I’m super excited to write this Blavor Solar Power Bank Review. I honestly think (and I’m not even sponsored for this) that the Blavor Solar Power Bank is the BEST power bank on the market.
If you don’t have time to read the review, here’s what you need to know: This solar power bank is phenomenal! It has GREAT wireless charging, great multi-port charging, fantastic power-delivery, charges fast, is heavy-duty, and holds a TON of power. Plus, it’s incredibly competitively priced, and I could NOT find a better power bank.
Unfortunately, a tough part of travel is not having an electrical outlet by you all the time. And even if you have it- do you really feel safe leaving your phone at some public charging place?
(I for one do NOT trust leaving my phone in a public place)
That’s why so many people get power banks. But I myself have been through quite a few, including some Anker power banks that I’ve been pretty disappointed in (Although I like other Anker products!).
I went on a business trip with my friends Chaz and Carsten and my Anker Powercore 20,000 was absolutely embarrassed by their Blavor Solar Power Bank 20,000 mAH.
I spent far more on my power bank, and had basically none of the features they had. They had the same capacity, power-delivery (which I did NOT have), 4 charging ports, solar charging, AND WIRELESS CHARGING! And they spent LESS than I did.
So, I returned my PowerCore and bought the Blavor Solar Power Bank and haven’t looked back.
Let’s get into the Blavor Solar Power Bank Review, and why you NEED to buy it.
What Even is The Blavor Solar Power Bank?
The Blavor Solar Power Bank is actually pretty crazy when you compare it to a normal power bank.
I’ve been used to just the ‘standard’ power banks that you just plug in at night and they’re full in the morning. With this, you have the option to have the SUN recharge your power bank.
Okay, okay- the solar power isn’t that powerful. But if you look at the math, if you leave it in the sun for 10 hours, it will provide enough charge for an iPhone 11/S20 from 0-80%.
So, if you’re walking out in California all day like I am, and you have it hanging off your backpack, you might find yourself getting a whole full recharge- and that can really make the difference if you’re out all day.
That can get you another Uber or keep your GPS up so you can get home!
It’s my favorite power bank by far, I love it.
Simply put, this thing is fantastic and has treated me way better then other power banks.
My old power bank could take 2 phones at once and charge them with a cable- which I mean was alright. It got the job done, right? It was nice to have in my backpack.
But this blavor power bank takes it literally a step forward in every spot in direct comparison to competitors:
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Wireless Charging
- If you lose your cable or your phone’s charging port gets water in it on vacation wireless charging makes it so you can still charge your phone. Most power banks do not have wireless charging. This feature alone makes the power bank so much more worth it, especially if one of your friends needs a charge.
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Way more charging ports and features.
- Most power banks are stuck on just having a USB output. I mean, go to your local Walmart or Target and you’ll see it. The blavor solar power bank brings USB-C to USB-C charging to the table- which is the new trend in 2021. USB-C to USB-C fast charging is probably the cable that comes with your new phone, laptop, or tablet- and this power bank will support it.
- Also, it has Power Delivery built-in, which most power banks will charge a HEAVY premium for.
It’s a STRONG power bank.
Look, most people just use their power bank for a quick recharge on their phone if they’re at school or something.
I use my power banks hard. When I’m traveling, I’m usually SUPER far from ANY electricity outlet.
If you see any pictures of me traveling, you’ll always see I have my power bank in my backpack charging something at least. Maybe it’s my AirPods, usually, it’s my phone, and sometimes it’s even my Chromebook.
Generally, it’s a combination of both. And sometimes you’ll have my phone charging, Carsten’s phone charging (which he probably snuck the cable in without me knowing), and he’s probably charging his Macbook too.
But with the multiple charging ports and the system Blavor uses to give equal charge to everything, it’s never a problem.
If you use a normal power bank, it might only have 1-2 USB ports. And even then, most of them will only charge ONE USB fast and the other one super slow. This is needless to say- just stupid.
Thank god the Blavor power bank doesn’t do this. I can have multiple devices charging constantly and the power bank doesn’t even flinch, it keeps charging everything good and keeps everybody happy.
It holds charge well and doesn’t break.
The power bank holds charge well and doesn’t really break in my experience. The blavor solar power bank comes in like a super heavy duty ‘case’ if you will. This is far different than the other power banks that come in like cheap plastic.
Furthermore, they claim the power bank is ‘IPX5 waterproof’- although I haven’t tested that myself.
Also, I wouldn’t recommend testing that yourself either. I’m one to say that it’s okay to get your phone wet, but really, what are you even doing to get your power bank wet? Just keep the power bank away from water at all times.
Regardless though, I’ve had power banks that just shut off if we have a laptop and phone charging. I’ve also had power banks that just overheat really bad and take forever to cool down to start charging again, etcetera.
For this power bank being put through what it’s been put through, I’m surprised it’s even still working.
When I stayed at a military base for a state-sponsored EMT school, I would carry the power bank in my backpack and that would be my only source of charge the whole day basically. And even through those 16 hour days, that thing kept strong and never failed me.
The Blavor Solar Power Bank Has EVERY Feature You Need
Look, I bought the Anker power bank and was just disappointed in the lack of features compared to the Blavor power bank at the same price.
The Anker powercore? It offered two charging ports, NO power-delivery, just fast-charging.
The blavor power bank? Here’s everything that was included for the SAME price point:
- Wireless Charging
- 4 charging ports.
- Power Delivery
- Solar Charging
- Compass + LED Light
But, let’s go a little more in-depth about these options.
Wireless Charging
Most power banks do NOT have wireless charging. But this is actually a godsend- especially if you’re traveling.
When I was in California, I went to the beach and a wave hit me and knocked water into my charging port.
This made my Anker Powercore useless, it didn’t matter I had this whole power bank charged- my charging port had water in it so it wouldn’t charge.
So yeah, you just wait for the port to dry out right? But that takes usually 8-9 hours, and when that happens you’re usually at home so you don’t NEED your phone.
It’s a little different when you’re in Florida or traveling where you NEED your phone to get GPS or even call 911 possibly.
The wireless charging gives that back up incase your charging port stops working. Most smartphones after 2016 come with wireless charging built-in, so it’s a good backup idea to have.
Also, let’s say you lose your phone cable or forget it at home. Maybe you’re just going to school and left your lightning cable in your bedroom, the wireless charging gives you that option to keep recharging without having to worry.
And it supports fast wireless charging too, up to 10W- so it isn’t a slow wireless charger.
Charging Ports
The blavor solar power bank has three different charging ports. It has two USB 3.0 ports, and one USB-C bidirectional port.
The USB-C port can be used as a port to charge the power bank, or to charge out of. It also dual functions as a power delivery port for laptops. Although, it is a slower Power Delivery port. The website claims it outputs 12V/1.5A for the power-delivery, while most power delivery power banks are typically 18V-30V.
While it is a slower PowerDelivery, it does work. Also, most people know that PowerDelivery is kind of useless- as most of the time it won’t even charge the laptop fast enough while you’re using it.
So my advice is, keep your laptop plugged into your power bank BEFORE it gets to that critical period.
You can charge multiple things at once. I believe you can have three things charging at once and one thing wirelessly charging- but I haven’t tested that. Furthermore, it’s not really recommended as basically nothing will charge at a decent rate. So, try to keep it to 1-2 things charging at a time.
Solar Charging
The solar charging is by far the most sought after thing in this power bank. After all, it’s probably the reason you’re choosing this product rather than a different power bank company.
Okay, most people are critics of the solar panels on these, but I completely disagree.
Sure, it’s not going to charge your whole power bank 0-100 over a day or even a few days. But let’s look at things realistically.
Let’s say you’re out hiking all day. There’s going to be basically a 0% chance you find an electricity outlet right? But, you’ll probably need your phone for GPS back or for emergency services if you get lost.
Let’s actually look more-in depth at the math on that.
You Can Get a FULL Phone Charge With This Solar Panel
Assuming you go on a 12 hour hike (you have food, water, etcetera) and the sun is out all day, this solar panel can be incredibly useful.
Let’s just use an iPhone 11 for example, it carries a 3110 mAh battery. The blavor solar panel bank carries 20,000 mAH. So, you’ll roughly get 7-8 full charges mathematically, right? Well, because electricity is werid, that equates closer to 5-6 charges, but whatever.
Throughout the day, you probably won’t go through the whole power bank. But, in the event you do, you might be in luck.
This solar panel on the blavor model I chose recharges 300MA per hour. So, if you’re hiking and the sun is hitting most of the solar panel, let’s assume you can get 200-250 mAH per hour of charge back into the battery.
Now, after your whole day of hiking is over, you notice that you’ve recharged your phone 5 times and you’re thinking, “oh shoot, my power bank is basically empty right?”.
Well thankfully, the sun has been recharging it all day and now you have a whole extra charge. That’s because 250 mAh x 10 hours = 2,500 mAH, which is the same size as an iPhone 11 battery.
Yep, Carsten Recharged His Phone With It
As if I don’t complain about Carsten enough on our trips. There is the famous photo of him holding his solar panel charging bank to the sun and it actually charging his phone.
You see, Carsten didn’t charge his phone all night, and didn’t even charge his power bank and we had to bike across Santa Ana, California. So, he leaves the house with 0% on his phone or power bank, but interestingly enough, he left his power bank facing the sun in the window.
So he got roughly 3 hours of solar panel recharging, and while we were biking for an hour, it added even more. I kid you not, this dudes phone charged to 30% then the power bank died.
(And trust me, being around Carsten without his phone is the equivalent of a 5 year old throwing a temper tantrum. Thankfully, we avoided that crisis)
Stupidest thing ever because we didn’t believe his solar panel worked, and it’s even stupider he was able to use his phone even though he didn’t charge anything (he kinda deserved to get lost in LA) but I digress.
Comes with a LED Flashlight and (Hit or Miss) Compass
This comes with a LED Flashlight that also comes with an ‘SOS’ feature if you’re lost. Also, it comes wiht a compass, although many people agree it is pretty hit or miss.
One person commented that it is generally off by 45 degrees. However, it’s probably better than nothing.
While I wouldn’t trust it with my life, knowing north is within 45 degrees of wherever you’re going can help you at LEAST not be going in the complete opposite direction.
If you’re able to pair this with the stars at night this might just be the thing that can get you back on the trail.
But the LED Flashlight while it isn’t super powerful can be useful in getting around the trails at night.
Battery Capacity
I personally have the 20,000 mAH capacity battery.
Generally people say, ‘focus on the number of mAH for battery capacity’- but that’s not entirely true.
What is strange is that often times depending on these batteries they can officially be rated for “20,000 mAH” but carry less.
For instance, most people agree that Anker power banks have the highest rated ‘true capacity’, citing that most of them will truly hold 17,000/20,000 mAH. This is because the batteries are much higher quality.
In my experience, I’ve found this power bank to typically carry around 15,500-16,000/20,000 mAH, which isn’t far from its’ competitor at Anker.
So truth be told, this power bank isn’t bad at all.
Downsides of The Blavor Solar Power Bank Review
There is only one thing that this powerbank does bad in my opinion.
However, this is a problem with MOST power banks and as far as I know, Anker is the only brand that has solved it.
If you try to charge something like AirPods or something that draws a very small current the power bank will often mistake that the item is fully charged and stop charging it.
I noticed this with my Anker, although the Anker had a ‘trickle-charge’ mode that fixed this. It seems that there isn’t really a way to fix this on the blavor solar power bank.
Sometimes if I am also charging my phone it will continue to charge my AirPods for longer, but frequently I have to turn on the power bank over and over to recharge my AirPods.
Typically it will charge them for roughly 10 minutes then shut off. This will GENERALLY get you about another hour on the AirPods to use them, but overall it is an annoying feature that should be fixed.
Conclusion of The Blavor Solar Power Bank Review
Overall, this blavor solar power bank review was very positive and for good reason. I PERSONALLY switched from a different powerbank to this one after seeing my friends use it, and I have not looked back.
I highly recommend you pick one up yourself- you really won’t regret it.
