Surge iPhone Solar Charger: Gear Review

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Our video review of a solar charger to keep your iPhone charged when hiking, camping and backpacking.

Atlanta Trails reviews the new iPhone solar charger, the Surge from Novothink. Get the best price on the Surge solar iPhone battery / charger from Amazon.com.

We’ve been waiting for the release of Surge and we’ve had the chance to test it on the trails of North Georgia. We have to say we’re really impressed. This little gadget is becoming one of our favorite pieces of gear and will be trekking with us – tethered to our packs – all over the trails north of Atlanta.

On the trail, it’s an extended battery that more than doubles the charge of your iPhone, plus has a solar panel for charging in the sun. We don’t chat on our phones on the trail, but drain our iPhone batteries pretty quickly using GPS apps to trace our hikes. If you find yourself running out of power (as we always do), just plug your phone into the Surge and it transfers the charge to your iPhone, juicing it up with a full charge.

The Surge is the only Apple-approved solar case for the iPhone. Size-wise, it’s a little too thick, by our standards, to use as an everyday case. It does hold the iPhone snugly, but it doesn’t provide protection for the top part of the phone when docked.

This charger does, however, deliver peace of mind that you’ll never be out of juice out on the trail. You can charge the Surge in the sun through the solar panel on the back, or through a USB connection (connected to a wall outlet or your computer) on the bottom. The USB connection (cord is included) also lets you sync your iPhone with your computer when it’s docked in the Surge.

We keep the iPhone in our standard case when on the trail, and tether the Surge to our Osprey packs to soak up the sun during our hike. When power starts to run low, we just plug the iPhone into the Surge to juice back up and then replace the Surge on our pack to soak up more rays and recharge.

As a bonus, the Surge offers a free app from the App Store that helps you plan for extended trips. The app lets you adjust for sunny or cloudy trips and app usage, and it tells you how long you’ll need to keep the Surge in the sun to keep it – and your phone – juiced up.

The Surge prices out at about the same price as the typical iPhone extended batteries on the market and adds the bonus of solar charging on the go, making it an awesome deal. This little gadget is becoming one of our favorite pieces of gear and will be trekking with us – tethered to our packs – all over the trails north of Atlanta.

Buy the Surge solar iPhone battery / charger from Amazon.com: