Mybeerbuzz .com Highlights Halo Solar Power Station

How many times has your cell phone battery died at the worse possible time?  How many times has your flashlight let you down?  If you love camping or you love the outdoors, how many times has this happened with no easy way to charge your devices?  Sure you can add a battery pack to your backpack and maybe if you’re lucky you’ll get a few extra minutes on your phone, but one way or another, you’re out of luck.  Then add in the possibility of rain or wet weather, and you’re really powerless…literally.

Today we’re bringing you the details and a product review of the new Halo Solar Power System & Light.  If you’re not familiar, Halo is a 74w power station that can be used to charge your Android device, your iPhone and up to four devices at the same time.  Halo has 3 USB-A fast charging ports (up to 10w) and even Qi wireless charging capabilities for Qi-compatible devices. 

The device also comes in a really solid lockable case for easy storage and transport (see photo below).

Not only will Halo help you keep your devices charged, but the unit also includes personal lighting that lasts up to 30-hours using the 786 lumen lantern, 70-hours using the 396 lumen lantern and even 35-hours using the flashlight.

If that’s not enough to convince you how cool Halo is, add in the fact that Halo is IP65-rated for water-proof and dust-proof usage….so pack it in your rainy tent or backpack and you’ll be just fine.  It weighs only 19.2-ounces and even has an attached loop to hang the device.   
   
I should also mention that Halo can be recharged with the solar power of the sun, you can take it on an airplane and it even has an SOS flashlight function.  Halo is a 74Wh power station, 5w power supply/solar charger, 20,000mAh, Qi wireless charger and more.  So how did it work out for us?

While I’m not equipped to site any sort of electrical readings, I can tell you we charged up Halo overnight when we received it to be sure everything was optimal.  After that we immediately charged a 50% battery iPhone 6, a low battery Samsung Galaxy 6s Edge Plus and a Ipod Nano at the same time.  We left each device on the charger for about 3-hours and all three devices were fully charged and ready to go, with power left to spare on the Halo.  This is about the typical charging time for each device on a standard USB port.

We then tested the lighting options and even after charging our phones and iPod, the Halo still ran on Low Lantern setting for 12+ hours.  We went to bed with the light on and woke up to the light still being on, and again this was AFTER charging the phones.

We found a sunny spot in the living room and tested out the solar charging.  While it was not as fast as plugging Halo into a wall outlet, it was plenty fast enough to keep up with your typical demand of two cell phones in full sun.  I can’t wait to test this out on a camping or hiking trip to see how it performs in the wild, but I suspect it will do really well. 

As a side note, we did get Halo wet walking to and from our car several times in the rain and it worked just fine.  There was no degradation in charging levels or lighting levels with Halo being pretty soaking wet, however we did not attempt to test any solar charging with the unit wet.  Quite honestly it just wasn’t sunny enough to charge it in the rain, and by the time it was sunny again, the Halo unit was already dry.

The Halo unit weighs about 19.2-ounces so it was easy to pack and well worth the extra weight on a camping trip, especially if you are reliant on any devices that need charging (think GPS watch, cell phone, GPS unit, lighting…)  We also found Halo to be pretty durable during our testing and on a recent trip, we actually sat it in the back car window to charge while we drove.

We did our best to exhaust Halo and yes, if you charge enough devices and run the lantern, you can eventually exhaust the charge on Halo.  The good news is that when that happens, you can simply put Halo into a sunny spot, and you’re back in business.

Overall we really liked Halo and found it to be much more useful than our previous battery packs.  The combination of solar charging, waterproof packaging, durability, lighting options and wireless charging combine to make Halo the perfect device for outdoor activities or just as a backup battery in your home or car.  Be sure to check out Halo for yourself.