Review: Solio Magnesium Hybird Solar Charger

Tag : Mobile Travel Charger
(andPOP) - The Solio Magnesium Hybrid Solar Charger is a small,compact device that acts as a mobile battery pack. The chargerworks in two ways: solar power and conventional electrical power.The charger can be powered by plugging it into an electrical sourcefor six hours, or by fanning the three sections of the charger outand placing it in direct sunlight. Once the charger s fullypowered, it can be removed from its power source and be used torecharge various electronic devices (such as cell phones and iPods)via adapters that come with the charger. Extra adapters for otherdevices (such as hand-held video games) can be purchased off theSolio website.

A gadget like this is designed for someone who travels frequentlywith numerous mobile devices and does not want to lug around aseparate charger for each item. It's obvious that Solio isattempting to hit a very particular niche in the market, and itmakes sense. I hate brining three different chargers when I travelanywhere, and the Solio charger eliminates the need to carry extrabaggage.

The charger looks very futuristic, so I was really excited to tryit out - until I noticed that the instructions really didn't"instruct" very well. The instructions are made entirely ofdiagrams, which were helpful at times, but it really doesn'texplain how to use the product. It took me a few tries to figureout how to could tell when the charger is fully charged - which Ieventually discovered is indicated by the number of times a lighton the device blinks. Even then I had a hard time counting blinksbecause they went so rapidly.

The Solio Charger comes with outlet adapters for continents otherthan North American, including Europe and the UK. The charger,however, only comes with one adapter that is compatible withpersonal entertainment devices - an iPod, to be exact. Adapters forother devices, such as cell phones, must be ordered off Solio'swebsite. This is fine, but I found it to be a bit disappointing asthe packaging has pictures of iPods, cell phones, game consoles andcameras on it to advertise what the charger can power.

As previously mentioned, this version of the Solio Charger usesboth battery and solar power. I am all about green energy and powersources, but I really don't think a device powered by the sun ispractical for a product marketed to ALL travelers, when really it'sonly useful if you are away from an electrical outlet for numerousdays.

The instructions advise that the device should be in sunlight for atotal of 10-12 hours in direct sunlight, or 12 - 48 hours if thesunlight is coming through a window - or if it happens to be partlycloudy outside. In my experience, hotel rooms (or hostels) neverget a ton of sunlight and rarely have balconies. The solar optionis probably most practical for campers or people who don't haveaccess to an outlet, but even then you might have to stay in thesame place for two or more days to recharge the device.

As far as the life span of the charger, I wasn't disappointed orimpressed. When charged by the sun, the device lasted for about twoand a half days after it charged my iPod, and I got similar resultswhen I charged the device using the plug-in option. The websiteboasts that 1 hour of sunlight = 20 minutes of talk time, but in myexperience that was accurate only if you used your phone as soon asit was charged by the Solio device.

Using this device didn't really convince me that the SolioMagnesium Charger is a great alternative to just buying a outletadapter and bringing whatever separate chargers you need. It canbe, however, be very useful to people who are camping, hunting, orgoing on some other long-term excursion into the outdoors and wantto keep their cell phones, MP3 players or cameras working. Ifyou're more of a domesticated traveler who likes to stay indoors, Iwouldn't say the $200 Solio Magnesium Hybrid Solo Charger goes foris necessarily worth it.