If you are a true outdoor swashbuckler who needs to stay in touch with friends and family back home, this Solio Universal solar-powered mobile charger kit just may fit the bill. This is not some huge solar panel. It is rather, a well-packed (4.7 inches x 2.5 inches x 1.4 inches; and 5.8 ounces), circular-shaped device with incorporated three small panels, each 3 inches long. Even though the mobile charger is too big for your pocket, the Solio will without any trouble fit in a bag.

Opening the Solio mobile charger is easy to do: Just rotate the panels outward so that they look like a windmill. You may find the mechanism a bit loose, nevertheless, and the panels do not snap safely into place. On the rear side, nearly all panels of the mobile charger are ports for the wall charger and for the cord that hooks up to your device. You get mobile charger adapters for almost all Nokia, Motorola and Samsung phones, as well as adapters for the Palm Treo and the Apple iPod. However, the latest Sony Ericssons are not supported yet, nor are the latest Motorola mobile phones that use a USB mobile charger. The only additional external feature is a tiny power key that practically flashes to indicate the charging strength.

Different from other similar devices, the Solio mobile charger has an internal battery which can be charged via a standard wall mobile charger or straight from the sun. Charging from the wall is a direct process, and you should get a full charge in around 6 hours. But taking into consideration this is a solar mobile charger, it is preferable to utilize the sun as our power source. Solio's designers guarantee you will be able to fully charge the phone with 8 to 10 hours of straightforward sunlight. Bear in mind, however, that a cloudy day will make charging more strenuous, and those who use the solar mobile charger in far northern or southern areas during winter will have more problems.

As stated by the specs of the Solio's mobile charger, 60 minutes of sun will power your mobile phone for about 10 minutes of talk time and four days of standby time. The results are somewhat better when the Solio mobile charger is tested with the Motorola V600. The mobile charger was just plugged in the phone and aimed the at the sun. As for a design blunder, the Solio does not level by itself on its side, but you do get a suction cup for affixing it to a window. After letting it to the sun for about 45 minutes, you get enough juice on the mobile phone to make a 20 minute call. It is worth saying that if the Solio's battery is entirely drained when placed in the sun, it will not begin charging your device for about 5 minutes. What' more, the designer of the Solio mobile charger are not kidding when they state it needs to be placed in direct sunlight.