Review: Waka Waka Power [Solar Lantern and USB Charger]

Most of the good design revolves around the placement of the flip cover. It not only allows the lamp to placed in a number of convenient positions, it does the same for the solar charger, making it easy to get the perfect placement for aiming it at the sun. It’s truly genius. And the detents which hold the flip cover in place where you want it have an almost perfect level of resistance. Any easier and it wouldn’t hold, any harder and it would be a hassle to adjust it.

Another good design feature is that the flip cover protects the two charging ports from getting wet or debris in it. Evidence of good design is everywhere, from the ruggedized case to the less tangible aspects of the unit, like the efficient circuitry and choice of solar panel and LEDs.

Charging the Waka Waka

Charging the Waka Waka from my laptop

The unit can be charged in one of two ways: Either with the built-in solar panel, or with a Micro USB connector located on the side of the unit. While charging from the USB, the 4 green power indicators will light up to show you the charge progress. When it is done charging from the USB, all 4 green lights will be lit.

While charging from the solar panel, the little red LED on the other side of the case will flash to indicate that there is enough light to charge the unit. I have read that the solar charge indicator blinks faster to tell you that it has more light, but that doesn’t seem to be the case based on my testing. It seems to be that a slow blink means the unit has enough light to charge and is charging, and a fast blink means the unit is fully charged. In my tests, I could get it to fast blink with any amount of light once it was fully charged.

NOTE: To use either USB port, the unit needs to be folded open. This feature prevents dirt and debris from getting in the ports when not in use.

Charging Mobile Devices

Charging an HTC One Smartphone

The mobile device charger works like any other standard USB charger using a standard size USB connector. I have read where the unit can utilize its solar charger at the same time it is charging a mobile device, but this does not seem to be the case.

To activate the mobile charger, simply mash the oversized power button once, and the unit will give power to the USB connector, and your device will start charging. Since the Waka Waka Power has a 2200 mAH Lithium battery, it should have enough capacity to give most mobile devices like phones a full charge, and ti should give larger devices like tablets most of a charge.

Using The Lantern

The solar lantern part of the Waka Waka sports two eyeball-looking SSC emitters of an unknown model. There are no reflectors as such, which means the lantern is only well suited for close range illumination, which is what you want for a lantern.

Pressing the power button twice turns both LEDs on in the highest output mode. Subsequent presses on the button lower the output by 25% until the light turns off. Turning the lamp on high puts it into a special turbo mode, giving 200% output for 30 seconds, before switching into high mode at 100%, where it will remain.

Pressing the power button and holding it for two seconds activates the SOS mode, where the unit will flash SOS in Morse code.

Low

Medium 1

Medium 2

High

Lantern Run Time Tests

The regulation on the lantern appears to be flat, meaning it keeps its full brightness until it shuts off. It would be nice to see it enter “vampire” mode when it loses its regulation like some flashlights.

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