Let's face it. No matter how great the battery, eventually its going to need recharging. A simply task if you're at home or the office or, for most, even the car. But what if you're out on a hike or camping?
Solio Hybrid 1000 is a portable charging solution that not only re-charges your Windows phone battery but also has the ability to recharge itself. The Hybrid 1000 relies on a solar panel to keep a 1000mah battery charged up that in turn can be used to replenish your Windows phone battery.
How well does the Hybrid 1000 perform? Just follow the break to see how electric this charging solution is.
Design
I was surprised by the size of the Hybrid when I first took the charger out of the box. From the photos I had the impression the unit was a few inches long and could clip on your key chain. To my surprise the Hybrid charger is rather large pushing ten inches in length.
Encased behind the solar panel is a replaceable 1000mah lithium battery. On the back side of the Solio is a start button. At the bottom of the Solio's face are two LED's to indicate charging status and battery level.
On one side of the Solio is the charging cable that will eventually attach to your Windows phone and to the opposite side, a USB charging port.
At the top of the Solio is a plastic spring clip that can be used to attach the Hybrid 1000 to a backpack, knapsack or the likes. The clip is sturdy enough for a secure hold and has a solid snap when closing.
A USB cable wraps around the Solio that accepts one of three adapters included with the charger. Included is an adapter for Nokia N-series phones, mini-USB, and a female USB adapter that accommodates USB charging cables.
Charging
The Solio comes uncharged and you have two options available to charge the 1000mah battery. The first is to use the enclosed USB charging cable with a computer to charge the battery. The second is to let the solar panel fully charge the battery.
Based on the user's guide it takes approximately 6 hours to fully charge the battery via the USB cable and 10-12 hours to fully charge the battery using the solar panel. Overcast skies will prolong this time. In testing the Solio, these times appear accurate.
You can check the battery level by pressing and releasing the Start Button. A green LED on the face of the Solio will flash corresponding to the battery level (one flash equals 20%, two flashes 40%, and so on.).
Performance
The Solio Hybrid 1000 seems to take an eternity to charge but re-charges devices at more of a normal rate. It took about 4 hours to replenish my Tilt2 with the 1000mah of power the Solio packs.
Which brings us to the one handicap the Solio 1000 has; the 1000mah battery won't fully recharge the larger batteries many Windows phones are being fitted with these days. Then again, the Solio Hybrid is an emergency source of power.
It will give you enough juice to survive off of until you can find make it back to an AC outlet. Worst case, the Solio will give you enough battery life to allow the Hybrid to recharge itself.
Overall Impressions
The Solio Hybrid 1000 ($49.95) is a decent re-charging solution for your Windows Phone. While the solar panel will extend the life of the 1000mah battery, it isn't practical to use it to fully charge this backup battery or at least not in a short period of time.
I can see this being a nice option for campers or maybe even to stow away in a boat. For day hikes, the Cellet Emergency Charger might be a more compact, practical choice for an emergency charging solution. However, the Cellet Charger doesn't have the versatility or charge capacity the Solio will have.
