One of the benefits of owning the best mobile phone is that it offers great battery life and allows you to use it worry-free for a long time. When your phone runs low, you can always rely on the best power banks and portable chargers to keep you powered on the go.
But what if you’re in a remote location or camping without access to power?
The EcoFlow Power Hat promises to save the day, allowing you to charge your devices almost anywhere. This is reportedly done by a solar panel mounted around the hat, which delivers up to 12W of charging via USB-A and USB-C ports embedded in the hat.
I was already a believer in solar power, as I hadn’t had to charge my outdoor lights in over a year, so it was no surprise that the EcoFlow solar hat could provide a meaningful level of battery. I was keen to find out if. Armed with my Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus, I headed out to the beach on a mostly sunny afternoon to see how long the Power Hat could hold a charge. Here’s what I found out.
Portable design to take anywhere
One of the first things that struck me about the EcoFLow Power Hat was its compact size. While the solar panels I own fold up and fold away, the EcoFlow Power Hat folds down to the size of a pizza slice and can easily be stored in a backpack. It doesn’t win any style points for its overall look (think oversized fishing hat), but it’s a functional design so we’re happy to ignore it.
That’s because the hat has a solar panel embedded around its brim. Additionally, the Power Hat is also IP65 rated for water and dust resistance. But while I appreciate that they’re sturdy enough to withstand inclement weather, what I’m really impressed with is that I don’t feel too hot wearing them, even in the middle of a sunny afternoon.
Normally anything black will burn you in a short amount of time, but the design of the EcoFlow Power Hat allows the panels to absorb the heat. To be honest, being in the shade helped me stay a little cooler.
Factors affecting charging time
Of course, what I’m most interested in is EcoFlow’s claim that it can fully charge a phone with a 4,000 mAh battery in about 3-4 hours of charging. Armed with my Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus and Plugable’s USB-C power meter tester, I wanted to see how much charge I could get after 30 minutes of sunlight exposure.
The reason we’re also using Plugable USB-C is to test exactly how much power is being delivered to the Galaxy S24 Plus, which has super fast 45W wired charging. During testing, we found that the EcoFlow Power Hat delivers more than 5.5W of power. Although it was quite short of the maximum power of 12W that could be activated, there were still clouds in the sky, so the intensity of sunlight hitting the solar panel was not necessarily 100%. At the same time, not all solar panels were directly exposed to maximum sunlight while wearing the EcoFlow power hat.
Still, I was able to get my Galaxy S24 Plus to 8% capacity in 30 minutes. In contrast, using a standard 45W USB-C charger will reach 72% capacity at the same time. This is definitely a short side, but I can’t stress enough that there are many different factors at play here that can affect your Power Hat’s charging potential.
Some power is better than none at all
I could have spent the entire afternoon at the beach trying to get the Galaxy S24 Plus up to some serious power, but I think it would be possible if the weather conditions were a little more favorable. But my point is that some power is better than no power at all. If you don’t have access to a charger, the EcoFlow Power Hat will come in handy in a pinch.
What I like about this over a battery bank with an integrated solar panel is that it’s much more flexible and serves a dual purpose. I love that wearing this not only makes me feel better on sunny days, but also that I can actively charge my phone at the same time. I used it again another day while doing some lawn work around the house. I also didn’t reach the rated 12W power delivery, but I still appreciated the amount of power the hat was able to deliver.
You can currently purchase the EcoFlow Power Hat directly from the company’s website for $89. The price is high compared to other traditional solar panels, such as Jackery’s SolarSaga 40W Mini Solar Panel, but it can’t be folded and condensed into the portable size of the EcoFlow power hat. For that reason alone, I think Power Hat is worth considering.
