[Upgraded Tiny Solar Charger] BigBlue 14W SunPower Solar Panels with USB-A Port(5V/2.4A Max), IPX4 Waterproof, Portable Solar Phone Charger Compatible with iPhone X/8/7, Tablet, Samsung LG etc

When I first purchased this portable solar panel, I was skeptical about its capabilities. To be honest, I didn’t anticipate its impressive performance. Let’s begin with the build quality. The manufacturer has done an excellent job with the design and construction. The foldable design makes it incredibly portable, and the panels themselves feel sturdy and well-made, not cheap at all. I appreciate that it comes with carabiners, which makes attaching it to a backpack or hanging it easy and convenient. Since I’m always on the go and carry a lot of tech, I’m constantly in need of extra power for my gadgets. I paired this solar panel with a NESTOUT 15000N portable outdoor battery, and they work seamlessly together for my needs. The solar panels keep my battery charged, and I use the power from the battery to quickly charge my devices. The USB-C ports and USB-A port works great without any problems and allows me to connect to my devices quickly without any delay. Now, don’t expect these small panels to charge devices rapidly. They do the job, and so far, with the sunlight I’ve been exposed to daily, they’ve worked flawlessly. I highly recommend this product. Considering its limitations and my use case, I believe it was a wise investment. I’ve also recommended it to several friends who work outdoors, and they’re equally impressed with its performance.

absolutely great product. Use on elk hunt and did great.

My intended use of this product is to maintain complete power independence for months-long, off-grid backpacking (thru-hiking). I've always laughed at the hikers who try to make things work with a single panel on top of their backpack, but the bigblue can work, under the right conditions. My electronics consist of generic bluetooth listening devices, a cell phone, a gps communications and tracking device, a rechargeable tracking watch, a rechargeable air mattress inflator, a rechargeable headlamp, and a 10,000 mAh power bank with dual charge inputs and a maximum recharge rate of 22W. Since the bigblue only delivers a maximum of 5V @ 2.4A to each of its 3 usb, connectors, it means you can only expect a maximum of 12W from each usb connector. Therefore, to obtain the maximum possible powerbank recharge rate from this setup, I needed a powerbank with 2 charge inputs. The only such one I could find in the 10k mAh range was the nitecore nb10000 gen 3. In theory, I could get 24W from 2 of the bigblue usb connectors, and I would be wasting a couple of watts on the nitecore, but in reality so far I have not gotten more than about 16-17W form the bigblue, as measured using an Anker Prime 27,650 power bank. That's in southern US and november sky, but I would not expect more than about 20-21W under perfect conditions, anyway. I have tested and determined that hanging the bigblue from the backpack is pretty much useless and not worth the effort. Also, it only delivers a trivial amount of power under heavy cloud conditions. It does deliver modest amounts of power when the sun is still fairly bright through a fully overcast sky. Under partly cloudy skies, with thicker clouds, the output falls off dramatically when the sun is blocked. The most workable solution that I have found is to pack up the bigblue in the morning, leaving it in the top of my pack. I'll take a 15 minute break mid-morning and quickly pull out the bigblue and connect the nitecore to 2 ports and my cell phone to the third port, providing the right sun conditions exist. The bigblue does not have a kickstand, and the panels flop around, so I find a long, straight stick and prop up the panels using a few bits of gear to prop the stick and panels up straight. The same process is repeated at lunch time for a 1 hour lunch break, and possibly another short break mid-afternoon. Using this approach, under the right conditions, I can fully recharge my phone from about 80% and I can recharge up to 2 bars out of 4 on my power bank. This is generally all I need, but I have not determined how long this setup would last with prolonged days of no adequate sun. I could probably last a week or so with careful use of electronics, but then I would be digging out of a power deficit for several days after. If the cloudy conditions persist, I would be forced off trail to recharge. I have also found that the bigblue can still deliver 3 watts or so folded up, with only one panel exposed to full mid-day sun and laying flat . This might work to charge low-power devices with the bigblue laying flat on top of the backback. It's always going to be important to make sure any means of securing the unit does not cast any shadow anywhere on the panel. My bigblue weighs 24-7/8 ounces. It's an awful lot to lug around. I think a lot of that weight is in the fabric, velcro closures and hanging grommets. I keep looking at the thing and wondering how much I could cut off. The 3 output connectors, with limit to 12 watts on each, is a pain when trying to find a suitable power bank that can recharge at a faster rate than 12 watts. Maybe 2 usb-c's, with no limitations, would work better? The weight and the connectors are my reason for 4 stars. So far, I have not tested for many days on trail, but it's looking possible. The implementation is not ideal, but I'm balancing that against having to go off trail and find an outlet.

A lot of people complain about the charge times or it not working. First it's a solar panel, it's not going to charge as fast as it would plugged into your car or wall. Second it works best when it is outside in direct sunlight, not behind glass, not in the shade, not in cloudy weather, IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT. It will charge if it's not in direct sunlight, but much slower. Also it's going to take longer to charge if you're using your phone while charging. The more you plug into it, the longer it will take to charge everything. It also doesn't help if you're using a 12ft long cable. So keep in mind when buying this, direct sunlight, turn off the device you're charging, charge 1 device at a time when possible, and use the shortest cable possible. It's very useful to have. Good for camping, hiking, hunting, survival, emergency preparedness, or just being environmentally conscious. If there's a reason why you can't charge your phone from an outlet, this is perfect. The size is about that of two tablets/iPads stacked on top of each other or a small laptop when folded up. And about 3 or 4 tablets/iPads side by side when opened up. It came with some carabiners so you can attach it to your backpack, tent, a chain link fence or just about anything that would help face it in direct sunlight. It also has a little indicator light where you plug your USB cable into that lets you know if you are getting power, the brighter the light, the more power you're getting. As long as you keep those few things in mind this solar panel is effective and super simple to use.

I bought this for my hike along the Colorado Trail. I only went into town once in 3+ weeks. This kept my external battery charged the entire trip. Then I charged my phone and watch from my battery. It rained everyday day except for three. Generally I would attach this to the back of my backpack. During the day, it would get enough Sun to get a decent charge. It was never a 100% full charge. But enough to keep my battery well over the 50% mark. I'd say most the time my battery would drain to around 20% and recharge to around 85%. I had the best charging experience when at rest. I'd just lay this out if the ground, facing the Sun, and it seemed to charge pretty fast. The worst thing about these solar panels is the compartment where you connect the battery or your peripherals. It's held closed by only a small piece of Velcro. It basically doesn't work. Anything you put in that pocket to charge will fall out. For me it wasn't a big deal. After having my battery fall out routinely and daily, it just fell out of the pocket from the solar panel, and into my large external center pocket on my backpack. From that point forward, I would never use the pocket this solar panel comes with. I would just put my battery in my packs external pocket, and run a cable to the solar panel to charge it. Problem solved. But definitely something to be aware of.

[Update 2025 Review]: Loved the first charger of this model I bought in 2022, but when I had to buy a newer one in 2025, I ended up returning it, as it seemed to minimally charge my phone in 3 hours of direct July sunlight in New Mexico, and was not effective at charging if direct sunlight is intermittent - i.e. if deployed/strapped to a pack. The new waffle-pattern panels trap every bit of dust and is difficult to clean with soap and a brush (not something I want to keep in my pack), vs. the old smooth-panels charger which wiped clean easily. Another trekker had bought this charger based on my 2022 recommendation, and had to return it within a few days, as his barely charged anything. BigBlue, not sure what your product development team is doing, but I've retracted about 6 recommendations to other trekkers on this product - as it went from "must have" to "avoid." Original 2022 review: I've used this on 12-day backpacking treks in the SW Rockies, and also for keeping my phone and bluetooth speaker charged while I work outdoors all day in the sometimes-cloudy northeast U.S. Very reliable in both; I've used it for 3 years and no complaints about performance, durability, or water-resistance (left in the rain occasionally). Take this with any group on a trek, and you will be very popular. I strapped my charger to my packpack with the included carabiner clips and charged as I hiked. No issues with overcast days, but it will be limited in charging based on strength of sunlight. In full daylight, expect a solid speedy charge on all three USBs are once - what type of charging cable used will be your biggest bottleneck.

The panel charged my 16000 mAh, 59.2 wh battery pack in 4 hours. I can then recharge my phone several times with that pack. worked faster than expected.

Many reviews I read suggested to go with the larger 18W or 28W sizes, but the 14W is still plenty powerful and is extremely compact and easy to carry. In practical use I find it can push about 1000 mAh into my phone in an hour in decent sunlight, which I am quite satisfied with considering the thing is only about the size of a paperback book when folded up. If you were wanting to charge multiple devices or something more power-hungry like a tablet you might want one of the larger sizes, but the 14W is perfect for my needs. The physical construction seems to be good quality, and I appreciate that it has loops on both ends so it can be hung in either orientation. About the only quibble I have is that I would prefer a wider strap over the pocket; with the relatively narrow strap it has I could see a slimmer device possibly slipping out if hung upside-down, but that's relatively minor. Overall I would say this is a great compact backup power source for the money as long as you're not charging multiple power-hungry devices.