Quick, how many handheld electronics do you have charging right this second? A smartphone, maybe? A smartphone and an iPad? A smartphone and an iPad and a Kindle and also your work phone? Each with its own cord connected to your computer or the wall and probably also to other cords and also dust bunnies?
As an actually attractive alternative to that tangle of wires, we’re into electree+, a solar-powered charging station that’s designed to look like a bonsai tree. Unlike many solar gadgets, it’s an object you might actually want in your house. And it can more than handle all your wireless charging needs: It takes 36 hours of sunlight to fully charge the battery, which can hold nine iPhone 5s worth of juice.
This idea has been around for a while, but the first run of actual trees didn’t sell as well as the creators had hoped — only 200 went out, when they’d hoped to sell 400. But now the electree is more efficient and $170 cheaper. At $200, it’s still pricey. We’ve seen A LOT of solar-powered phone chargers, though, and this is our favorite.
