Devotec Solar Charger

Just in time for the summer holiday season comes British based company Devotec, with their entry in to the portable Solar charger market.

Devotecs offering comes with a solar board & a neat brown leather slip case. Followed by a selection of adapters for all the major mobile phone brands (Nokia, Motorola, SonyEricsson etc. plus mini USB for HTC style smartphones), as well as mini jacks for MP3/4 players (including the Apple custom iPod connector) and similar portable equipment. To cover all other bases there’s a standard USB port adapter for plugging in your specific USB charger cable you may have with your digital camera.

The blue and white box with magnetic fastener flap gives you an initial feel of something a little better than the usual Made In China tat you find on ebay. The glossy box and compartments inside with ribbon to open them almost feels like the more recent LG Mobile phone and Apple’s well known packaging style.

However inside the box you’re brought back to reality with the pigeon English User Manual – not that you need much instructions for using the solar charger! What I did find interesting is the conflict of facts between the outer box and the instructions. The box claims a “high capacity” 1800mAh battery, whilst the user’s manual claims only 1350mAh. UPDATE: Confirmed from Devotec that the device has been upped to 1800mAh.

Of further note is that the solar charger is not compatible with current generations of Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, and the new Shuffle. Further specifics about iPod compatibility can be found in the Devotec FAQ.

Usage is obviously straight forward. Charge up the battery pack – either by USB on your PC (or via the 3 pin UK plug provided), or by leaving it out in the sun.

Select the correct adapter from the selection, plug it in to the solar charger, and the other end in to your gadget. Watch the juice drip out in to your devices battery, slowly.

With the current hot summer weather we’re getting in the UK it was a perfect time to test the recharging capabilities of the solar panel.

As soon as you approach an outside door or window you’ll notice the bright blue LED light up to indicate solar charging has activated. It’s incredibly sensitive compared to the Freeloader (£29.95 from Firebox.com) I tested previously.

The internal battery charged reasonably well over a period of 3 hours worth of British summer weather. It didn’t charge up fully within this time. I tried powering a flat mobile direct from the solar charger, as it was charging, but the power just wasn’t enough. However I did manage to boost the battery from 0% to 50% charged over the 3 hour period.

Real time charging of devices isn’t going to work at any speed, so it’s best to leave the charger in the sun on its own before you really need it.

The supplied 3 pin USB plug adapter is a great fall back when the sun just isn’t around and you’re on holiday. A much cheaper option to charge your iPod than Apple’s £25 plug.

Overall the Devotec Solar Charger is an affordable charger with all the right bits for less than the Freeloader. Definitely a worthy alternative.

The Solar Charger is available now direct from Devotec for £19.99

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