Spent $75 on a 'solar powered' phone charger that barely works...

Got it online last month thinking it would be great for camping trips, you know, a little climate friendly power. It took a full sunny day just to get my phone from 10% to 35%... and that's if you leave it perfectly still. A single cloud passes over and it stops. Total waste of money and plastic. Has anyone found a portable charger that actually uses solar well, or should I just stick with a regular power bank?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_jennifer2mo ago

Honestly I've had the opposite experience... mine works fine for keeping a charge topped up during the day. You just can't expect it to charge a dead phone from scratch, that's not really what they're for. Maybe try using it differently before giving up.

the_christopher2mo ago

Wait, is THAT what I've been doing wrong? I've been treating mine like a tiny emergency room for my phone battery instead of a daily vitamin. The_jennifer might be onto something here. I keep trying to revive my dead phone with it and then getting mad when it only gives me like 20 percent. Maybe I need to stop letting my phone totally die first. Using it for a top-up makes way more sense.

charlesm502mo ago

Yeah my buddy was doing the same thing as @the_christopher, getting so mad at his power bank. He'd let his phone hit zero, then plug it in and wonder why he only got a little bit of juice. I finally told him to just plug it in when his phone was at like 40 percent during the day. Total game changer, it kept his phone going way longer. It's like trying to fill a bucket with a tiny cup, you gotta start before it's totally empty lol.