The Ranting Reviewer does not get paid or receive any revenue from manufacturers or retailers of products reviewed. I occasionally receive products that I am asked to use and see what I think. I take a look, try them out and tell you all about them.
We have a really interesting item to review today. The LightSaver from PowerFilm Solar.
The LightSaver is a light weight, portable battery with a built-in solar material. Let’s take a look at it.
Weighing in just under 5 ounces, when rolled-up the LightSaver is a small cylinder almost 8 inches long and about an inch and a half in diameter. The outer material is durable and designed to protect the solar film. Two attached loops easily slide over the edges to keep everything rolled-up tight.
On one end is the input. Using the included cable, the LightSaver makes it easy to charge simply by plugging one end into a USB port (or plug) and the other into this standard micro-USB port.
While charging via the plug, a light gives an indication of how much charge the battery has. Using both a flashing and steady red and green light, you can quickly tell how much charge you have left.
The other end has a standard USB output. This allows you to plug in a tablet, phone, wireless ear buds or other equipment.
Unrolled, the LightSaver exposes the solar panels and is a little over 18″ long.
To give you an idea of scale, it really is pretty small.
The solar panels are very flexible.
When unrolled, the interior tube which houses the battery also provides the key to determining the charge level. Time to put it to work.
I charged it fully using the USB port and then made sure my iPhone 6 was running on fumes.
In a little over 2 hours, the phone was fully charged. Time to test the portability and solar panels.
A little winter backpacking? Sure, why not. With the loops built into the LightSaver, it was easy to attach to the outside of the backpack.
It is recommended that you lay it flat for full charging but decided to give it a real world test. The day bounced between sun and clouds, so the LightSaver did not get its recommended 6 hours of direct sun to fully charge, but after that day and the next, I was able to charge my phone up again.
Another way to have it at camp.
My Take: I thought the PowerFilm LightSaver was a great product. We all need more power and having a portable battery is a good idea. When you add the ability to recharge the battery without an outlet, you’ve got something good. When you make that product light, small and easy to use, you’ve got gold. If you are the outdoors type, but still want access to your electronics, the LightSaver is for you. Have someone in your life that likes to camp? Have a boat or a remote cabin? Like to sit in a hunting blind? All good reasons to pick up the LightSaver. You can find the PowerFilm LightSaver at Amazon for $99.99.
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