Solsport 5

This small panel works well, but like the manual says, use it to charge your small battery/solar charger first. Then use the charged battery to charge your phone or tablet. For some reason the power provided by the panel is not regulated enough for your phone or tablet to be charged directly. I tried to charge a Samsung 7'' Tablet and it stayed at the same charge level, even after the panel was in the full sun for 3 hours. But when I did the same with a battery/solar charger using the charging port on the unit and the built in solar panel covered (just to be sure it wasn't the internal panel actually charging the unit), the battery was fully charged when I came back. In theory, the panel provides 5W in the full sun and the Samsung tablet only uses 3W to charge, so it should have worked, but I don't mind charging a battery pack instead and then charging my phone or tablet.

I have to give it a star to post the review, or it would get none. On the third charge of the backup battery, the mini USB slot broke and is now rattling inside the battery case. The solar charger, when the backup battery was usable, did not charge it up after a week in the sun Supposedly charges can be done through a window--didn't work for me. The backup battery, when it was usable, could be charged through a PC, but now that is impossible. (I see this thing is no longer available--thank your lucky stars.)I took the battery case off and unscrewed the electronic area to attempt to reseat the slot head. It had been attached by a solder spot the size of about a quarter of a pin head, not exaggerating. Any normal use would break it. And yet this is supposed to be usable in the field. I may try to fix the battery one more time before recycling the whole stinking thing.