Sunjack Portable Solar Charger
- September 2014
- Gadgetry
We all want easy, reliable charging for our iphones, helmet cams and istuff. I haven’t had a lot of luck in the past with solar chargers and phone chargers, and I blame it entirely on myself because I have no patience for gadgetry that’s complicated or for things like reading directions. I mean come on, I’m real busy rock climbing and jumping off cliffs and stuff!
The Sunjack Solar Charger comes with a single sheet of information: 5 bullet points about what it does and 3 tips (the first tip is to angle the solar panel toward the sun–you can see why I like this), because that’s all you need. It’s extremely user friendly and you really don’t need to read any directions. Love!
The panel itself folds up in a cordura case. It’s fairly light and compact for what it does, and durable. It also comes with a very small, detachable battery pack, and this is where it really shines. The battery pack is a tiny amount larger than my iphone, and just slightly heavier in weight. Also, it lasts for multiple charges of the iphone. There are two USB ports connected to the solar panel, so you can charge the battery and you can also charge another USB item at the same time. Because the solar panel charges the battery so quickly and the battery is so portable and longlasting, I’ve so far only needed to charge up the battery and use it to recharge my devices.
The battery has two USB outlets (one for 1 Amp of charge and one for 2 Amps to charge things like tablets), a small LED flashlight, and it lets you know what’s going on during charging with 5 small LED lights on the front. They flash when the solar panel is charging, and when they are all lit, it’s charged.
In the past, I’ve had weird moments with my iphone where it suddenly decides that the charging device I’m using is incompatible with it (like for example, my car) and stops charging–this happens when I’m using the factory cable and it’s extremely mysterious and annoying. I’ve tried some external batteries and some solar chargers where the iphone absolutely refuses to allow me to charge with it, and this has never happened with the Sunjack, so that’s great too (I have no explanation for any of this).
The Sunjack works great, it’s durable and reliable, but even more, it’s one of the most user friendly devices of this kind that I’ve had, and I’m glad to actually be using solar energy for some of this battery recharging I’m incessantly doing!
Thank you for sharing this, Steph. Portable solar chargers are incredibly helpful in my experience too, especially on extended trips. Although I’m not familiar with the Sunjack system, if it is like other systems I have used, be careful to keep only the solar panel part of the equipment in the sun and hide the battery pack from direct sunlight! (Sorry if this is stated on Sunjack’s site or instructions and I’m being repetitive, but it could be important.) Cheers!
Thanks Heidi! The rechargeable battery is zipped into the small mesh pouch that is behind the panel when charging, so they have saved us from ourselves 😉
The thing with the iPhone is usually result of upgrading to the new operating system. I did it with my mom’s iPad, and it doesn’t work nearly as well as with the older original operating system, everything is slower, and it doesn’t charge as quickly or at all sometimes when using it. It also heats up like a bed warmer, Which it never did before.
Updating the operating system on an iPhone 5 cuts battery life by 1/3 to 1/2. Totally absurd for a new operating system to do something like that, certainly not accidental.
That’s why I won’t be updating the operating system on my iPhone 5, i’ve concluded that it’s a scam designed to force you to buy a new Apple product.
I use a Jackery Giant+ as a battery back up. Get about three plus charges of an iPhone out of it.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EA1P8OI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I’ve always wanted a good solar charger or I handcrank charger for places where there is no access to power, thanks
🙂
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