Solio Hybrid 1000 Solar Charger Gear Review

Go green. Go smart. Leave your massive extension cord and generator at home on your backpacking trip. With the Solio Hybrid 1000 you can plug into the sun. Ok hold up...before you break out your electronic toys to take over the peaceful backcountry, let me lay some treats on ya. I got the Hybrid 1000 for a trip to Alaska a month ago and it kept my iPhone plenty charged for all my picture taking needs, after some self taught lessons. Out of the box your going to need to give this a USB computer charging session. I tried "plugging into the sun" and it didn't work so well because it was its first charge. It took about 4-5 hours of charging on my computer to get this going and then I was set. As far as solar charging, you really need a solid ray of sunlight coming down, none of this overcast business. 1 hour of solar charging = 15 min. of cell talk time or 40 min. of music enjoyment. Quick Solio Tutorial Red light = charging Green light = charge strength, 1 blink is lowest strength and 5 blinks is the strongest Black button on back = press once to initiate charge with device Green light rapidly blinking with device attached = charging Green light rapidly blinking when no device attached = hold black button for 2 seconds to turn off The great thing about the Hybrid in comparison to its big brother the Solio Classic, is the size. The Hybrid has this flat short knife design that also has a clip to easily charge on the outside of your pack. In my case, I didn't need the 8 watts of power the Classic delivers, the 5 or so watts with the Hybrid is perfect for my iPhone. Waking up your device from the dead is a tough spot, try to plug that baby in before your toy heads for the light. Solio Hybrid 1000 Solar Charger Weighs 131 g (Classic - 179 g) USB tip, mini-USB (blackberry, garmin etc.) and Nokia tip included. 1.5-5 watts of sweet action output Can be used for energy storage REACH FOR THE WALLET: REI rocking the Solio Hybrid 1000 for $79.95