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Better than nothing, but not something I'd depend my life on.In short, I'd describe the Solio as "fun, but anemic". Of course, if I didn't have a life, I could change the placement of the charger throughout the day to point directly at the sun as it moves through the sky, and this would probably get close to a full charge in a normal day.When the Solio DOES fully charge, I only get about 1/2 to 3/4 charge to my iPhone, and not more. So two days of work for maybe a work's day of usage for the iPhone. I've had varying success with my Solio. The device actually works and charges devices, but I probably save more money and benefit the environment more by hanging my clothes out to dry (instead of using the dryer) then getting 1/2 charge for my iPhone every couple of days. Their site claims "Charging Solio's internal battery takes 8-10 hours of direct sunlight." I haven't found that to be the case. Took me awhile to get a hang of the device's fickleness, but I'm able to successfully (albeit partially) charge my iPhone (which needs charging at least every other day).The trick is that it really takes me two full days of leaving the Solio out in the sun to get a full charge. I really need TWO days to fully charge the device.
Its the same with solar power, and because these are new, they will be quirky. Remember computer chips and how much they evolved year after year. Anyone who bought this should have seen Al Gore's Speech.
Those people need to research solar power. And in the manual, it clearly states it take 12-24 hours of direct sunlight to fully charge the battery, meaning it must be aligned properly with the sun. Look, I see a lot of people out here writing crap reviews because it doesnt charge fast or anything, etc.
Mine works fine, sometimes has a little problem charging, but these solar chargers are new products. So if you had a bad experience with it, say it, but don't complain about how all of these products suck because of one problem. If just one of the cells aren't in the right sunlight, then the power production could be cut in half.
And behind windows, the solar energy getting through is much less because some rays are reflected by the glass.
If you're not pointing directly at the sun you're still charging, just not nearly as well.The first night I had it I charged the Solio from a wall outlet then used it to top off my blackberry that night. It would charge even faster if I always had it outside facing the sun without uv filtering glass in the way, but it IS working.If I spent a lot of time outdoors, the Solio would be IDEAL. The Solio is no different.
That being said, I've been setting it on the dash of my car and leaving it there. As it is, I find it would be more of use (for me personally) in an emergency kit.It DOES work though. It's charging.
Nothing ever charges as fast as we want it to. Ever since I've been trying to position it in my parked car to fully charge, but have yet to fully charge it through pure solar use. If you want faster charging, get something with more solar cell area.
Point it at the sun and the little red LED on the back comes on to led you know that you're in a good position and that it is charging.The caveat is that you're aiming at a moving target. It charged it with no issue and drained the Solio to about 40% (2 blinks - 20% per blink).
Totally worthless to me. The charger worked well the first time that I used it, but now the power will not stay on to charge my cell phone. The website states that this is a known problem with some motorola phones, but it also occurs with my blackberry.
And the one time I did have a question, their support team was super nice and even sent me a free tip for my new phone :) One thing that is cool about Solio versus other solar chargers I have tried is that it stores power. I am slowly trying to get into living a GREENER lifestyle and Solio was a great start. Unlike some of the reviews on here. It does take about 8 hours of good sun, but I just leave mine in the car or outside on nice days, and it saves the charge for when I need it. Now I want to go solar for everything. I LOVE MY SOLIO. I am really not sure why others would say that it is does not work, because I use my Solio to charge my phone and iPod ALL of the time and have never had a problem.
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