Dizaul 5000mAh Portable Solar Power Bank Review

We purchased the Dizaul 5000mAh Portable Solar Power Bank so our expert reviewer could thoroughly test and assess it. Keep reading for our full product review.

We’ve all been there: away from home with a low phone battery and no power source. The Dizaul 5000mAh Portable Solar Power Bank provides a simple solution to the common problem of needing a charge for your smartphone when you’re out and about and without access to an outlet.

The Dizaul is a portable power bank with the added benefit of a single solar panel to reinforce a charge. This is especially useful when you’re hiking or outside for an extended amount of time. We tested this portable solar power bank to gauge its battery life, charging speed, and overall usability.

Design: Lightweight yet sturdy

The first thing you’ll notice about the Dizaul 5000mAh is how lightweight it is. It’s very similar to a smartphone in size, but it’s lighter than most at just five ounces. A heavy-duty rubber exterior doesn’t add bulk but helps protect it against drops and general wear and tear.

There are rubber-sealed caps that protect the dual USB ports, which are located at the top of the device on both sides. On the left side, there’s a micro USB port and a USB 2.0 port, and on the right side, there’s a single USB 2.0 port. These caps, while useful, are rather precariously placed. In the course of just a few days of use, one snapped off with little handling.

You’ll find a flashlight on the upper right corner of the device, but it’s not very powerful. That’s where the flexible USB light attachment may come in handy. The ideal application would probably be as a reading lamp or flashlight while camping. It’s a nice touch, but since it’s not built in, it’s another thing you’d have to carry around with you.

Because of the slim profile and light weight of the Dizaul 5000mAh Portable Solar Power Bank, you could comfortably tuck it in a larger jacket or bag pocket, or even hang it on your bag without feeling bogged down. We completely forgot it was there when we hooked it to a backpack via the included carabiner.

The manufacturer doesn’t list the water resistance rating—it simply advertises “water resistance,” which is different than “waterproof” and generally means it can handle a splash but will break if submerged. But we did notice how quickly it dried when sprayed with water, and when caught in a light rain shower, it dried very quickly and continued to function.

Finally, this is sold as dustproof, but it catches lint incredibly easily. If you like to keep your devices dust-free, you may end up spending a lot of time wiping away lint.

Setup Process: Opt for USB charging

While the Dizaul power bank does contain a solar panel, it’s really intended as a supplemental way to power the built-in 5000mAh lithium-ion battery.

The manual says that it could take about 35 hours for solar charging alone. Since the week we tested this charger was particularly cloudy and rainy, it was difficult to get full sun for that long. We did leave it out in a mix of clouds and some full sun over the course of two days, but we didn’t notice any change in the battery charge. The power indicators did not change and we didn’t see any impact on power output either. 

While sunnier conditions for two days may have proved otherwise, it’s easy to understand why the manufacturer makes it clear that solar power is really only meant as an emergency or auxiliary power source to extend the battery charge.

But we performed this test after first powering the bank through the included micro USB charging cable. This is what the manual recommends in order to properly charge and get the most use out of it.

The solar power bank came out of the box at about 25% charged, indicated by one blue display light on the power indicator panel. Though the manual says the first device charge takes between 8-10 hours, we found that it took only about five hours until the device registered as completely charged—which was faster than expected.

Charging Speed: Not lightning fast, but pretty quick

The Dizaul 5000mAh Portable Solar Power Bank comes equipped with a 5000mAh lithium-ion battery and a single solar panel rated at 5.5V/1.2W. The manufacturer lists the power output at 5V and a maximum of 2.4A, for a smartphone charging speed of two hours.

To test how accurate these claims are, we used a USB multimeter (a device that measures the voltage, amperage, and wattage of USB devices) and took a reading on this solar power bank when hooked up to an iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone X, and Google Nexus 5X.

We found the charging speed claims to be pretty accurate. The average output came to 5.04 volts and 0.94 amps. We also checked the charging speed for a Kindle Fire, and the reading came out to 5.04V/.97A, which is pretty much in line with what we saw for smartphones.

In terms of actual charging times, the iPhone 6S and Nexus 5X both took about two hours to charge, but we could only charge the iPhone X to 80% in around 2.5 hours before the device died.

Dizaul doesn’t specify the charging speed for two devices at once, but we simulated what we imagined to be a common real-life circumstance: two phones in the red that need a power boost. We started with an iPhone X and iPhone 6S Plus that were both at 15% battery and charged them both on the Dizaul power bank for 30 minutes. It brought them up to 31% and 43%, respectively.

We didn’t notice much heat emanating from the charger or to the device it’s charging, but you’ll definitely notice the power bank is hotter to the touch when charging two devices at once.

As for the speed at which the Dizaul recharges, we noticed that the average time to power the device in full through the USB charging cord was about 4.5 hours.

Battery Life: Modest, but gets the job done

Over the course of a week, we tested the battery life cycle three times. We took a fully-powered Dizaul 5000mAh Portable Solar Power Bank and continuously streamed video on three different devices that were completely drained of power. We found that the average battery life was only about 2.5 hours.

When continuously streaming from a drained iPhone 6S Plus, the battery lasted about 2.5 hours. We also tried streaming from a Kindle Fire, and the device was able to stream for only about 1.5 hours before dying.

Overall, we found that a single charge is good enough for about one full smartphone charge and a little extra, which can be good for those moments when you need a quick jolt to your smartphone battery. At a 50% charge, this power bank could get a low iPhone 6 Plus battery from 19% to 37% in just 15 minutes.

Price: Pretty big bang for your buck

The Dizaul 5000mAh Portable Solar Power Bank retails for $23.95 but often sells for less online. This makes it an inexpensive option among the single-panel solar chargers out there. It offers solid value since it’s sturdy, ultra-portable, and charges smartphones as quickly as more expensive competitors.

If you’ll be relying on it as your sole smartphone charger, you may find yourself recharging it frequently. This could be reason enough to spend a bit more for a power bank with a slightly larger battery.

Dizaul 5000mAh Portable Solar Power Bank vs. BEARTWO 10000mAh

Though it offers a bigger battery, the BEARTWO 10000mAh mirrors the Dizaul 5000mAh in many ways. Both devices are lightweight power banks that charge in the same amount of time and offer similar smartphone charging speed.

The BEARTWO also comes with dual USB ports, but unlike the 5V/2.4A max capacity of both USB ports on the Dizaul 5000mAH, one USB port on the BEARTWO has an output of 5V/1A and the other has 5.V/2.1A, which means one port offers slower charging. The BEARTWO solar power bank is also slightly pricier, selling for closer to $30.

So while the BEARTWO holds more power, you lose the speedier dual charging capabilities of the Dizaul.

If you’d like to compare this model with other portable power bank options, start by reviewing our guide on solar power chargers.

Similar Products We've Reviewed:

• JETSUN 16750mAh Solar Power Bank
• X-DRAGON 10000mAh Solar Power Bank