mPowerpad 2 xPlore solar charger - Metallic Silver

I would have given this 5 stars but it did not have pass thru charging, meaning the battery must be charged in order to charge a device even if in the sun. I did contact the actual company third wave, since the seller was just some independent store.Any way the company Third wave sent me a replacement solar charger that works with out any internal battery. (it's just a black foldable cell, works great)OK so back to this mpowerpad, yes it works and I do like it, but for my needs the black foldable one is much more useful and portable. This one I usually leave in the window or on desk or counter. My buddy has this same mpowerpad and he puts it on his motorcycle tank bag.It charges, phone, e cig, a little tablet. Probably could run a mini USB fan.All in all this is a good charger depending on your needs.Pros; internal battery, light, sos. Multiple usbCons; the internal battery has to be charged in order for the panel to work, it will not pass thru charge your device . The panel case is plastic. Rubber would be better.

The mPowerpad 2 is good in concept, but falls short in a few areas.The construction is not up-to-par for a $170 MSRP product. The larger portion feels ok to the touch - It is smooth plastic, but for a product designed for an active environment I would have preferred a rubberized product. The USB charging ports (2 x USB , 1 x microUSB), headphone jack, mono speaker and clickable thumbwheel are secured under water resistant rubber covers on both sides of the unit. The optional battery pack is held in place with a sprint loaded clip which is only 1/8" square. There is no contingency in case the spring fails or the clip breaks - the battery pack might get lost in an active environment and/or there is no other way to secure a replacement battery pack for charging. Finally, I am not a fan of the single clickable thumbwheel which controls every function on this unit. I have had real bad luck with clickable thumbwheels in the past and they are generally a single point of failure. There is no reason why the manufacturers/designers could not have come with individual buttons right below the feature on the mPowerpad 2 - which would have permitted faster access.Features:1. FM Radio - Convoluted controls. Turn to `FM', click, turn to `Hz', click repeatedly to scan for channels. To increase volume, turn to `Volume+', click to activate, click repeatedly to increase volume. Repeat process to decrease volume :o( Single -speaker radio has a decent antenna, but you need to have the speaker in the direction of your ear to listen (Headphone option also available)2. Reading light has a frosted cover with 35 lumens output which is sufficient - about the light you get from a  Maglite Solitaire Led 1AAA - Black Han - SJ3A016 3. Flashlight is grossly under-powered - not even the 35 lumens that the reading light has to offer4. SOS light is the reading light and flashlight flashing the SOS code. Based on how dark the night is the SOS is recognizable between 100-200m5. Ultrasonic Insect Repellant depends on the speaker. Since the speaker is hidden in a cavity, it is not as effective6. Device charging is good - each USB port can crank out a 1 Amp charge. For an iPhone 5s it took about 2 hrs 30 min to get a full charge. The charge rate was ~1% per minute till 80% and dropped to ~0.5% per minute after. You can get approximately 4 charges with a fully charged mPowerpad 27. Solar charging is also good - though I have not nailed down the exact time required to get from 0% to 100% charge, my best estimate is 8-10 hrsLastly, there are harness points on the top of the mPowerpad but not on the bottom - makes it very difficult to secure it down on a backpack when biking or keep it from flipping and whacking you in the back of the head.The mPowerpad does solve the need for a solar chargeable battery pack / radio / flashlight in one product, but the execution is poor.Pros:* Effective solar recharging - 8-10 hrs for a full charge (still evaluating)* Solar rechargeable battery pack* 6600 mAh battery pack* All-in-one solution for the camper/hiker/biker/etc. - solar chargeable battery pack / radio / flashlight / SOS Light / Mosquito repellant in one unit* Ability to add an additional 2500 mAH or 5000 mAh rechargeable battery pack to the mPowerpad 2* Quick 1 Amp recharging for portable devices* 2 x 1 Amp USB ports for charging 2 devices simultaneously* Water and dust resistantCons:* Too large and bulky - 9.5 x 7.3 inches* Smooth case provides no grip* No stand to set direction of unit or to hold unit up - for solar recharge/ultrasonic repellant/SOS light/reading light/etc.* Low less than 35 lumen flashlight is inadequate* No ability to secure unit from the bottom - e.g. tying it to a harness, etc.* No included wall/car charger

i first purchased this unit in June and was using it as a spare battery pack but failed to note how long it took to charge nor how fast it could charge my iPhone 5.This changed when I forgot to charge the unit fully before my trip to the U.S. and so decided to use the travel time between Singapore and the U.S. as a mini experiment.Placing the unit on top of my carry on luggage throughout the trip enabled me to charge the unit fully. I was able to charge my iPhone from 20% to full in roughly 50 minutes once the pack was fully charged.I like the convenience and light weight of the unit and recommend this to anyone looking for a portable solar charger.

This solar charger serves a need for me to maintain access to my phone and Kindle when wilderness camping. I've never had anything like this nor am I technologically sophisticated. Bear that in mind.The model mPowerpad 2 xPlore has a variety of functions, some adequate, some not worth much. The radio is fiddly to operate and not very useful. The flashlight is minimal...you'd be better off with moon or starlight. The reading light is quite good. I can't hear the insect averting frequency and I have no fewer bites so the jury is out for a younger reviewer. I like the SOS feature as an emergency beacon.I am going exclusively solar with this device so I did the initial charge by sun. It took 9 hours in full, uninterrupted WI sun. It would probably go faster elsewhere. After that, I used it to recharge my iPhone5 from 20% to 100%. It took about 90 minutes and I was pleased with that.The instructions are spare and that is putting it kindly. Read them closely. Apple products charge in port 1, Samsung in port 2....this in tiny print on the one page fold out guide. For functions, hands on trial and error was my guide. This version has a placeholder plastic block that fits into where the (extra,not included) battery pack could go.I really like the recharge capacity and that is my primary use. The thumbwheel control seems kind of awkward and inadequate to me. It makes switching functions unnecessarily irritating. I am probably most cheesed off by the box photo of a cyclist riding with this strapped to his back. That's just not happening with this device. If you look closely in the photo, there is some type of bracket at the top of the charger securing it. Without that mysterious bracket I see no way to use this as illustrated.Do I think this is a great inroad for personal use of solar? Yes. Is this well designed? Not really. The likelihood of this breaking or getting dropped in the course of hard use is pretty high. You want to protect it and yet, how will it work if not exposed to the sun? We'll see. I plan to use this in backwoods conditions and will edit to add in my longer term impressions. I think if you are interested in a portable solar charger, you can't go wrong with this. Just heed my comments about the cover photo! :)