BigBlue Portable Solar Charger 28W with Digital Ammeter,25.4% High-Efficiency, USB-A/USB-C Ports, Folding Waterproof Solar Panels with Carabiners for Camping, Backpacking, Phones, Tablets, Power Bank

It’s solid. On the bright sunlight it charges two devices with 2.3-2.4 amps. Good enough to recharge two 10000 mah power banks within several hours. We took it to Yosemite and it did the job. I didn’t take it on the hike, not sure it would work well when attached to the backpack - the angle of the sunlight wouldn’t be good. Works perfectly if you leave it in the camp though. While we were hiking it was completely recharging our power banks. The main con is that if one of the panels is in the shade, the charging is closed to zero. The second one is that the pocket for the device is not insulated and, well, it’s black. So if you put your smartphone there, it will be overheated within a few minutes and will stop charging. At first I think it didn’t work properly though, so here a few tips that I’ve figured: 1. All the panels must be exposed to the sunlight. Even a small shade on the panels affects efficacy dramatically. 2. It’s better to use with powerbanks rather than charge your phones/tablets/whatever directly. 3. Whichever device you are charging, keep it off the sun. The pocket on the solar panel itself doesn’t work at all, and if your device has any overheat protection, it will stop charging pretty soon. If it doesn’t have a protection, it can just explode if the sun brights really hot. I was putting the solar panel on a camping chair with insulated pocket for a cold drinks and putting my power banks in the pocket. Works pretty well. 4. If the sunlight is good, there is no need to try to sustain the good angle (the closer sun rays fall to 90 degrees, the more power the panel will generate). But if it’s not very sunny, try to put something under the panel to keep it directed towards the sun. With that, I think it’s a pretty good solar panel, if you know the above and understand how to use it. Be safe outdoors!

I love this charger (BigBlue 5V 28W with readout) I use this to charge multiple battery packs and it is wonderful. I have charged my phone off of this all year so far. I bought a usb multi meter to check voltage. The voltage is regulated well and I have never seen it go above 5.1V. The lowest voltage I have seen on a cloudy day was 4.9, still well within range to charge my battery pack. I live in AZ and get plenty of sun. My battery packs are always charging at max input because this charger has so much power available. I built a stand which I set the solar charger on. The stand can change angles so it can be aimed for the best angle. I have used this to go camping and never needed to plug into the grid to power anything within my camp site. I truly can’t say enough good things about this charger. 1 year update. 12/27/18 Still as strong as the first day I received it. The fabric has faded however, that’s to be expected with as much use as this gets. The Arizona sun is relentless and will fade any fabric. I have used this solar charger to run all of my USB devices and I only need to use it every few days when paired with a proper battery bank. I am now using this charger to charge a ~26,000 ma battery bank (Anker). I charge at 4A and the pack is charged fully within 6-7 hours. This battery lasts my Wife and I 5 full days with both of our phones (3 year old iPhones) from dead to full charge. Even in December, I am able to pull 3.9 A at about 11:00 AM. If you are looking for a great product to help get away from the grid for any reason. This is what you will want. It has plenty of power to charge almost anything USB you can think of, especially when you pair it with a good storage bank. Update: 3/18/2023 Still working great! I have used this hundreds of times by now. Even being over 5 years old, it still puts out 4 amps. My cords are the limiting factor. I still take this with us everywhere. When we’re camping, we never need to worry about our USB powered devices going dead. I always have this charging several battery banks to ensure we are good to go. We truly enjoy this solar panel and have recommended it several times over to friends and family. One thing to note, as with any fabric, the color will fade with the sun. So it does not look “pretty” and new any more, but I think of it as a battle scar and how many good times have been had because it sat out and baked in the sun!

Quick and convenient to set up, and it feels sturdy. It worked with my Ipad pro 9.7 inch- although I think the 'smart' circuit doesn't recognize it properly as it was only delivering 0.5 Amps to my IPAD pro, when it SHOULD be drawing the full 2.0 AMPS. Did eventually charge the IPAD though (you have to leave it in sleep mode to charge with that low voltage btw) I have only had it for a day and it seems to provide reasonable charging for 2 devices both in full sun and overcast skies. I did not get more that 1.2 AMPs total so far. but I suspect that this is more a problem of devices not interacting well with the 'smart charge circuit'. I bought this because of the Ammeter, it is great for knowing how well you are doing at charging a device at any given moment- but you cant read it in direct sunlight, you have to shade it with your hand. A couple things to keep in mind.: -It wont charge if any of the 4 panels are covered or not deployed. -DONT use the built in pocket to store the device you are charging. It gets hot in there as some genius decided to make the pocket black and heat damages lithium batteries. -Remember that some high draw devices will only charge if they are off.

I guess this is a unique product on Amazon, usually I have seen some promotions including a solar charger together with a separated ammeter, or you even have to go through many sellers page and see what’s the best price you can reach. A price for a good ammeter would be around 10-15$, plus the 40-55$ of the solar charger. With this product, you get both at a cheaper price and it works perfectly. No matter where I go (I love excursions and love photography), I can always charge my devices; I charge an iPhone 7 and a digital camera with no problems, so thanks to BigBlue Solar Charger, my phone never runs out of battery and I can keep taking pictures for days. Not only useful, but also very easy and with an elegant design. For a good performance, put it on the ground, with the sunrays perpendicular to the panels, no trees or any shadow in between. Connect your device through a cable only AFTER opening the four panels and the charge would start immediately (you can see that the charger is receiving energy by checking the red led indicator light). It has 2 usb port (I see the older version has 3) but this new version has a pocket with zip, way more safe and useful if you are walking with the solar charger hanged on your backpack. Just put your device inside, close the zip and let it charge! Totally recommended for those people who like outdoor activities, a strong, waterproof and reliable product at such affordable price.. and protected with warranty!

I had high hopes for this BigBlue 28W SunPower Camping Solar Panel. Did a test run when I first received it and worked fine. Took it to the back country two weeks ago (what I bought it for) and the first two charging cycles went fine. On the fourth cycle the Digital Ammeter indicates 0.0 amps and will not charge despite full sun. Tried multiple times and no go plus now there is no return option on Amazon. I now have a $60+ dead brick. The support now is only auto "Set-up and troubleshooting tips". I would look elsewhere for a more reliable solar charging system. Update: Company reached out to me and sent out a replacement which I provide kudos for. Unfortunately, the USB power bank voltage regulator controller in the new 28W SunPower Camping Solar Panel was dead upon arrival. I am thinking the company had a run of faulty regulator/controllers (black square with blue face). I checked the voltage leading into the regulator/controller which was fine - just no power to the USB ports.

Have only used this once and it was a partly sunny day (so, plenty of clouds). My iPhone 6S was down to 7% power. I just laid the Big Blue down on a table on the back deck (in full sun). About 15 minutes later, I was up to 22%. Another hour passed and I was up to 44%. Forty minutes after that, 73%. Fifteen minutes passed and I was at 82%. Thirty minutes later, up to 94%. Another fifteen minutes, 97%. When I last checked after another 15 minutes, I was at 100% (a total of just over 3 hours). The reading was typically at .2 and .3. If I held the charger up to angle towards the sun more, I would obviously get a higher reading. I previously used a solar charger with a built-in battery. The battery went bad after a while, so I decided to switch to just a solar charger. I can always get an external battery pack to charge up and then use later to charge a phone or something else when the light is not available. Anyway - this one seems to be nice and compact (as solar chargers go - it folds up easily), has a sturdy fabric cover (haven't tested water-proof qualities yet), and seems to work just fine on a fairly cloudy day. An important note to consider - at first I laid out my iPhone with the charger on the table. When I first checked it, there was a warning on the iPhone that it had gotten too hot and should be cooled down before using (never seen that warning before!). Makes sense, though....a black item sitting in the direct sun. So, I just moved it to some shade while I kept the solar charger in the sun.

Charges really fast and surprised me. I have a cannabis vaporizer(Storz Brickel) Mighty Plus that is intense to charge and used to used up my portable battery. With some good sun it charged it within 90 minutes which is pretty cool. I also charge my portable battery during the day for night use. It folds up perfect for one of my backpack pockets. Super light weight and I can charge while hiking. You can take this anywhere, (hikes, backpack, car etc)I love the pocket so I can rest my devices while charging even when hanging from a tree. I also watch a lot of backpacking vlogging videos and noticed other people use this one!

I have owned this product for around 2 years now. I have some experience in solar charging but in other words I am a complete novice. First, the good: -Lightweight -Built in ameter -Assumedly waterproof -Great folding design and can be used hiking camping without much additional weight -Still works (sort of) The bad news: -I can never reach over .7 amps in full sun in the southern US during the summertime. -If any cloud cover arrives it may knock it down to .1-0.0 but it will not adjust back up to .7 until replugging in the device to reset the power controller. I believe the issue herein lies the amount of bypasses. If shade or even a bird flies over one section it will drop to .1-0.0 and the device will not reset back to the .7 steady trickle. Additionally, even in full sun .7 amps is really poor. Perhaps I have a dud. Maybe one of the panels has lost connection to a bypass. I am not sure if this setup is in series or parallel but it doesn't work well. Regardless, I am having trouble powering a modern phone which has higher amp draw due in part to a larger processor and panel. Take this review for what it is worth. I am looking elsewhere to find a solution that can at least maintain a 1 amp output. Preferably 1.5.