Features: Elegant, ergonomic design. Light weight and easy to use. Interchangeable tip system for multiple devices. One hour of sun shine gives you about one hour of play time. Internal battery stores energy for months on end. Rechargeable from the wall or the sun. Durable and weather resistant.
The Solio universal "hybrid" solar charger is powerful enough to charge all of your handheld electronic products at home or on the move. The Solio works by absorbing power from either four hours in the wall socket or 8 to 10 hours of direct sunlight, and then storing the energy within its internal battery. Once the Solio's battery is full, you can use the unit to charge your cell phone, iPod, MP3 player, PDA, game player, GPS, fish finder, or digital camera, making it a powerful all-in-one battery charger. The universal charger is also environmentally friendly and cost-effective, as the sun- based energy is completely free and creates no harmful impacts. And the design couldn't be simpler, with a fan-blade outlay that achieves maximum solar area when in use. Just spread out the blades, expose them to direct sunlight either outdoors or affixed to a window, and get ready to take your power on the road.
The silver Solio charges your electronics at the same rate as a conventional charger, and stores enough juice to fully charge an average cell phone at least once or an iPod nano at least two times. In addition, the Solio can charge your electronics directly rather than relying on the built-in battery. An hour of sun, for instance, will deliver enough power for about an hour of iPod playing time, 10 minutes of cell phone talk time, or four hours of cell phone standby time. Finally, the energy in the Solio's built-in battery doesn't need to be redeemed immediately, as it stores the juice for more than a year.
To make the Solio easier to use, the device comes with a series of interchangeable tip system connectors, including connectors for Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung cell phones, along with a mini-USB tip and an interchangeable tip system cable. And travelers will love the included global wall charger, with adapters for the U.S., U.K., Europe, and Australia/New Zealand. The Solio, which measures 2.5 by 1.3 by 4.7 inches (W x H x D), is backed by a one-year warranty.
What's in the Box Solio battery charger, Nokia tip, Motorola tip, Samsung tip, mini-USB tip, interchangeable tip system cable, USB cable, 12-volt universal adapter, global travel charger with adapters, window suction cup, user's manual.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
forget it!:
Worse than useless. We were relying on this during a recent trip, but it simply doesn't work. It seemed to be charged after a full day in the sun, but then would not give any charge to my iphone or my wife's motorola mobile. Next time: plain old batteries.
It doesn't work:
It's a nicely designed item, but it doesn't work and the manufacturer's customer service is mediocre. I fully charged the Solio and then took it on a trip, hoping to use it to recharge my iPhone when I couldn't plug it into a wall. When I plugged the Solio into the phone, it would start transferring its charge to the phone, but when the phone then went to sleep (after a minute or two), the Solio would stop transferring the charge. Desperate at one point to charge my phone, I kept it awake while the Solio... more info
Terrible Customer Service:
I tried calling them with a pre-sales question. They jerk you around through their terrible voicemail system until you hang up. I won't buy from them - ever.
Works for me:
Left it on the window sill for a few days until I needed it and it worked perfectly. A little slower to charge up the Kindle than if I had plugged the Kindle into the wall but the Solio will be great while traveling, during a power outage, or when I'm camping in the woods. Funny little instruction sheet with almost no writing and lots of pictures. Once I mastered the art of deciphering the pictures, it worked well for powering my original Kindle. FYI, I had to purchase a special connector tip for the Kindle... more info
