BigBlue Portable Solar Charger 28W with Digital Ammeter, 25.4% High-Efficiency, Dual USB Ports, Folding Waterproof Solar Panels with Carabiners for Camping, Backpacking, Phones, Tablets, Power Bank

It’s solid. On the bright sunlight it charges two devices with 2.3-2.4 amps. Good enough to recharge two 10000 mah power banks within several hours. We took it to Yosemite and it did the job. I didn’t take it on the hike, not sure it would work well when attached to the backpack - the angle of the sunlight wouldn’t be good. Works perfectly if you leave it in the camp though. While we were hiking it was completely recharging our power banks.The main con is that if one of the panels is in the shade, the charging is closed to zero. The second one is that the pocket for the device is not insulated and, well, it’s black. So if you put your smartphone there, it will be overheated within a few minutes and will stop charging. At first I think it didn’t work properly though, so here a few tips that I’ve figured:1. All the panels must be exposed to the sunlight. Even a small shade on the panels affects efficacy dramatically.2. It’s better to use with powerbanks rather than charge your phones/tablets/whatever directly.3. Whichever device you are charging, keep it off the sun. The pocket on the solar panel itself doesn’t work at all, and if your device has any overheat protection, it will stop charging pretty soon. If it doesn’t have a protection, it can just explode if the sun brights really hot. I was putting the solar panel on a camping chair with insulated pocket for a cold drinks and putting my power banks in the pocket. Works pretty well.4. If the sunlight is good, there is no need to try to sustain the good angle (the closer sun rays fall to 90 degrees, the more power the panel will generate). But if it’s not very sunny, try to put something under the panel to keep it directed towards the sun.With that, I think it’s a pretty good solar panel, if you know the above and understand how to use it.Be safe outdoors!

I guess this is a unique product on Amazon, usually I have seen some promotions including a solar charger together with a separated ammeter, or you even have to go through many sellers page and see what’s the best price you can reach.A price for a good ammeter would be around 10-15$, plus the 40-55$ of the solar charger. With this product, you get both at a cheaper price and it works perfectly. No matter where I go (I love excursions and love photography), I can always charge my devices; I charge an iPhone 7 and a digital camera with no problems, so thanks to BigBlue Solar Charger, my phone never runs out of battery and I can keep taking pictures for days.Not only useful, but also very easy and with an elegant design.For a good performance, put it on the ground, with the sunrays perpendicular to the panels, no trees or any shadow in between. Connect your device through a cable only AFTER opening the four panels and the charge would start immediately (you can see that the charger is receiving energy by checking the red led indicator light). It has 2 usb port (I see the older version has 3) but this new version has a pocket with zip, way more safe and useful if you are walking with the solar charger hanged on your backpack. Just put your device inside, close the zip and let it charge!Totally recommended for those people who like outdoor activities, a strong, waterproof and reliable product at such affordable price.. and protected with warranty!

Quick and convenient to set up, and it feels sturdy. It worked with my Ipad pro 9.7 inch- although I think the 'smart' circuit doesn't recognize it properly as it was only delivering 0.5 Amps to my IPAD pro, when it SHOULD be drawing the full 2.0 AMPS. Did eventually charge the IPAD though (you have to leave it in sleep mode to charge with that low voltage btw)I have only had it for a day and it seems to provide reasonable charging for 2 devices both in full sun and overcast skies. I did not get more that 1.2 AMPs total so far. but I suspect that this is more a problem of devices not interacting well with the 'smart charge circuit'.I bought this because of the Ammeter, it is great for knowing how well you are doing at charging a device at any given moment- but you cant read it in direct sunlight, you have to shade it with your hand.A couple things to keep in mind.:-It wont charge if any of the 4 panels are covered or not deployed.-DONT use the built in pocket to store the device you are charging. It gets hot in there as some genius decided to make the pocket black and heat damages lithium batteries.-Remember that some high draw devices will only charge if they are off.