Concluding Remarks
I really like the concept, portability, convenience and eco friendliness of this product. The concept is a great one. Unless the sun falls out of the sky and we live in a forever dark work solar energy will always be a clean and renewable energy resource. It is also good to see that BetterEnergySystems is Eco Friendly and cares about our environment.
The portability and the convenience of the Solio is second to none. It doesn’t take up too much room in your bag, and it comes with pretty much every AC power adaptor for any AC outlet in the world. Everyone that has ever had a personal electronic device ie cell phone or Mp3 player has had that device die on them at some time. With the SOLIO, if you find yourself away from electricity for any extended amount of time, you can recharge this device with no problems assuming you have the right tips for your devices! This is perfect for people that enjoy the outdoors, ie campers, hikers, adventure sports etc. you know you will always have power with you for your devices with the SOLIO around.
As mentioned above in the article, the SOLIO takes a bit of time to get power stored into it via solar energy. It also takes a bit of time to charge an electronic device from the energy stored with in the SOLIO. If the engineers at SOLIO could figure out how to expedite this energy transfer process, this product would be even better!
The other detail I noticed with my SOLIO, is regarding the barrage of tips I received in the box. It is great that SOLIO gives you a whole bunch of the more popular tips for mobile phones, and other electronic devices, but of the mobile phone tips I got in the box, none of them fit my Nokia or Seimens celluar phone. This is sort of an annoyance as now I have to go onto the SOLIO website and purchase the correct tips for my phones. At $9.95 per tip plus tax , shipping and possible duty, this may become a bit of a barrier for people looking to purchase the SOLIO.
With the magnitude of different electronic products on the market the vast number of new cellular phones each year, companies that produce adaptors must go bananas trying to keep up making the correct adaptor tips. I know it is sort of a catch 22, for the manufacture, as they have to include tips in the box, but maybe a company as “Eco-Friendly” as BetterEnergySystems could include in the box a one time “trade-in” program for the tips you don’t use for the tips that you need or do use. Just a thought.
Other than this, the SOLIO Classic is a great device that I can see myself taking with me on a business and personal trips to locations where I may find myself away from AC power for extended periods of time. I would defnitely recommend this device to my gadget toting friends and family.
Pros
- Never be caught without power for your personal electronic devices ever again
- Solar power is a renewable, environmentally friendly clean resource
- Solio comes with every adaptor for worldwide usability
- Suction cup to windows for solar charging is handy
Cons
- Getting power in and out of the Solio takes a long time
- My Solio kit didn’t come with tips that fit any of my mobile phones
- Extra tips are $9.95 plus tax and shipping
- Not too sure if it is weather proof (ie water, snow, extreme temperatures)
Overall Rating: 9.0 / 10.0
