Solar Phone Charging recommendations

[ATLien_0]

Hey guys

Looking for some advice, I am heading on a week long backpacking trip in a few weeks and bring my Lumia 810 with me for emergency purposes. I am looking for a reliable solar charger to bring with me that does around 1.3 amps (lumia rating). Has anyone had any experience with solar chargers and could recommend one?

[ATLien_0]

Going to bump this, went over to best buy and they suggested taking a look at a AA/AAA usb battery charger. that way I could possibly charge off of those batteries, but they don't have one, any suggestions?

[Draconian Guppy]

I wouldn't rely on solar charging ones, i've read to many horror storries, just search amazon for "lumia battery charger" and a whole bunch including solar appear.

[ATLien_0]

are there any good aa or aaa usb chargers worth checking out?

[AbandonedTrolley]

I have one of these

http://www.amazon.com/Veho-VCC-A008-PBP-XT-Portable-5000mAH-Smartphones/dp/B003YNT3TO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365596314&sr=8-1&keywords=pebble+charger

Not sure how battery hungry the Lumia is but I get almost 3 full charges from it on my Xperia S. I'd prefer one of these compared to the AA/AAA solutions you've been advised towards. You say you'd only use in emergency purposes anyway so this would be more than ideal.

[ATLien_0]

Awesome, Thanks I will check that out. I was sort of advised towards the AA/AAA solution because I could pack a bunch of batteries if a set runs out, the drawback is weight in my pack. Would 5000 mAH get me through 6 - 7 days?

[AbandonedTrolley]

Awesome, Thanks I will check that out. I was sort of advised towards the AA/AAA solution because I could pack a bunch of batteries if a set runs out, the drawback is weight in my pack. Would 5000 mAH get me through 6 - 7 days?

How long does your battery normally last?

GSM Arena says

Li-Ion 1800 mAh battery

So you would get about 2 and half FULL charges (slightly more) from the power pack.

Failing that I've noticed these products get good reviews on Amazon and varying capacities

http://www.amazon.co...rGen+PGMPP12000

Or even

http://www.amazon.com/Lightning-Thunderbolt-Blackberry-connectors-customized/dp/B009USAJCC/ref=pd_cp_cps_0

I would just steer away from a battery solution as this is way it's a high capacity rechargable method without the need to keep replacing the batteries and carry extra bulk.

[Old Man Pickle]

I've been using the Anker Astro Mini and it charges my HTC 8X about 2 (sometimes 3) times, not bad for ?15.99 from Amazon.

[ATLien_0]

Right now I can go 1-2 days on a full charge depending on what I am doing, the main issue I have is that most of these chargers are 1 amp only.

[AJerman]

Right now I can go 1-2 days on a full charge depending on what I am doing, the main issue I have is that most of these chargers are 1 amp only.

That was my concern with a lot of them as well. I recently purchased the Jackery Bar charger on Amazon after seeing it on Engadget (http://www.amazon.co...0?ie=UTF8&psc=1). The Bar is 5600 mAh and that gives me... well I haven't really used it enough to be certain, but probably more like 2 charges on my One XL with an 1800 mAh battery. You will never get 5600mAh/1800mAh charges out of it because of loss in the circuit and conversions and interesting electronics math and details that I can't think of now at midnight while I'm still at work, so let's say 2 full charges. BUT, it charges at 2.1A, so it's as fast as any wall outlet (2.1A is more than most phones pull at max still I believe, it's good for tablets too).

They also have the Jackery Giant that's 10400 mAh (http://www.amazon.co...m=AZF6YB7UVA7OU) if you want to make sure you can make it the week.

I like mine so far, but like I said, I haven't used it too much to give a full review. They say they have extra technology to make it keep a charge longer than most litium batteries. The build quality is very nice, and it has a built in, fairly bright 2 led flashlight that would last a stupidly long amount of time with 5600 or 10400 mAh behind it. Could be useful as well.

As for solar, I've looked into building my own solar charger before, and you're going to need decent sized panels to get a fast charge, otherwise solar is going to be more like a trickle charge. It may keep you charged if you keep it plugged in, but I was looking at doing two panels the size of a CD case, in a CD case, and it wasn't going to be close to 1A, even with both.

Edit: Oh, I forgot, the Giant has a 2.1A and a 1A charger port. In case you need it for anyone else too.

[ATLien_0]

A friend let me borrow his Goal Zero Nomad 7, tried it out at the park today. Its supposed to only charge at 1 amp, but my Lumia was charging just fine as well as with the battery they included with the kit. Kind of odd since a 1 amp car usb charger won't work for the phone.