I have reviewed several different power banks over the year, but none of them had a built in solar panel. The solar chargin option is attractive for when I am camping, hiking or even on a boat. Having the option to use a conventional 5V mini USB or sunlight is an attractive feature… but remember even in direct sunlight it would take many hours to fully charge a 7200mAh power bank. Due to the time it would take to fully charge many people use the solar panel to help augment the output of the battery… meaning that when you are charging your smartphone/table/device you can use the sunlight to help assist the internal battery.
Notes
– The max input from the monocrystalline solar panel is 5V at 180mA … while I have not done the math it does mean that it will take over 24 hours (of sun light) for the powerbank to fully charge.
– It can be charged even on a cloudy day, but it will not charge under a normal household light
– The PowerADD has one 5V 1A output which can charge smarphones to tablets
– Comes with 4 charging tips – a 30 pin tip for Apple products, a PSP (or so I am assuming) tip, and both micro and min USB tips (The mini USB tip is also used for charging the PowerADD through a convention USB power source).
– Provides 7200mAh of capacity – which is enough to charge and iPhone 3 times and provide about a 90% charge to an iPad 2
– Does not come with a carrying case
– The solar panel does make it a little larger than a comparable 7200mAh external battery pack – but in my opinion it is an acceptable compromise
– You must hold the power button for 3 full seconds in order to turn the unit on and off (I mention it…because at first I struggled trying to turn it on).
Final verdict – While business travelers may prefer smaller non-solar options in their powerbanks it is easy to see why people who like the outdoors would choose the PowerADD 7200mAh Powerbank. Just remember that even in full sunlight it will charge the powerbank at about 1/5th the speed of a 5V 1A power source.
4 1/2 Stars
Please Note – I received this product in exchange for an unbiased review
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