It's crazy how nit-picky reviews can get on products like this so let me give anyone thinking about purchasing this an honest and thoughtful take. I bought this generator for an off grid property in the mountains with a few hopeful expectations in mind. 1- it could charge small USB devices and the unit during the day 2- it could work for lighting in the evening as we wind down in the cabin. THAT'S ALL. I have had the chance to use it two full weekends now and here's the result: it charged my cell phone during the day from 30% to 100%. It also charged my USB shower pump to full. It also charged the unit itself all the way up. I didn't mess with the built in radio or the built in light. In the evening we were able to have lights as we settled in and got ready for bed. I mounted the unit inside the cabin and strung the lights into different areas and drilled a hole and ran the solar panel cable outside to an area of full sun. Since then we have repeated the same thing and maintained the same results every day we've been there. What a walloping deal for the money! The only thing I would suggest would be a cigarette lighter port to charge my portable DVD player during the day. I use a 100 watt solar panel and a c-pap style power bank made by renogy for that so I'm fine as is but it would be a nice feature. Anyway, if you are looking to charge devices and get some lighting while off gridding or camping, just buy it. It's a fantastic deal. Shake the radio and flashlight. Cell phones are better for those purposes. Replace with instead one 12v cigarette lighter socket. Read more
Pros: Charges fast with solar panel. Lights are much brighter than expected. Nice long cords with inline switches. Has flashlight built in. USB charging ports are very useful! Small build - lightweight. Super bright lights. 3 provided in our unit. Cons: Will only charge to 75% with solar panel. Rest has to be wall charger. Since cord is built into light, how easy are replacements going to be to find? Flashlight seems to turn on every time I power on the unit. Solar panel is separate from unit, would be nice to have a safe pouch to put it in. No dimming control for lights. Overall: Cons list is really trivial in the end. Unit has been very much worth the money. When the power went out, set this up with one bulb hanging from the ceiling light in the big room, couldn't tell power was out. Would highly recommend. Read more
I was on the market for “something” to provide a minimal amount of power to my tent while camping for charging phones, light source, whatever, and wanted the option to solar charge. I don’t like to pay for electrical sites or be reliant on them in case of emergency with the phones, etc. I like the option to safely go off the beaten path. It was packaged securely in the product’s box with accessories included. Easy to open. Immediately plugged the solar charger in and placed it near my sunniest window. It had no problem charging. Didn’t take it long to charge to its first full charge from probably 75%. Also, the solar panel is more durable than it looks. Via the photos, it could have gone either way, but it’s actually pretty solid. Tested the lights. They are LED bright, with simple on/off switch, no brightness adjustment. For my tent, only one is needed to illuminate the whole tent, but the cords are long enough to string through the cord holes and use outdoor as well. The material of the unit is a hard, sturdy plastic. Seems to be very durable. The instructions say to power down phones before charging. It is a trickle charge. Works for what I need it for, but it’s not the unit you can plug your phone into and play games or watch movies. Since purchasing, I’ve found it does basically serve my needs for camping, but it’s also been useful for a portable light source for nighttime fishing and working in low-lit areas at night. Just string them into a tree branch or whatever and you’re good to go! I have the unit 4 out of 5 stars due to being a little shocked at the unit’s battery capacity. Like I said, it didn’t take much time to charge.. Just this last weekend, my stepdaughter woke up in the tent just before the sun came up when it was most dark and got a little scared. She flipped on one light and fell back asleep. By the time the sun was up and the birds were chirping us awake, the unit was completely draining. But the solar unit was right outside the tent and was already back at recharging! So still more on the convenient side. Read more
I was very impressed with this little product. It is light convenient. A bargain for the money. The only downfall that I do not like about it is that it does not have a regular house outlet on it. But it has plenty of outlets for USB and the four lights It came with are phenomena. Perfect for any outdoor activity where there is no electricity, outdoor sporting events, barbecue ,picnic ,camping trip. would recommend this product to my friends. Hope this helps. And I love the fact that it runs on solar or you can plug it in and charge it up. Read more
