Have you ever found yourself in a place with a dead phone or tablet and no way to charge it? There’s plenty of solutions for this including power banks and replaceable batteries if your device supports that sort of thing, but both of those solutions have one common caveat that could result in a repeat dire situation: both of these are battery powered and need to be charged to ensure working order. Not remembering to charge these devices renders them just as useless as that dead phone or tablet, so wouldn’t you rather have something that charges without the need for a battery or wall outlet? That’s the idea behind solar power and the main selling point of the Choetech Solar Charger.
Choetech specializes in chargers of all types, from wall chargers with Quickcharge 2.0 capability to car chargers for quick charging on the go. Their products are high quality without the high expense that some other manufacturers charge and the Choetech Solar Charger lives up to that legacy with ease. The Solar Charger seems a bit large at first, coming in a 30.5 x 17 x 2.5cm folded case that unfolds to 62.5 x 30.5 x 0.5cm. It’s also a bit on the heavy side at 800g, but at the end of the day carrying something like this in a backpack or other bag is going to be fairly unnoticeable. The case itself features a mesh container with a zipper that doubles as a storage for cables and devices and primarily houses the dual-USB connectors used for charging.
Inside the folded case you’ll find three solar plates capable of converting solar energy into a maximum of 3,400mA, 6V/19W of power delivered through the USB connectors inside. Choetech marks the conversion efficiency at 24% meaning you’re likely to get plenty of juice for your devices in many different kinds of lighting conditions. Obviously being solar the brighter the sun the better your charging rate will be. I found that in the car or sitting out in the open my devices were charged even with cloud cover. Keep in mind I’m in Florida so my sunlight may be a little more intense than the sunlight received further north, so of course your mileage may vary with how effective the actual charging is.
As is the case with other Choetech products the USB ports adjust voltage intelligently for maximum charging, meaning devices that support higher amperage will charge quicker than those that don’t. Overall I was super impressed with not only how effective this solution was but just how easy it was to use. There are no buttons, no switches and nothing that needs to be done other than opening up the case and plugging your device in. A small LED lets you know when the Solar Charger is charging devices and will blink rapidly when there’s not enough solar power to perform the task at hand. At about $50 this is a steal for anyone that’s on the go constantly and will likely be a literal life saver for those that link to venture into the wilderness for fun.