Emergency Solar Charger - Charging iPhone

As the name suggests, the Emergency Solar Charger for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch is a compact little solar-powered battery and charger, which can be used to charge up your iPod Touch or iPhone in an emergency. The charger contains a battery which is charged up via the solar panel. When you need the extra power, you just connect the charger to the iPhone. The charger will automatically charge the iPhone, giving it roughly 20% of charge.

Charging the Solar Charger

How It Works

You can charge up the charger using solar energy (so leaving it out on a sunny dashboard or windowsill) or you can charge it up via USB using the Apple USB cable (which could be via the PC, mains adapter, or via a car adapter). For the purposes of testing, I typically used the USB cable, as the charger was charged within just 2 hours. It takes a couple of days to charge the charger in sunlight, so really, you want to place the charger in strong sunlight when you’re not using it. That ensures you always have the emergency charge when you need it.

Once the charger is charged up, you just connect it to an iPhone or iPod Charger and it starts charging straight away. It takes about 20 minutes to charge up the iPhone or iPod to about 20%. If your device is completely dead when you start charging, then the charger charges the device up to around 16 to 18% (due to the power consumption when first switching on the iPod Touch or iPhone).

Emergency Solar Charger - on it's own

Feature Suggestions

The charger is very simple, it does exactly what it says on the tin. However, there are a couple of things that I suggest as minor improvements. Firstly, sometimes you need to wiggle the plug on the charger to get it to be recognised by the iPhone or iPod. I suspect there’s a microscopic difference in the connectors which means the charger is not always recognised as a charging device.

Secondly, it’d be good if there was an indicator to show how fully charged the charger is. Just a few small LEDs or a small LCD display to show if the charger is empty, half-full or fully charged. Currently, there’s no way to know how charged the charger is. Some attention here would be appreciated.

Conclusion

The Emergency Solar Charger for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch is a genuinely useful little gadget. I can imagine that it’s going to come in very useful when out and about with no power source! And costing just $5.51, it’s not going to break the bank either! Thanks to Budget Gadgets for sending me the charger to review.

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Emergency Solar Charger for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2011 EnviroGadget.com. You can now keep up with the latest eco-gadgets on the EnviroGadget Facebook page. Why not help us to spread the word?

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1. Juicebar Pocket Solar-Powered iPhone and iPod Charger
2. The Surge Case – iPod Touch Solar Charger Case
3. Solar Powered Leather Case for iPhone 2G and 3G

There’s no question, that since the launch of the iPhone, there have been a flurry of products just for the iPhone, where us iPod Touch users have been missing out. Well the Solar Surge for the iPod Touch has been designed to keep your iPod Touch fully charged whilst your out and about.

Your iPod Touch fits snugly within the case, giving you full access to the touch screen without needing to take the iPod out of the case. The case itself is also lightweight and study, so it offers a degree of protection for your iPod Touch.

In full sun, the solar panel provides 100mA of charging current. The Surge has a 1500 mAh 3.7 V lithium-ion polymer internal battery, which represents 120% of the internal battery capacity of the iPod Touch. This means you more than double your iPod’s battery capacity.

To determine how much charge is left in the battery, the Surge features a 4 LED display which indicates the current charge status. The case also features a USB socket so that you can charge up the iPod via USB or sync with iTunes without needing to take it out of the Surge case too.

The cases are available for just under $80 each in the US, the case is not yet available in other countries such as the UK.

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the The Surge Case – iPod Touch Solar Charger Case article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2011 EnviroGadget.com. You can now keep up with the latest eco-gadgets on the EnviroGadget Facebook page. Why not help us to spread the word?

Related posts:

1. Solar Powered Leather Case for iPhone 2G and 3G
2. Emergency Solar Charger for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch
3. Juicebar Pocket Solar-Powered iPhone and iPod Charger

If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you know that surfing the web over WiFi or 3G will drain the battery fairly quickly, compared to listening to music or playing the odd game. However, this creative leather charger case from Brando allows you to charge up your iPhone or iPod Touch when you’re on the move. Hopefully extending the life of your battery before you need to charge it again at home.

The leather case actually has it’s own lithium ion rechargeable battery with a 1500mAh capacity. Therefore you can leave you case in the sun (such as on a window-ledge or in your car). You can then have your iPod Touch or iPhone with you. When the case battery has fully charged, it can charge an iPhone in 3 hours. This means you don’t have the inconvenience of having to leave your phone in the sun.

Although the charger does not specifically refer to compatibility with the iPod Touch, I imagine it will work fine with it. Most devices are 100% compatible between the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Source: Coolest-Gadgets

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Solar Powered Leather Case for iPhone 2G and 3G article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2011 EnviroGadget.com. You can now keep up with the latest eco-gadgets on the EnviroGadget Facebook page. Why not help us to spread the word?

Related posts:

1. The Surge Case – iPod Touch Solar Charger Case
2. Mooncharge – Solar Charger iPhone 4 Battery Case
3. Leather iPad Case with Solar-Powered Charger