5 Best Solar Power Banks: I'm Unimpressed!
5 Best Solar Power Banks: I'm Unimpressed!
I bought 5 of the best solar power banks and put them to the test! The results were…underwhelming.
🔋 SOLAR POWER BANKS TESTED IN THIS VIDEO
• Blavor – https://amzn.to/3FKOD9D
• 4Patriots – https://amzn.to/3QuVQ2h
• Anker – http://bit.ly/ankerSPB
• QiSa – https://amzn.to/3snlPke
• Survival Frog – https://amzn.to/3FP8OmM
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Solar Charging Test
1:07 Battery Capacity Test
3:09 The Flaw
4:03 Charging Ports & Other Features
4:35 The Winner
5:21 I’m Unimpressed.
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I tested how much solar energy all these solar power banks collected after being left outside for 2 days. Then I charged them up and tested how much battery capacity they *actually* have and compared it to their listed capacity. I also talk about a flaw present in the current crop of solar power banks.
Note: Listed capacities came from the solar power banks themselves. In the case that the power banks only reported their capacity in milliamp hours (mAh), I calculated their watt hours by multiplying their milliamps hours by a voltage of 3.7V (the nominal voltage for the Li-ion batteries used in most power banks) and then dividing by 1,000.
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Some of the links in this description and in the comments below are affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking on one, at no extra cost to you I may earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Thank you so much. This video was extremely helpful.
Motorcycle camping and need compact solar charging for laptop 19 Volts.
Currently charge my phone off motorcycle battery and use a 12v 5w Battery Tender solar charger to keep that charged. It barely fits in my saddlebags.
You’re never gonna get 100% of the product’s listed capacity, read about energy conversion efficiency.
Wow. Thanks for the review, and saving me time, and money.
I’m missing which was the winner and where you product libks are?
What is the USB measuring devices’ and fan devices’ manufacturers?
I know this is an older video, but Elecom makes a solar charger for there out door battery banks. That come with a pouch to hold the battery.
So you can keep them together but also have a foot to keep battery in the shade, might fix the issue.
Though I don’t have one so I can’t confirm if its better
Mines the charger is not working only the flashlight works after two days.
I purchased a similar product from Lion Energy, looked like a rebrand of something most similar to the Blavor or 4Patriots. It keeps my old Kindle alive, which was the point of the purchase. But my iPhone WON’T EVEN CHARGE!!! 😄
It could be an outlier in the Lion product lineup, but, REALLY BAD first impression for me.
Thanks for being straight with us!
crazy question and not like I know one way or the other but do you need to fully discharge before charging to get the most accurate battery capacity ? I thought I heard that some where maybe for quadcopter lipos or something
I found the best use for these solar battery banks is by putting it next to a window to get indirect sunlight. Sure it takes weeks to a month to charge fully, but that is how frequently I find myself needing the little extra power and the battery isn’t going to get cooked from the sunlight.
Best option is a couple battery packs and a 10-20 watt solar panel.
Thanks a lot. The single solar powerbanks are mostly used with an extra solar panel.
These things are sooooo disappointing.
How much
Holy cow I’ve never seen a YouTuber go straight to the point like this, others should learn from this lad.
Unfortunately solar and battery prices came down so low that these junk products now appear on the market. They are truly useless.
Focus on buying high quality, high capacity power banks and charge them from mains power, which is far less polluting than all the energy and petrochemicals that are used to make these products.
Thanks for the test.
QiSa lost me on tsa approval and not being anywhere near what tsa limits
Why has everyone reviewing anything suddenly got internet croaky voice syndrome
Very informative, thank you
another great idea…. on paper… good info.
Thank you, not buying one of these now lol they are really bad lol
Isn’t it illegal that they lie about their capacity?
I have one and the instructions literally said that it might take 6 days to change just using sunlight 😭
I wished I watched this video before buying my solar USB battery.
Don’t like getting hot & don’t like being cold
Nice quick little video love it, thank you 🙂
If you wrap the inside battery with ceramic fiber or ceramic wool… That will stop it from catching any heat while left outside in the hot sun
Wow, thank you for the eye opener
Wait, Can you still the ones with 4 panels with only three extension ones, if yes that would mean we can technically prevent the lithium battery from heating up
The main problem with these is their discharge speed. They take FOREVER to charge your shit.
I’m sure they could make them better, but the last thing they want is people getting free energy.
well done.
Finally a real honest product review , I own almost all of those and agree with everything u said thanks for sharing
This was EXCELLENT!
The comment about the heat conflicts was an eye-opener. The overheating caused by the need to be in the sun thus impairing the battery’s chemistry may have put me off these entirely. Got an old two-panel Goal Zero set-up that’ll fit on a backpack easily, so I’m gonna test it charging a couple of the small power banks I’ve got, including an Anker MagGo powerbank I got at Costco last month.
Thanks. Anything new for 2025?
I think with the mini solar charging the whole point is to get at least some kind of energy in outdoor situations where you have no access to charge your device any other way, but I agree its a weird combination to put the energy bank under direct sunlight due to overheating. would have been better to just have solar panel with long cable to keep the device in shade
If I need to be able to bring it on a plane the highest capacity recommendation please we can be sure that planes are difficult enough to enter I don’t need one that requires special airline permission recommendation please thank you?
My thing is $80 for one, or $10 for 2 of the cheaper ones.
I’d love to see a head to head between all of the "40ah" – "60 ah" Amazon power banks
Akshada
Can I charge these with outlets
So what size of solar panel would be needed to fully charge a phone in, say, 3 hours?
I just bought one of these power banks mostly because it was on offer and I was buying some other 40w portable solar panel… Its pure rubbish, you only need to look at the specs. The one I have weighs like 300g, supposedly its 74wh with two lipos in there… The solar panel itself is 5v 0.2A, it would take 72 hours of sunlight to fully charge the two batteries.
lol I wished I watched this before I bought one that looks like the Blavor but hey at least it was cheap and a fun gimmick at worst!
How can I ordered that
Thank you so much 👍🏾
Thanks for the fair warning!
Products tested, in no particular order (affiliate links):
Blavor – https://amzn.to/3FKOD9D
4Patriots – https://amzn.to/3QuVQ2h
Anker – https://anker.pxf.io/AW5P97
QiSa – https://amzn.to/3snlPke
Survival Frog – https://amzn.to/3FP8OmM
I forgot to mention this in the video, but even the ‘winner’ gets the most lukewarm recommendation possible from me. It’s just hard to trust the long-term quality of cheap power bank brands – let alone one whose actual capacity is so far off from its listed capacity. So buyer beware.
A better alternative is probably just buying a dedicated solar charger and using that to charge a regular power bank. That way you can keep the battery out of direct sunlight. Not to mention, solar chargers tend to have bigger solar panels and thus output more power.