Solio Classic2 Battery Pack and Solar Charger (Silver)

This device works great. The usual solar limitations hold. It cannot charge faster than light hits it, therefore a single charge on an iPhone overnight, which drained it down to 40% battery (60% used up), took literally all day to recharge. Any deficiency in operation comes down to this: It can only charge so fast. The red light on the bottom, indicating when it's charging, is a huge help. The pencil hole is essential to keep the Solio Classic 2 aimed toward the sun. The charge level blink system is a very good way to figure out how much it's got stored. So it's got what it needs. It's amazing that there is so much functionality out of one little button. Because it's hard to hang on to manuals, I took a Sharpie and wrote a lot of the essential instructions on the back of the upper two "leaves". That's helpful when I hand the Solio to other people to use. Also, it holds its charge when in storage like nothing else I've seen. Pull it out after a week, hold it toward the sun, and it barely blinks red before shutting off because of a full-charge condition. The instructions say, it'll keep a year in storage. Well that's about right.

Got this after seeing it a few years ago its great to keep in my car when I'm at work. It will charge all day then I can charge my phone tablet etc. at night real money saver!!! One of the panels came off the track (inside) but it works all the same just one is kind of loose. Great gift. Truly magnificent. Shipping was faster a little banged up but product wasn't damaged! Fast transaction!

I wanted to love this product. I purchased it in addition to having one of their earlier 'Classic' models for a trip to Africa where I was going to need to charge my iPhone and camera without regular access to power. I shouldn't have wasted my money on this newer model. As has been commented before, the locking of the blades as they rotate open is anything but positive. The whole unit feels loose and cheaply assembled. Which is a shame, because the overall aesthetics are nice. Shortly after removing it from the packaging and opening/closing it a few times, I noticed shards of white plastic falling out of the hole of the hub. Turns out, the cylindrical clips that hold the blades together as one unit are weak and brittle. They had broken off with only a couple of delicate openings. This problem only worsened and while I was on safari and needed this product most, it failed completely and all three blades became disconnected from one another. Do not buy this product! Buy other products from this company, but not this one. I have an older classic model that is a champ and has stood the test of time. It saved my battery-dependent butt in Africa. But this product is poorly made. Again, do not buy this.

Ordered this through Amazon and had it forwarded to the Philippines where I live. Done it many times with no problem. The package arrived in the usual time, sealed and unopened. The "charge in" USB port was (is) bad, the cable would not go in and when I finally wriggled it in there was no charge to the unit. The "charge out" port works fine and the unit does charge via the sun (plenty of that here) but I gave it 2 stars because a major part of it's functionality is inoperative. The Solio web site states, "To ensure the highest possible quality, we fully inspect each product before it is shipped." Even the most cursory inspection would have revealed a bad charging port (there's only 2 total) so that statement is greatly in doubt. I give Solio's oxymoron of "customer service" 0 stars for no replies to my several email requests for support (through their Product Support form). I only got automated emails saying I would be contacted within 48 hours, never was. I decided to keep it rather than pay postage and endure delays back and forth to Amazon because it does work and I really need it with the frequent "rotational blackouts" due to the recent earthquake and typhoon here. ***Update 12/19 I received several emails from Solio and it seems likely some of my emails to them were not received because the recipient address "[email protected]" is being rewritten with a "<case number>@cases.netsuite.com" when you reply, I think netsuite is the parent company, not sure. Whatever, it's their problem to fix, I give up.

I took this camping for a week. At first, it worked really well to keep my mobile phone charged, then stopped working. I'm not really certain if it's the device, or if it needs really hot, direct sunlight as it had started to cloud over towards the end of our holiday though it wouldn't even trickled charge at that point despite it being > 30C every day in the Australian sun. I'll try it again next summer holidays.

I bought this solar charger to have for backup in case of earthquake, hurricane or volcano event here on the Big Island. It takes a bit more than one full day of sunshine to fully charge it, though I have to admit that I only go out and re-orient its direction once during the day at about 12:30. Then I can quickly charge up my Samsung Galaxy SIII from 80% to 100% about 3 times, or charge the phone once + my Kindle with their own USB charging cords. The Solio has a full-sized USB connector slot, so that makes it easy to connect to various devices. It is fairly light, so would be easy to take on camping trips, etc. I tried charging my Samsung 8.9 tablet with the Solio, but that seemed to be much slower, though it was charging it. I feel like this device met my needs and expectations and was reasonably priced.

After having the solid classic 1, I was thrilled to see they had created an update to the original. I decided to go with this one because it had a much higher capacity than the bolt and am happy I did. It will give my iPhone a complete charge and still have power left over. It is very durable and unlike the solio classic 1, it does not feel like it is going to fall apart if you throw it in your bag. It does take about 10 hours of full sun to charge it but with a 3,200 mAh battery (and the fact I live in Iowa) that is better than I expected! As another reviewer mentioned I would also like to see some sort of bag with the device but they are cheap ($3.95) right here on amazon. I would devinetly recommend this product to anyone who travels, likes the outdoors, or is just environmentally conscious. Another great product from solio! Update: After owning for about 6 months, the hinge would no longer lock into place. I couldn't figure out how to tighten it so I contacted Solio support. within 24 hours they responded and eventually told me to send it in. Within 48 hours of receiving it they told me this was very uncommon and apologized profusely. Within a few days I had a new Solio classic 2, and 20% off the solio store PLUS a free solio clip mini for my trouble. Blown away by solio's support and highly recommend anything from their company

The Solio works well. I have few quibbles. 1. The small size of the battery. It charges my iPhone 5s about 1.5 times. 2. It takes a long time to charge from an electrical outlet. I get that the solar charging time is long, but it seems like it should charge faster than it does from an outlet. 3. There isn't any passthrough charging, where you can plug the Solio into the wall, then plug your phone into the Solio. You can do it, but the phone charges at twice the rate of the Solio, so you'd be better off just charging the phone directly from the outlet and leaving the Solio out of the picture. That being said, it does work well when you are away from electricity, and it charges pretty fast for a solar charger. Keeping it pointed in the direction of the sun definitely helps. Customer service was very responsive to questions I had, Glad I got one and plan to use it quite a bit in the future.

OVUNQUE TU SIA NON RIMARRAI MAI SENZA ENERGIA NEL CELLULARE BASTANO 5 ORE DI LUCE PER RICARICARE COMPLETAMENTE IL TUO TELEFONO , OLTRE QUESTO TEMPO LA BATTERIA CONTENUTA IN QUESTO APPARATO SARà RICARICATA E IN MANCANZA DI LUCE POTRà COMUNQUE RICARICARE ALMENO 2 TELEFONI. QUESTA NUOVA VERSIONE NON è MOLTO TASCABILE COME LA PRECEDENTE.