Who hasn’t used an extra power bank travelling or a long day out of the house to charge our phone.

EcoFlow, a company started in 2017 using expertise from drone batteries, makes large portable batteries for emergency use around the house, or portable use at the campsite or cabin.

Recently EcoFlow released the Delta Mini, a smaller version of their popular, and powerful, Delta power stations.

What is the Delta Mini power station?

The Delta Mini is the smallest and most portable power station in the Delta line still packing 882 watt-hours of power. On the other side, the largest station in the River line is the River Pro with 720 watt-hours.

The shape of the Delta line is more rectangular with the ports on the end compared to all the ports on the front of most power stations. This configuration actually works very well with the battery behind the seats of cars. It’s difficult to plug anything into the front when it’s shoved up against a car seat, but with the ports on either end like the Delta, they are all accessible.

The Mini really packs a punch for a small battery with charging quickly and powering high-wattage devices. The X-Boost and X-Stream features really make this battery seem much larger than it actually is. Check out the Output and Charging sections for more info.

What can you use the Delta Mini for?

You can use the Delta Mini to power just about anything you can plug in. It easily powers cameras, drones, laptops, and phones. We’ll get into more specs down below, but with the 1400 watt output (1800 watts with X-Boost on) it can power small hair dryers and heaters, power tools, overland fridges and computers. It could even power a 400 watt air conditioner for 2 hours.

Ok, let’s get into the details. What’s in this review?

• Specs
• What’s in the box
• Outputs
• Screen
• Charging
• App
• Alternatives
• Conclusion

Specs

• 882 Wh capacity
• 24 pounds
• 1400W output
• 1800W output with X-Boost on
• NCM Li-ion battery
• $1299 CAD

What’s in the box?

A few things come in the box:

• Delta Mini Power Station
• DC 5521 to 5525 cable
• MC4 cable solar charging cable
• AC charging cable
• Car charging cable

I like that it comes with the car charger. Many power stations don’t and it’s something that you have to buy separate.

Case and Outputs

The case is longer and narrower than most power stations with the handles on the sides. I prefer the center handles for one-hand carries but picking up with the end handles is easy and it’s not bad to carry around at 24 pounds.

The flat surface on the top is like a plate and is a great place to hold phones or drones as they charge.

The rectangular shape fits well behind the seats of cars. You still have access to either end to plug things in but it doesn’t take up as much space as a more square power station.

Output Ports

For outputs, there are 12 total with the AC, USB and DC.

The output ports are:

• 2 USB-A (5V DC, 2.4A, 12W max per port)
• 1 USB-A Fast Charge (5V, 2.4A/9V, 2A/12V, 1.5A, 18W Max)
• 1 USB-C (5/9/12/15/20V, 5A, 100W max)
• 5 AC outlets (house plugs) – 1400W total (Surge 2100W), 120V AC 60Hz, Pure Sine Wave
• 1 Car Power output (12.6V, 10A, 126W max)
• 2 DC

I love the USB-C port on it. I wish that was on every large power station now. With large items like laptops coming with USB-C cords now and requiring 60, 70 or 80 watts, you can ditch the big power brick and just use the USB-C cord.

The 3 USB ports are nice but I want more. With all my devices charging before a trip, I can have 10 or 12 USB things plugged in charging. There’s always the option of adding adapters to the AC outlets for more USB ports.

For the AC outlets, it’s nice to have 5. They are very close together so 5 large power bricks won’t fit together. Short extension cords would let you use all of them at the same time. I don’t think small power bars would break anything, to get more plugs, but don’t quote me on that. If you overload all the outlets with more than 1400 watts the battery just turns off.

The 1400 watt output is great for lots of small devices or a couple larger ones. With a surge of 2100 watts it can handle larger items starting up.

It’s not going to run large heaters for long or at all but it can do small hair dryers and heaters. With the X-Boost mode on you can do larger items up to 1800 watts that don’t require strict voltage like heaters. EcoFlow recommends only using 1 outlet with X-Boost on. X-Boost is on automatically but can be disabled in the app.

For testing, I ran a 1675 watt hair dryer out of one of the AC outlets. It ran for a couple minutes with no problems. The battery stayed on the whole time. I was watching the app at the same time and it didn’t turn X-Boost on but I’m not sure if it shows in the app when it turns on automatically.

Screen

The screen on the Delta Mini is clear and easy to see.

It shows the battery level in a big ring in the center and the remaining charge time at your current draw on the left. On the right is input and output.

Along the top are some warning indicators that come on if it’s too hot or cold. Along the bottom it shows you the ports currently using power like the AC output or USB-C port.

The screen is very bright, a bit too much for a dark tent, but you can reduce the screen timeout down to 10 seconds from the default 5 minutes if you want.

Charging

With the Delta mini we have 3 different options for charging:

• AC input port (900 watts max with X-Stream enabled) – 1.6 hours with X-Stream on
• Solar Input (300 watts 11-75V DC 10A max) – 4-7 hours with 2x 160 watt panels
• Car charger input (12V/24V DC 8A) – 9.5 hours

Car port charging

Not much to say about the car port charging. It comes with the car charging cable as many power stations don’t include it. It’s about 9.5 hours to charge fully in the car.

Solar Charging

The solar charging cable is an MC4 on the solar panel end and I’m still trying to find the exact specs of the battery end of the cable. The solar panel cable just connects straight to any solar panel with the positive and negative cables of an MC4 plug and then plugs into the battery.

The solar charging is capped at 300 watts from solar panels. You can use 2 160 watt panels or 1 400 watt panel. I didn’t have a 400 watt panel to test with but the specs say it’s slightly faster to charge from a single 400 watt panel. 3.75 – 7.5 hours with 2 160 watt panels or 3-6 hours using 1 400 watt panels.

AC charging

The AC charging is where the Delta Mini is more impressive than any other battery I’ve tested.

With the the X-Stream option turned on, that fast charges the battery. That means 96 minutes from 0 to 100% of 882 watts. That’s 900 watts input. Crazy fast for charging.

The faster you charge a battery, the more it wears it down. I wouldn’t want to use the X-Stream option all the time but it’s a really nice feature to have in emergencies or you just need to top up the battery before leaving on a trip. I will be charging at normal speeds as much as possible.

One last note on the charging is that it can keep a charge for over a year. I haven’t had an entire year of the battery sitting to test this but it’s nice to know that even if we forget to the top it up, there should still be some charge there if we need the battery in 6 months.

EcoFlow App

EcoFlow has an iPhone and Android app to help control the batteries. You can connect with wifi if you’re at home or wifi directly to the battery if you’re out of the house, like the campsite.

The app lets you control multiple batteries if you have them and shows temperature, total percent remaining and estimated time left. It also shows total watts coming in and going out. You can enable and disable the AC and DC ports as well as X-Boost on the AC ports.

In the options menu, you can adjust the min and max charge levels, the AC charge speed between 300W and 900W, the car input amperage between 4, 6 and 8 and if the unit beeps when you press a button. The beep is good feedback when it’s across the house somewhere, but I prefer it silent.

You can also set the idle timeout for the whole unit, AC outlets and just the screen. Lastly it lets you update the firmware through the app with one click. I updated the firmware from 0.1.0.0 to 0.4.2.3. I haven’t been able to find the notes on the features in the firmware versions but it’s working wells so far.

Connecting using wifi was really quick. I added the Mini in the app and it asked me to hold the IoT button on the device. It directed me to connect directly to the battery using wifi and then go back to the app. After putting in my wifi username and password it was connected.

When connecting, you get the choice to connect the battery to the wifi or a ‘no internet’ option where the phone just stays connected straight to the battery. This is good for a campsite but requires the phone to stay on the battery wifi the whole time. The app supports bluetooth connection but unfortunately there is no bluetooth to connect on the the Delta Mini.

In the house as long as the battery is in the house it stays connected to the wifi, I can just hop on the app any time to check the battery status.

For charging small devices just checking the screen isn’t a problem. I do really like smart home devices that I can control from a distance. I was surprised to see that the app let me connect when my phone wasn’t on the same network as the battery. Out of the house on the cell network I could still open the app and see the battery and it’s current stats.

I can see the app being useful if something critical was plugged in there and you had to keep checking how much battery was left. Most of the time, I just check the screen when plugging in devices.

Unlinking a battery from the app is easy with a button in settings.

Alternatives

EcoFlow has a couple alternatives that are close to the Delta Mini. The Delta is the same style but a bit larger. The River Pro is the largest and most capable of the slightly smaller River line.

Above the Mini, the Delta gets a capacity increase to 1260 Wh and with that output, surge, and AC and solar input increase. It also goes up a bit in weight and price. 30 pounds is still portable but does make it a bit more to carry around.

The River Pro on the lower side is smaller, lighter and less expensive but has lower outputs and capacity as well.

Both the Delta and the River Pro are excellent units but just different specs than the Delta Mini.

Conclusion

Verdict: Highly Recommended

Rating: 9/10

The EcoFlow Delta Mini portable power station is an excellent power station offering the features and output power of its bigger siblings in the Delta series but the portability similar to the smaller River series. Having 882 Wh of power to use up to 1400 watts (or 1800 with X-Boost) can power large devices around the house or the campsite. Many power stations pack a ton of power but can only charge small devices.

The 900 watt AC to charge the batter in less than 1.5 hours is very impressive. I don’t like to run this all the time but in an emergency or when you’re tight on time, charging this fast is so helpful. I don’t know of any other power stations that charge this fast aside from the other EcoFlow Delta

At just 24 pounds it’s easy to carry around the house or the campsite. I don’t use extension cords any more if it’s just a temporary job around the house. I just use the EcoFlow Mini.

The post EcoFlow Delta Mini Portable Power Station Review first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Otterbox have been in the phone accessory game a long time make some of the toughest cases on the planet. If you need a supertough, waterproof case for your phone, you get an Otterbox case.

In 2017 they used their plastic expertise to make some of the nicest backpack and hard-sided coolers you can buy. The hard coolers rival Yeti with their ice-keeping and production quality.

They’ve expanded their product line again to electric phone accessories with cords and battery packs. They now have 10,000, 15,000 and 20,000 mAh battery banks. The Fast Charge Qi Wireless Power Bank comes in 10k and 15k mAh sizes with a Qi wireless charging pad on top.

This review is about the 20,000 mAh Fast Charge Power Bank without the Qi charging pad.

The Fast Charge Power Bank has three different sizes: 10,000, 15,000 and 20,000 mAh. The iPhone 12 has a 3,687 mAh battery in it so you’ll get more than 5 charges with 20k mAh.

It’s not just for phones though, it can be used to charge anything that can be charged by 18W USB. It won’t charge MacBook Pro computers but it works well for anything smaller like tablets, phones, cameras and drones. With new drones like the DJI Mavic Mini 2 coming with USB charging built in or portable charging stations, it’s easy to charge on the move.

It takes about 4 hours to fully charge. Some chargers are faster than others. Directly connected to the wall with a fast charger will charge the fastest. Just plugged into a computer will take longer.

The 4 LED lights indicate how charged it is. One click and it shows you the lights and the current charge level.

It has 2 ports, 1 USB-C and 1 USB-A port. Both can charge at 18 watts output.

Spec List

• 1 USB-C port, 1 USB-A port
• 18W fast charge on both ports
• Power Delivery on both ports?
• 20,000mAh (5k, 10k and 15k available as well)
• 15.9cm x 7.83 cm x 2.34 cm
• 435 grams (.96 pounds)
• $59.95 CAD for the 20,000 mAh model ($54.95 USD)

What I like

Feels and looks good

The power bank is the best looking power bank I’ve seen. Most are simple plastic or are made with slippery materials with no attention to the details. The faux-leather material on the Otterbox feels amazing and is easier to hang on to, and won’t slide around much on a dash.

Sturdy

Most power banks are fragile electrics. One drop and it’s toast. Otterbox builds their products tough. I’ve already dropped a few times accidentally and it looks brand new and works great. This makes it a bit heavier than other power banks but it will likely last longer being chunked in a backpack.

18 watts with Power Delivery output

Most small chargers only do 5 to 10 watts which doesn’t charge bigger devices like some cameras and tablets. 18 watts does a good job with all the smaller devices until you get to the larger laptops.

What I don’t like

Only 18W output

18W charging can power plenty of smaller devices but it’s not not quite enough for bigger laptops. I tested the Otterbox a 15′ Macbook Pro and while it did help power the laptop, it wasn’t gaining any ground. It might be able to increase the battery while asleep but in use it just slowed the decrease.

Can’t fast charge with both ports

The fast charge only works with one thing plugged in. It would be nice to see both ports fast charge. 1 is still great though but you just have to be aware that it won’t fast charge 2 phones at the same time.

Who is this good for?

Folks on the go a lot who need a bigger power bank. If you are constantly using a small laptop, tablet or camera and running out of juice, this is a great power bank to get. The 18W charge keeps up with tablets and bigger cameras that demand more power.

Being on the larger and heavier side, you probably won’t take it ultralight backpacking but with everything USB powered these days, the 10k version is smaller and lighter and could easily fit into your backpack to help charge your headlamp, GPS, and phone on the trail.

The post Otterbox 20,000 mAh Fast Charge Power Bank first appeared on Pack & Trail.

This is not a tiny battery pack that fits in your pocket and charges your phone once. This is a bigger power station that you can take with you on road trips, camping or have for emergencies at home that can charge your phone more than 20 times.

This Jackery Explorer 240 review will cover the specs of the battery pack, how many charges you can get from it, it’s pros and cons and whether you should buy it.

Specs

• 240 watt hour battery lithium-ion battery pack
• 1 AC outlet, 200W (400W peak)
• 2 USB-A ports
• 1 DC car port with pure sine wave converter
• Wall charger
• Smooth solid handle
• Built-in MPPT controller
• Battery Management System has Over Voltage Protection and Short Circuit Protection
• 3.1 kilograms (6.6 pounds)
• Charges up completely in 6.5-7 hours.
• $259.99 CAD, $199.99 USD
• 160, 240, 500, 300 and 1000 available.

Charges

Most small phone USB batteries might be 3000, 5000 or 7000 mAh and charge your phone a couple times.

An iPhone 8 has a 1821 mAh battery. When it’s completely dead and is turned off it will require 1821 mAh to charge up to full.

If it’s running then it’s using battery at the same time you charge it, usually at a slower rate.

It’s got a lot of juice to charge.

• iPhone 8: 24 charges
• 40w Electric blanket for 10 hours
• 13 inch laptop 3.5 times.
• 60W TV for 3 hours

The Explorer 240 has a 240 watt hour battery which is equivalent to about 64000 mAh. That’s a few more charges than your average pocket or purse battery.

Pros

The Explorer 240 has a lot going for it:

• Small
• Lightweight
• Powerful
• Easy to use
• Comes with car charger
• Solid handle to pick up and go

The 240 is very easy to use. Plug it it in when you need a charge from the included wall charger. Then plug in your stuff to the AC or USB outlets when you need a charge.

I do forget to the turn the outlets on sometimes and then nothing charges. But with USB cords being as flakey as they are these days, I usually wait to see if my phone or camera is actually charging before leaving. Cords can break or sometimes just don’t charge until you unplug them and plug them back in.

I don’t have any solar panels at the moment to test with (and it’s the middle of winter) but Jackery’s solar panels just plug into the input so that’d be easy to do as well.

Cons

My only gripe is that it doesn’t have any USB-C ports. The Explorer 240 has been out for a few years now so I don’t fault Jackery for not including any but I’m certainly hoping the next iteration includes them. USB-C popularity has skyrocketed in the last few years and anything USB will likely use the connection.

USB-C not only is a more universal connection but can offer faster charge. Older USB cables can charge from 2.5 to 4.5 watts. USB-C (assuming both ends are compatible) can charge up to 100 watts. This is plenty for laptops and other bigger devices. USB-C has already powered Macbook laptops for the last few years.

I’m looking forward to this being added in the future.

Conclusion

Should you buy a Jackery Explorer 240 portable power station?

If you have any small electronics at home, go on road trips, living in the van, camping or want to prep for emergencies, you should have a smaller portable power station like this. Yes there are larger power stations that can power your house for days at a time, but they’re massive and hard to move around. At only 6.6 pounds the 240 is easy to pick up and take wherever you want in the house or campsite.

If you need something slightly larger, Jackery does have an Explorer 500 version that’s slightly larger with 500 watt hours of power.

The Jackery Explorer 240 won’t fit in your pocket. But it’s perfect for the basecamp-style situations at home, in the van or the campsite.

The post Jackery Explorer 240 Review: Portable Power Station first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Fortunately Goal Zero know how to make a good battery pack.

They make batteries from tiny battery packs for you phone up to massive units that can power your house.

The Goal Zero Sherpa 100 AC is in between. At about 2 pounds, it’s not going to fit in your pocket but it easily fits in a backpack to charge all your electronics on the go. The 94 watt hours (wH) can charge a GoPro camera around 19 times, phone 7 times or a laptop 1.5 times. This all depends on the size of your batteries but that’s still a ton of charge for a tablet sized battery.

See all our other battery pack and power station reviews.

The 94 watt hours is just about the biggest battery you can fly with as well, which makes it a deadly travel partner if you need to stay powered up.

Let’s check out the specs and then get into what makes the 100AC so awesome.

Specs of the Sherpa 100AC

• $449.95 CAD ($299.95 USD)

• 94.72Wh (25600 mAh)

• 2 60W USB-C ports

• 1 100W AC port

• 2 2.4A USB ports

• Qi wireless charging pad

• 4 USB cables (Lightning, Micro USB, USB-C and USB-C to USB-C)

• Recharge and charge at the same time

• 8mm solar charging port

• 2 lbs

• OLED display for charging info in and out

Pros to the Sherpa 100AC

What are the things that make the 100AC stand out?

All the Ports

With 2 USB and 2 60 watt USB-C ports, there’s plenty to plug in with here. The Qi charging pad on top, also can charge up a phone with wireless charging.

Either of the 2 USB-C ports can charge a device or charge the battery. The 8mm solar port can also charge the battery from many of the Goal Zero solar panels.

An 100 watt AC port rounds out the ports. Almost any regular electronics or charging cords can plug into this one.

Get your power data with the big screen

When you have limited power, it’s nice to know exactly how much you have left. The OLED display shows number of watts input and output for each of the ports. There’s a spot that shows time to empty as well based on how much energy you’re drawing.

Cons to the Sherpa 100AC

There are always things that could use improvement.

Weight

There are always trade-offs with features and durability. The 100AC is more durable than your average battery, meant to be travelled with and hauled around. All the ports, especially the AC port, are heavier than just USB ports.

All this included though are par for the course when it comes to batteries this big. Most batteries are smaller in weight but much smaller in capacity. It’s difficult to find any batteries that are this big with this much power, except for maybe the 100PD.

Compared to the Sherpa 100PD

The Sherpa 100PD is a similar battery pack to the 100AC reviewed above, also from Goal Zero, but a bit smaller with fewer ports. The 100PD has 1 60W USB-C port that can charge and take a charge, 2 regular USB ports and the Qi charging pad on top.

The 100PD 1.4 pounds is a bit lighter than the 100AC’s 2 pounds. It includes a smaller screen with only the percentage full. For battery capacity it still manages to match the 100AC with 94.7 Wh or 25600 mAh.

For me it all comes down to ports on these guys. Obviously the size and weight of the 100PD is much smaller and lighter but if you need the AC port and 8mm solar port then the 100AC is going to be a better unit for you.

Conclusion

Do I recommend the Sherpa 100AC battery pack from Goal Zero. Definitely. For the right person.

The 100 AC isn’t for the lightweight hiker looking to power their tiny phone and inReach Mini for a 2 week trip. The smaller Flip 30 or something similar would be better for that.

It’s for for travellers with laptops. For outdoor creatives and digital nomads with camera equipment. For the mobile office type who like to work anywhere and get through a full day, or more, with all their electronics.

Depending on what ports you need the smaller and lighter Sherpa 100PD might suit you better. Either way you decide to go, you’ll get quality build and good support from Goal Zero and many, many hours of extra charge on your trips.

The post Goal Zero Sherpa 100AC Battery Pack Review first appeared on Pack & Trail.

I see both sides. Some hikes and paddles my inReach and GPS are probably the only thing that comes with me and they stayed packed away until the rare occasion they’re needed.

Other road trips or car camping trips where I’m trying to get some photography and writing done, I’ll have a GoPro, Canon mirrorless camera, laptop, phone, GPS, and inReach, not to mention all the USB campsite lights.

Whether you like it or not we need power to charge things. Battery packs have become a necessity for outdoors, travelling or even just charging around the house. GoalZero make a couple larger battery packs that are exceptional when it comes to the heavy duty charging we have to do sometimes.

Goal Zero Sherpa 100PD Laptop Power Bank

It’s a long name for a pretty small device. At it’s core the Sherpa 100PD is just a big battery pack. But it’s got some fancy features that make it more powerful than your basic Anker battery.

Let’s get the specs out of the way in case you’re looking for those and then we can dig into what makes it unique.

Specs:

• 94.72 Wh (just under airline limit)

• Qi charging pad on top

• 60W PD power delivery ports

• two 2.4A USB type A ports

Now what does these specs mean?

The Sherpa 100PD is smaller and lighter than the 100AC but with fewer ports.

The 100PD can charge 4 devices at one time. 2 with the USB Type-A ports (rectangle ports), 1 with the USB-C (rounded port), and one with the Qi wireless charging pad on top.

The rectangle Type-A ports charge just like older laptops and computer ports would with 2.4A. These are great for slowly charging phones and other devices that don’t support any sort of fast charging.

The rounded USB-C PD port is a 60 watt Power Delivery port meaning this can charge compatible devices much faster. This port can charge your phone or larger devices like mirrorless cameras and even laptops like the USB-C Macbook Pros. When you’re on the road or travelling, that bit of extra juice to get through work on the laptop or just a movie makes all the difference.

The USB-C port is also the input.

How many times will the 100PD charge a phone?

As always charging times depend on your phone, the battery, the temperature, the altitude, and whether it’s a Tuesday with a full moon in the summer.

Goal Zero says the 100PD can charge a tablet 4 times, a phone 8 and laptop twice. If you have a smaller battery on your phone it will be less. My iPhone 7 with it’s 7.5 watt-hour battery can be charged more than 8 times from this.

My Macbook Pro has a 76 watt-hour battery can be charged just over one time.

Charging the 100PD

Goal Zero includes a long USB-A to USB-C cable in the box so you can charge it from a USB plug on the wall or on your computer. Using a regular USB outlet, it takes about 8-10 hours to charge.

If you buy the optional 45 watt fast charger, that reduces to 3 hours.

Improvements

The 100PD is a solid charger that I take with me everywhere now but there are some improvements I’d love to see.

With everything getting faster and faster these days, it’d be nice to get the fast charger in box and not have it separate. On the other hand, once everyone has their own fast chargers then getting yet another one is a bit of a hassle.

With everything going USB-C now, I’d love to have 2 of these ports and just one of the old regular USB ports.

Compared to some of the other batteries without the rugged case, the GoalZero is a bit on the heavy side. I like it because I tend to drop things and want them to last. I usually take a smaller, lighter battery pack backpacking with me when I go which is the only time I’d really be worried about the weight. In the car or at home it doesn’t matter.

Compared to the Sherpa 100AC

Sherpa 100PD battery pack beside the larger Sherpa 100AC.

The 100PD has a very similar sibling, the Sherpa 100AC with the same 94 wH capacity.

The 100AC is a bit larger and has a full AC port on it. Not everything runs on USB. With that comes a fan to cool things down when it heats up. The fan only runs when the AC port is being used.

The 100AC also has 2 60W USB-C PD ports, 2 Type-A ports, Qi wireless charger and an 8mm input for plugging in solar panels.

The small screen on the 100AC gives you more info about how many watts are going in and out.

If you need more ports or the AC port and don’t mind the size increase, then the 100AC is for you. If you’re looking for a little more streamlined and lighter weight then the 100PD is a good one to look at. They both have the same capacity and charge at the same speed.

Check out the full Sherpa 100AC review.

Conclusion

It’s hard to go anywhere these days without carrying extra power. These big battery packs aren’t for the fast and light trips but car camping, road trips, travelling or even extended backpacking the Sherpa 100PD might be the perfect charging station for you.

Both the 100AC and the 100PD have worked flawlessly so far, one just being bigger with more ports than the other. Now I just need to find all my USB cords.

More Photos

The post Goal Zero Sherpa 100PD Battery Pack Review first appeared on Pack & Trail.

After almost giving up and leaving the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he was helping at the time, he came to a realization:“If not us, who? If not now, when?”

One of the issues was power. Getting reliable power opens a lot of doors for people in developing countries and helps those in need after emergencies like natural disasters.

Since the start with a focus on helping in developing countries and emergency situations GoalZero has really pushed into the outdoor market with charging, storage and lighting solutions for base camping and backpacking. Recent innovations have included partnering with tent makers for lighting and power storage built right into the tent.

The Flip 30 is another well-made power storage solution from GoalZero aimed at anyone needing extra power on the go. If you own a smart phone or tablet these days, that’s you.

See our other battery pack and power station reviews.

What is the Flip 30?

The GoalZero Flip 30 is a USB battery pack for charging your USB devices. Charge it up with a laptop, wall outlet or solar panel and then take it on your adventures to power up other USB devices. It’s perfect for charging your phone, tablet, cameras or GPS.

How to Use the Flip 30

Using the Flip 30 is easy. Plug it in anywhere with the attached USB plug. The 4 blue lights on the side flash until it’s full. Each of the lights show 25% so 2 lights mean it’s 50% full.When you need a charge plug in your USB device and press the charge button by pressing the USB plug into the side of the Flip 30.If you need to know how much charge is left on the battery, click the USB plug button once and the lights will come on show a light for each 25%.

Features

The GoalZero Flip 30 is a pretty simple device. Charge it up from a laptop, wall, or solar charger. Take it with you on adventures and use it to charge any USB device like phone, GPS or camera.

Here’s the specs for the Flip 30:

• flip-out USB plug
• one 5V 2.1A USB output
• 5V 1.5A input to charge from laptop, wall or solar charger
• charge status lights
• 7800 mAh (3 phones charges or 1 tablet charge)

What’s a mAh?

All battery packs will have a size rating in mAh, or milliamps. It’s the rating for the size of the battery in them, how big their gas tank is. These numbers are important when you’re taking a battery pack on a trip to charge something. You’ll need to find out how much each of your devices takes to charge.

If I wanted to charge an iPhone 7, it’s battery requires 1960 mAh to charge so if I have 7800 mAh total in the Flip 30 then I’ll get 3 to 4 charges for the phone.4 charges * 1960 mAh = 7840 mAhThat’s cutting it close and requires the Flip 30 to be brand new, working perfectly and fully charged. Most batteries capacity drop a bit over time.If you wanted to charge an iPad mini that requires 6470 mAh, then you’ll get 1 charge and have a bit left over.7800 – 6470 = 1330 mAh.

The Flip 30 is a small to medium sized battery pack these days. You can get 10,000 to 20,000 mAh charges in relatively small sizes. The bigger batteries will be heavier. Add up the number of charges for each device you’ll need on your trip for the total number of battery packs you’ll need.

Built-in USB plug

The best feature about the Flip 30 is it’s built in USB plug. You don’t need to carry around a USB cable to charge it, just flip out the plug and plug it in. I’ve forgotten the charger cable for other batteries I’ve had and been stuck carrying around a dead battery. Not as useful.This flip out plug is a mixed blessing. Trying to plug the Flip 30 into something other than a laptop isn’t great, it hangs off the flip out plug. So far nothing has broken and everything is charging properly. I feel like hanging off a desktop computer or wall charger too much puts a lot of stress on the flip out plug and might lead to issues.

Solid construction

Some electronics feel cheap and like they’ll fall apart after a few uses. Definitely not the case with the GoalZero Flip 30. The case on the battery feels solid like it would survive drops from a good distance. I haven’t tried to drop mine to see how it would survive but it’s fallen to the ground a few times on the dirt or carpet with no issue.The flip out USB plug is the only thing I worry about. Rotating out, the wires have to move. Only long term use is going to show how long the plug lasts. So far it’s worked great.

Long USB cord issue

The only issue I’ve had with the Flip 30 is an intermittent one. One of my 10’ long USB cords causes the Flip 30 to stop charging after a random amount of time. All my shorter cords have worked perfectly.Usually I get 5 to 10 minutes of charging with the long cable and then it stops like it’s not connected to anything and I have to press the charge button again.Chatting with a GoalZero rep, they are aware if the issue and are working on a fix. Normal length USB cords still work perfectly.

Alternative: GoalZero Venture 30

One alternative to the Flip 30 is the Venture 30. Another one by GoalZero the Venture 30 is pretty similar to the Flip 30 with a couple of differences.The similarities are that it’s got a 7800 mAh charge, the same capacity as the Flip 30. Outside of that it’s got a few notable differences.The Venture 30 is waterproof. IPX6 water resistant which means splash resistant getting a bit wet from rain or snow isn’t going to phase this battery. It’s not dunk resistant though. Don’t chuck it in the lake.There are three connections on the Venture 30 compared to the Flip 30’s one. Two of the connections are just female usb ports and one male micro-USB port.The downside to the additional features is that the Venture 30 is more expensive at $99 US and 2 oz heavier. If you need the waterproofness or additional connections though the extra cost is worth it.

Summary

Pros

• Solid construction
• No cord required with the flip-out plug
• Charge status lights
• Compatible with any solar charger with USB out

Cons

• Thicker than other batteries (but short)
• Doesn’t work with some long USB cords (will be fixed soon)
• Only one port

If you need power on the goal, GoalZero has a solution for you. If it’s waterproof then the Venture 30 is the one for you. Otherwise, the Flip 30 is less expensive and still has enough power for a few phone charges. It’s thicker than some other battery packs but much more compact. Depends on where you’re going to put it for what form factor you need.Whether we like it or not, we’re dependent on the little gadgets in our pockets. You might have the willpower to leave your phone at home for all your hikes. I don’t. And then the battery dies. But not any more.

More Photos

The post Tiny Power: The GoalZero Flip 30 Review first appeared on Pack & Trail.

You’ll probably just toss it in your backpack and be carrying around dead weight. You might be annoyed that you can’t Instagram your adventure to make your friends jealous. You might be freaking out because your GPS or phone just died and that was the only way you know how to get home (please also carry a compass). None of these are the situations we want to be in.

With all the devices we have these days, we’ll need to charge one of them where there’s no power. Batteries are great but you have to charge them at home and carry them around.

So what’s the best way to do it?

SunJack 14W Solar Panel charging a GPS and GoPro

Another option is to carry a small solar panel. You can charge your phone or GPS right from the panel when you’re hiking or stopped to have lunch. You can also charge up a battery pack and then use the power whenever you need it. iPad sized solar panels are becoming a very popular way to charge up your stuff without having to carry to much.

The panels are also great for emergency kits so you’ll have power if you’re stuck somewhere or other emergencies.

I got a chance to review the SunJack 14W Solar Panel and 8000mAh battery. This solar panel and USB battery come in a kit together but you also get them separately.

Who’s SunJack?

SunJack is a cool little company making quality solar products for any use. They started when their Kickstarter campaign took off in 2014 and they’ve been making cool solar stuff since. They’ve got lights, solar panels and batteries so far but with gadgets with batteries and alternative energies taking off I’m sure they’ll be making more cool stuff soon.

Read more about SunJack on their about page.

The SunJack 14W Solar Panel

Solar panels can range from smaller than your phone to as big as you want. The bigger the panel, the faster it will send power to your devices. Obviously you don’t want to carry around a massive panel on a trip so you’ll have to match how much you want to carry with how long you care to wait for a charge.

The SunJack 14w panel has 4 separate panels sewn together. They velcro together into a small kit about the size of an iPad and an inch thick. Unfold the panels and hang it or prop it in the sun to charge. The more directly you can face it to the sun, the faster it will charge.

SunJack 14W solar charger folded is about the size of an iPad

The first panel has a zippered pouch on the back where the battery is tucked into an elastic strap. The pouch has 2 zippers on it which is nice. You can move the zippers to wherever you want if you have chords hanging out of it. The pouch is big enough to hold small things you are charging while the panel is hung up in the sun. I try not to leave my phone out in the sun to charge so it doesn’t get too hot but being hidden in the pocket on the back keeps it in the shade.

There are 5 loops around the outside and 2 carabiners so you can hang the panel anywhere and get it to face the sun. You can also stand or prop it up to get better light.

The 8000 mAh Battery

You can plug your device straight into the panel or you can charge a battery and then use that to charge later. The SunJack panel will charge 2 devices at once. This splits the charge going to both. You can keep the battery pack plugged in and charge your phone at the same time. I tend to charge 1 thing at a time so it charges faster. The 14W panel charges a phone in around 90 minutes. It will charge the battery in about 5 hours depending on the conditions. Less light means a slower charge. The battery will charge a phone about 4 times or a tablet once.

SunJack solar panel charging a battery pack

You can plug in any battery pack you want so if you have 3 or 4 on a trip, or you want to charge a friends you can. The battery also has can be charge from a wall outlet if you want to stock up at home or in town and then recharge with the panel.

Tapping the button on the battery lights up 5 lights, each of which show 20% of the battery. All lights showing? Battery’s full. 1 light showing, battery’s at 20%.

The battery also has a little LED light built right it. It’s not bright enough to be hiking with but if you just need to find your headlamp or do something quick in the tent, it’s all you need. Holding down the battery button turns on the light.

Qualcomm Quick Charge

An interesting feature with the 8000 mAh battery built by Qualcomm is their Quick Charge feature. Use the link to find out if your phone is compatible. iPhones are not compatible, just Androids with a Snapdragon processor inside. If you plug in a compatible phone it will charge 4x faster than a regular charger. You need to use the Quick Charge port on the battery and the Quick Charge compatible cable.

Performance

The bigger than panel the battery when it comes to solar. Their efficiency makes a difference too. The SunJacks have a good power to weight ratio compared to some of the other adventure solar panels on the market these days like GoalZero.

The SunJack panel charges the 8000mAh battery in about 5 hours, depending on the conditions. Bright direct sunlight is your best charger. Shade or overcast isn’t so good. At some point it stops all together. I’m not sure how to measure this point but it was less light than I thought would do anything. The battery charges in less light than a phone will. Then you just charge your phone from the battery.

SunJack solar panel charging a GoPro

Plugged straight in a phone will charge in about 90 minutes. That all depends on how big your phone battery is and what it’s doing at the time. A phone in airplane mode is going to charge faster than one with music and map apps running. I like to charge the battery and then the phone if I can so I don’t waste any light when the phone is done charging.

The solar panel seems to pick up light in pretty low conditions. Bright shade and overcast will still charge the battery. It will charge through windows like on the dash of your car but it can’t be too far from the window.

This guy was charging his through a window in a blizzard.

The battery has two ports, one is 2 amp and the other is 1 amp. This is the measurement of how fast the electricity flows from the port. If you’re phone is recent then you can take advantage of the 2A fast charge port and charge faster. Newer phones will charge faster on these ports. 

Size and weight

The whole kit with panel, battery, 2 small carabiners, and 1 USB cord all comes to less than 800 grams (1.75 pounds). Unfold the panels and it’s about 79cm long and 23cm wide (31” long and 9” wide). You won’t be taking this on an ultralight trip but if you are willing to carry a bit and need the power then it’s a compact option.

Compared to GoalZero Nomad 13 and Venture 30

The SunJacks’ are a great deal compared to other panels out there. Just as an example here are the prices for the Nomad 13 and Venture 30, a comparable option from GoalZero.

I’m using US dollars here because they made it easy to compare everything. I couldn’t find everything in Canadian prices. I did see some SunJack stuff on Amazon.ca but the prices are crazy. I’m not sure why they’re so high. Us Canadians might have to wait until the prices come down a bit for them to be a good deal.

SunJack 14w panel and 8000mAh battery $120 USD

Nomad 13 and Venture 30 (7800 mAh) $160 USD

GoalZero prices have come down recently but a similar setup is still $40 more with a less powerful panel and smaller battery.

What else can you get?

SunJack also has a few other products and I’m sure more are in the works. These prices are from SunJack’s website.

• 20w panel with 2 8000mAh battery packs ($200 USD)
• individual 8000 mAh battery packs ($30 USD)
• USB AA and AAA battery charger ($20 USD)
• LightStick Powerbank – a waterproof light and battery at the same time ($40 USD)
• coloured CampLight with remote ($15 USD)
• weather proof sleeve for the panels ($5 USD)

Summary

The SunJack 14w solar panel and 8000 mAh battery pack are a great solar setup for small gadgets and charging things when you need power on a trip or in an emergency. The compact panel and fast charging make it a great option. My only gripe is they need better product names so I can stop typing 8000 mAh battery so much!

I’ll be reviewing more solar and portable power solutions in the near future but it’s going to hard to beat the size and speed of this setup.

More Photos

The SunJack’s panels fold out

The small SunJack panel can go anywhere

The SunJack battery can hold power for later

SunJack solar panel charging

SunJack solar panel can charge 2 USB device at once.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the 14W Solar Panel + 8000mAh Battery for free from SunJack in consideration for a gear review.

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