Anchor Solar Charger With 14 Watts In The Short Test + Winners Of The Raffle Have Been Determined

We have a winner! In fact, three. The following three participants can look forward to an anchor solar charger:

• Lorenzo G.: He can take the charger on a trip to Morocco as a development aid worker.
• Karsten W.: He takes the charger with him to the pool and the beach in summer. Then only the cocktail is missing!
• Sebastian V.: He absolutely needs the charger for his trips to the Neckar meadow on the Rhine. Of course, only so that the iPad does not run out of juice while studying.

The winners have already been notified by email

Brief test of solar charger

The charging technology manufacturer Anker has provided us with a nameless solar charger with a maximum output of 14 watts for a short test. And not only that, we are also raffling off three of these mobile energy suppliers. You can find the raffle below.

Anker 8 and 14 watt solar charger on Amazon

Anker solar charger: specifications and impression

The specifications and equipment of the Anker charger look promising:

• PowerIQ technology for optimal adjustment of the charging power to the connected device
• 2 USB charging ports
• Up to 2 amps in total or 2 amps per port under direct sunlight
• 14 watt mono-crystalline solar cell with an efficiency of 15 and 18 percent
• Solar cell with hardened plastic surface made of PET, woven into a polyester cloth
• Folded size: 21.59 × 27.94 cm
• Weight: 680 grams
• Holes allow attachment to the backpack, tent, etc.

When we unpacked the charger, unfolded it and saw the five “pages”, four of them with solar panels and each a little smaller than A4, lying in front of us, our first impression was: But that's pretty heavy and big. No wonder, the solar cell technology is just not so advanced that it would be handy and efficient to charge at the same time. However, the device is not so heavy that you cannot attach it to your backpack in order to have mobile energy available when hiking - the corresponding holes for this purpose are practical. The cost of the anchor solar charger on Amazon is currently just under 50 euros.

The PowerIQ technology has already made a positive impact in our test of various USB chargers. This is also included with the Anker solar charger and should therefore enable fast charging of Apple and Android devices.

We didn't quite like the build quality, which has minor errors:

We tested the voltage and current with a measuring device from PortaPow. An iPhone 6 and a Galaxy S6 were charged, each with a battery level of between 50 and 70 percent.

You can find even more impressions of the device in our picture gallery:

Performance test

We took a closer look at three scenarios: indoor performance, outdoors with cloudy skies and bright sunshine.

In rooms

We carried out the first test under suboptimal conditions: rather bad weather, cloudy sky. Can the charger still deliver some juice?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. The solar charger can hardly be used inside buildings, especially if the light from outside is still softened by a cloudy sky. However, this was also to be expected, the use in buildings is also not an area of application for the solar charger.

The current in the interior of rooms in bad weather is only in the homeopathic area, the iPhone does not even recognize the charger. The result, however, is as expected and of little importance, since you usually have a normal charger in the room.

Cloudy sky

The test is already more interesting when the sky is cloudy, as it is unfortunately the most common weather condition in Germany even in summer. What does the solar charger do outdoors with thick cloud cover?

The result is quite impressive. At around 300 mA, the current strength is slightly more than half that of a standard USB connection on PCs and laptops (500 mA) - a useful value for the weather conditions. The current is sufficient to slowly charge a cell phone (time to fully charge: more than 6 hours).

Bright sunshine

At 20 degrees in the shade and bright sunshine, the solar cells show what they can do. We reach a maximum value of 4.9 volts and 1.53 amperes, which is a good 7.5 watts, which the charger can keep up with most socket adapters.

The calendar is still at the beginning of June. In midsummer there should definitely be more watts in the device, which definitely fulfills its purpose of reliably supplying electricity outdoors in summer.

In winter, on the other hand, and when the sky is cloudy, you will only be able to use the device to a limited extent or not at all, but it is not designed for that.

Conclusion

The Anker solar charger is partially convincing in the test. Even when the sky is cloudy, you can charge your smartphone slowly but surely. When the sun shines, it provides almost as much electricity as a so-called Wallcharger and is therefore ideal for the hot season.

However, we cannot make an unrestricted purchase recommendation. The processing should have been a little bit better. The decisive point is certainly the dependence on the weather and the season. A large external battery offers the same performance at all times if it is charged. The wattage of the solar charger varies greatly depending on the weather conditions.

In addition, the specification of the maximum power of 14 watts is confusing. This refers to the theoretical maximum power of the solar cells. According to the data sheet, a maximum of 10 watts is output, which the device, on the other hand, is also capable of performing in midsummer weather conditions.

Anker solar chargers on Amazon

Contest

We not only tested the Anker solar charger, we also want to give away three devices to our readers. To participate, write us in the comments what you would do with it: from festival to hiking tour, what do you need the charger for? Send us an email to [email protected] Only those who do both will take part in the competition.

The competition runs until June 14, 2015 inclusive.

Continue reading

• Overview of power banks
• Battery care, lithium-ion batteries
• USB: measure current and voltage
• Cell phone battery empty too quickly?
• USB connection: colors and connectors explained

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