's not for you is no reason to rag on it. Some people don't have room in their cars for panels or just want something to charge a camp light or their phone over the course of a day. This will do the job just fine for that.
Reviews are mixed though
the $$$$$$$$$ does not justify it.
no room in their cars?
charge their phone?
sure if you're happy to wait days to charge your phone
Powered camp sites can easily cost $10 extra per night. If you are camping for more than 2-3 days, you need some way to charge your stuff.
These could come in handy to charge phones, bluetooth speakers, drones, walkie talkies, torches, etc.
It's not going to take days with 21W.
@MrTweek: you probably need to buy 10x
to > charge phones, bluetooth speakers, drones, walkie talkies, torches, et
I've got one of these. Works fantastically.
We should get a kinetic charger
Was hoping for an Anker sale when I saw this. I missed out on one of the prime day deals and tried to get them to match it on the weekend but they refused. Seems a few of their power banks are on sale but not everything.
i have one and works well for hiking over multiple days. I use it to charge(top up) phone/gps/powerbank throughout the day. one thing to note is the area to put your device is super small so be prepared to take a longer cable to run back to your pack etc.
Can these charged via a normal power source as well or only via sunlight?
Wait. This has a battery it it also? I thought it was just solar panels.
no battery. just panels
Just read the fine print
Note:
This charger is not compatible with the iPod nano, iPod Classic, iPod Shuffle, HP TouchPad and Asus tablets.
Not a battery. Does not hold its own charge.
May only charge in direct sunlight.So it doesn't have a battery and doesn't hold its own charge. No deal for me then.
Looks like the fine print hasn't been updated in years.
RRP $139.99 for 21w?
Is that Yen?this is more like a survival kit essential
Kmart have 14w panels for $35. Take two for higher wattage and more ports to charge multiple powerbanks. These are best used to recharge powerbanks, not your phone directly. Kmart also have a powerbank with an 18w solar panel built in.
On a normal sunny day, how long can one expect this device to charge a 4000mah battery?
Are we talking half day? Most of the day?
Oops see comment below
4A x 3.7V = 14.8Wh battery
2.1A x 5V = 10.5Wh charge rate
Uhh like one and a half hours I thinkCan't comment on this specific one, but I used a Voltaic when I did the Larapinta a couple years ago, and it was great
Cheers OP. Needed something more compact than the Goal Zero I was lugging around.
I see the primary purpose is keeping your phone charged while out in the bush longer than one day. Hmm.