Most folks will be able to charge their phones easily with a 6 Watt panel. The I think the poor feedback on the Amazon reviews that is attributed to the Brunton Solaris foldable panels is really just a lack of understanding the limits of how the technology works. The Apple iPhone uses a hefty lithium ion cell (3.7 V 1219 mAh, the original iPhone had a 1400mAhr), which compares to a 3.7V 700mAh for my ancient Motorola E398 so the battery capacity is almost double that a normal handset. So it takes twice as long for the iPhone brigades to charge their handsets compared to the Luddites with their old fashioned cell phone technology using the same solar panel. Its just that the iPhone users cannot come to terms to criticise their iPhone so they just end up blaming the Brunton Solar panels for just being too wimpy.

The Freeplay Energy FreeCharge 12V should get a mention as well. With this I'm able to power a 120 Watt inverter and a 7W 500 lumen LED bulb table lamp. It is robust and it works, but it takes a lot of effort to keep hand cranking the device. Most folks have a lot of trouble just realising how much energy their kit uses and how much energy is actually stored into todays modern rechargeable lightweight lithium ion battery technology. Using the FreeCharge hand crank for any length of time to get their cell phone recharged will make them quickly realise just how impressive modern lightweight flexible folding solar panel technology actually is.