I reluctantly returned this product after a few weeks. It just does not charge in sunlight the way I expected it to.
Even the manual say it takes two days of sun to fully charge the battery. I placed it in a West facing window for a week and it never fully charged. The company said the usual stuff. Window coating can diminish results, clouds, haze, etc. Plus the instructions say it has to be pointed right at the sun to charge correctly. So if you are driving West with the device on the front windshield it still won't charge correctly. You have to point it RIGHT at the sun.
I laid it on my deck. It was drenched in sun and still didn't get a good charge.
If you plug it into a wall outlet overnight then it will do a good job as a backup battery. But that isn't why I bought it.
Plus it doesn't work quite right with iPods. When you plug the iPod in and hit the start button on the Solio, the Solio will charge the iPod. But after a few hours it will quit charging and the iPod will run off the internal battery until you hit start on the Solio again.
Solio tech support said this is a known issue.
I guess I will try again in a few years.
Great idea, just not ready for prime time.
I got the charger for my boyfriend for Christmas and he loved the idea immediately; however, the plugs that it comes with don't work with most of his little gadgets and the extras that I purchased didn't work with his Samsung phone and DS lite. He does love using this for his ipod and I can use it for my Nokia phone. Call customer service to discuss the extra plugs before purchasing so that you know exactly what you're getting. Good luck!
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The Solio works great as an extra battery while traveling with the wall charger. But it takes forever to charge from the sun. If you leave it in the window for about a week you might get half a charge. This will charge your phone at least once. Which was the reason i got it. Im sure it will be better in the summer when I bring it to the park or the beach and use it at the same time as im using my Ipod.
The connectors that it comes with are great! and the design is really nice.
p.s after impulse buying this I researched and found possibly better alternatives like solar rolls from brunton. Looks like you can get more for your buck.
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I just returned from an 8-day climbing trip and used this charger to keep my iPod working. I take an iPod on my trips to save weight (audio books weigh nothing), pass the time when weather turns bad, and mask the sound of the tent fly flapping during windy nights. I have an iPod nano and a fully charged Solio holds about 1 1/2 iPod charges. I typically left the Solio next to my tent to recharge during the day and it worked great. Interestingly, at some of my higher camps (~6500 feet) the Solio charged more quickly than it did at home (sea level), most likely due to the more intense solar radiation at that elevation.
My only concern is whether or not the Solio is waterproof enough to leave out on days when it might rain. The manual says "do not immerse in water", and putting the Solio in a clear waterproof baggie might be the answer, but I did not test this.
I wish there was an attachment to charge a Canon NB-4L battery, but so far I have been unable to find one.
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I wanted to love this. It's solar, it's pink, it's whimsical.
It could have been an integral part of my earthquake kit (we do live in Los Angeles).
But it didn't really work for me. First off, charging it in the car is pointless and slow. It requires direct sunlight so even a tree giving some shade makes it not charge. Secondly, it takes about eight hours to charge fully, that means you have to follow the sun for eight hours.
Unless you live in a yurt, you probably only get a few hours of sunlight from each window. Which brings me to my third point.
It charges best when left outside.
Nope, it's a $90 item and I don't want to leave it lying around outside.
I get that it's hip to be green and pink is fun and playful, the design it beautiful and the freebies are flowing with these (everyone at fashion week LA got one) but it just doesn't do what it's supposed to do.
I'll wait for the second generation, hopefully it will work better.
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