The Solar Adventurer II - A neat, yet unobtrusive, design.

The Solar Adventurer II is Powertraveller's latest power pack with integrated solar panels. It’s a small-sized, 10,000mAh/37Wh battery pack with great features and a neat, yet unobtrusive, design.

The Solar Adventurer II is aimed at those users who want to charge devices with a modest appetite for electrical power, i.e., smartphones, sat phones, tablets, and Type C PD laptops. It’s IP65 certified, which means it’s dust and waterproof, and it delivers 5V/3A, 9V/2A, and 12V/1.5A PD at 18W maximum. The USB-A output supports Quick Charge 3.0. The unit is about the size of a larger smartphone, but thicker, and it’s also quite heavy. It has a lid that opens up to reveal two last-generation solar panels. These are capable of recharging an almost completely depleted unit in about 4 to 6 hours, depending on available sunlight. I tested it under an early November sun, and it matched that claim pretty well. I also found out that you can position the lid with the top solar panel at any angle you like, as well as open it to 180° to make a flat surface across the two panels.

Two of the unit’s rounded corners have holes through which you can route a lanyard, while the lid has a small round-corner handle that serves as the slot for a Velcro strip to help the unit stay firmly closed when it’s not recharging. By the way, you can charge the unit while it’s powering equipment. It’s perhaps a silly way to describe a power pack, but the Solar Adventurer II is a cute device. It’s the kind of battery pack you can quickly toss in a backpack but just as easily keep in the pocket of a winter coat. If it weren’t so heavy and thick, it would probably even fit a trekking shirt pocket.

As for the usefulness of the Solar Adventurer II, my iPad Air 2 recharged fully and consumed about 70–75% of a full charge. That means if you recharge your tablet in the morning, you can recharge it again in the evening, provided there’s enough sunshine, of course.

Written by Erik Vlietinck - see the original review here.

Photo Credit - Kevin Merrey