BLKBOX Portable Solar Chargers- 12W Portable Folding Solar Kit Solar Charges iPads, iPhones, Tablets, Phones or Anything with a USB Connection (12-Watt Solar Charger)

First of all, don't read those 1 star ratings that say "Oh this charger doesn't fit any of my devices" or "DON'T GET IT, IT FRIED MY PHONE". Amazon doesn't sell stuff that doesn't work or if its not safe to use. They offer refunds if that's the case.Overview:I bought the 12 watt edition instead of the other versions because the 5 watt or the 7 watt chargers have bad efficiency. The 12 watt edition charged my LG G3 in a reasonable time. It doesn't take all day or 24 hours of direct sunlight to fully charge. Note: the LG G3 has a 3000 MAH Battery.This solar charger is great for people who like to travel. For me, I'm a student who has a crappy car, and if my car breaks down or it looses power when my phone's dead, I can power my LG G3 in a few minutes to make calls for help. Everyone should have one in their trunk like I do.Advantages:+ Charges fast, and safely.+ Great for emergency purposes and worst case scenarios.+ Able to charge two devices with a USB Hub.Disadvantages:- It only comes with one port.- The port is rated at 1.0 amps.- Doesn't include a built in battery pack. (Recommended for portable chargers)- It could have another set of holes in the structure near the bottom so you can make it stable if there's wind.- The manual it comes with is printed from printer paper. It's not quality made.Recommendations to the manufacture:- Add a "fixed" usb port hub to the product. 2 USB Ports at 2.1 amps would be great!- Include some phone cables.- Print a better manual.

I have been searching for a small folding panel for some time to take on hikes or short camping trips. I was not interested in paying top dollar for Goal Zero or similar ones and I did not want a ridiculously large panel either that would either encumber me or increase my standing for the nerd of the year award.My other constraints were enough current to charge a tablet and mono-crystaline cells to handle shading issues better. I rated it five but 4.7 would be closer to exact since it could use a larger pocket and most importantly, a blinking light for output power since the solar angle makes a difference and a visual indicator would be helpful. It works fine as-is but these would be improvements as I see it.I have an older Visio 8" tablet that is a power hog and takes forever to charge back up. It's battery was exhausted so I took it outside at 4PM (when this arrived), laid the panel flat on a patio table with the tablet under it (sun shielding), plugged it in and walked away. 90 minutes later I checked it out since the Sun was going over the ridge and the tablet had 36%! To me this was very impressive as it charges just like that indoors on a wall adapter. In fact, this tablet requires a high output charger to even get the Vizio back up from exhausted.I then took it on a weekend camp with some friends. At sunrise I draped it on the side of the tent with mini bungees, plugged my S4 into it and it was charging right off the bat. My S4 went from 80%-100% in about an hour. I went on a hike and left the panel for others to use. When I returned at about noon, there was a charged iPhone, iPad, and several other phones as well as huge line of devices ready for free charging time as soon as was possible. By the end of the weekend we even had neighboring camps come over for free charging time and everyone was super impressed -- me too. I did not hike with it attached to the backpack this time, but it is small enough to do so without hanging down to your legs like another competing products.I think that 12W is very versatile since it gives you plenty of current for a fast smart phone charge but has the ability to tackle tablets as well. I debated the smaller panel but for the small price difference, 12W is the way to go.The price is very competitive (dollar per watt) with little competition for value. I have not had it very long so I can not comment on long term reliability yet but the construction is solid and looks like it will last. It folds down small and fits in any pack well.I have since bought a 12000 mAh battery pack which fits in the little pocket it provides. This way, the panel can charge the battery during the sun hours and yet have power for night charges as needed too. If the pocket was a bit larger I might be able to fit a larger battery but I have not found a larger battery that fits properly. I think that having this two device approach allows for you to upgrade the pack at anytime since batteries do not last forever and tech is changing fast.I am now looking at a panel to charge a laptop when camping (for which this can not due the the USB 5V and lack of current) but I am not planning on getting rid of this one since it can be used independently.If it just had a larger pocket and a small blinking LED to indicate peak solar angle when generating it would be perfect. Of course I know to keep it directed to the sun for maximum output but I noticed that that concept was hard to convey to others as they thought as long as any light hitting the panels at any angle was fine.

Works REALLY well. I bought this and have had it for over a week. I noticed some people said they use it for camping or for "just in case" the lights go off. I am using it for everyday charging. I am in northern Maine and we don't have great sun here- lots of snowing still. Despite this, we put it on our sun porch and it still was charging my ipad; albeit slowly but surely. When there is full sun, we put it in the sunny window on the porch and it has charged 2 cell phones and the ipad in about 5 hours, although we were out of the house for part of that so not sure how long the phone was fully charged before we changed over to the ipad. I haven't put it outside because it is still quite cold so it charges well to be in a sunny window.It folds up nicely and fits in a small drawer. The little pouch that has the USB cable is small but fits the 3 usb cables I use for our phones and 2 ipads. I have to stuff them in a bit but it works. That would be my only suggestion to the company; if the pouch was a bit bigger you could easily put all your charging cords in there so they don't get lost.I will probably get another one so I can charge a couple items at once. Our electricity is quite expensive and we have so many electronic items that we have to charge daily that this only makes sense. One time our electricity bill was $110 but the delivery fee to have the electricity was $90 of that $110. So we plan on going off grid in the next 5 years.Update: December 15, 2014- still have them, still love them, still work great. I bought 2 more and have a sunroom I put them out in and charge all my gadgets. During the winter its a little more difficult because of the lack of sun, but when there is we immediately take advantage of free electricity. You will not be sorry with these!Overall, great product for a good price and have shown this to all my friends. Would highly recommend everyone get one of these. Especially for that "just in case"Thanks