And who in the sun charge?

I have a friend-fidget. I let go of his university studies and in the summer came the travel season. It was decided to go hiking with tourists to the Carpathians. Comfortable and only for a week.
I am only sympathetic to family matters, but at least I could help the organization. Since comfort and civilization are now inseparable from the “in touch” mode, and GPS-navigation must be used, I was instructed to deal with the problem of charging the company's smartphones, which tend to set very quickly at the wrong moment.

Started searching for an alternative source of energy. There were a lot of options, at first I thought about using ordinary universal batteries, and then I came across a solar charger. The Carpathians are not karst caves, they decided to try. The choice of solar charging lasted a long time, as most of them are made in China and have poor battery performance. It was possible to agree to a compromise, but the responses of users spoke about the inadmissibility of such.

As a result, they decided to shitch and get a charge from the American manufacturer Opteka.
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General characteristics:

• Battery type: Li-polymer;
• Battery Capacity: 4000mAh;
• Rated input voltage: 5V, 1000mA
• Rated power: 5V, 1000mA
• Solar panel power: 5V, 250mA
• Operating temperature: 0 ° C-45 ° C
• Weight: 185g

We twist in hands

According to the advertisement, the battery capacity is impressive - 4000 mAh. The pictures have a nice appearance and a large number of adapters for various phones, tablets and other devices. Impressed by the performance of the charge from the solar panel: Max. 250 mA (compare with Chinese manufacturers Max. 120mA-140mA).

We thought to order delivery from the manufacturer, but there were dealers who somehow presented this company on their Internet layouts. Therefore, the money remained in Ukraine, and the Opteka BP-SC4000 was in our hands.

Included was everything, as described on the official site. View of the box:


Adapters:


10 adapters for phones and various devices that connect to the device with a cable. Among them are adapters for: iPhone, iPad, iPod, Sony Ericsson, mini-usb, micro-usb, Samsung, Nokia (narrow) and for other exotic devices.

USB Cable:

It's all very simple, take the adapter and connect to the cable, then to the devices.

The device itself:


The case is made of high quality, albeit made of plastic. At the front of the device is its pride: the solar panel.

The device has two connectors: USB-port DC 5V 1000mA and mini-USB for charging from a computer.

It was very easy to turn it on: just hold the button on the front panel for 3 seconds and the device will begin to charge. If you press quickly, the device displays the battery charge.

I immediately wanted to check the action in the sun, and we were pleased with the charge indicator, which, when hit by rays on the panel, blinked amusingly with LEDs, signaling the start of charging the device. We saw enough of the process, were glad and on the road with a full charge.

The result of using this wonderful device in practice is in the form of a report of a satisfied tourist.

I took it with me to the Carpathians and on the 1st day I decided to charge my HTC. The battery was 80% discharged. Connected charging Opteka to the phone. After 3.5 hours, it was fully charged. The two LEDs on the device were still glowing and meant that the solar charge had discharged by half. For the remaining charge I decided to recharge the camera.

I loaded it to the fullest, and it was still empty. Next should check the charging in the sun on the go. On the second day we decided to go to the mountains, attached it to a backpack. After a 3-hour rise, the charge level was 25%. I would like to quickly ...

By the end of the day, I was surprised, the battery showed a 4-LED which meant it was fully charged, but it was necessary to check it. A friend just sat down an iPhone, which as a result charged fully in 4 hours, while the solar charge still left half, based on the indicator.

findings

American manufacturer Opteka deserves attention. Their solar charger BP-SC4000 proved to be better than expected and proved to be usable. During the campaign, it was used every evening for two devices, and was charged during the day.

Pros:

• high-quality case;
• large battery capacity;
• charge indicator;
• USB-port with which you can connect various devices;
• the possibility of charge from the sun;
• easy to carry.

Minuses:

• Charging time from the sun depends on weather conditions;
• Long charge time from the sun;
• I would like to have two USB ports;

A friend was very pleased with the use of this device. We got it for a completely affordable $ 55, which is quite acceptable for almost every traveler. We hope to serve will be long, because there is nothing to break and collected decently.