Sunnyside Solar-Powered Lunchbox – The Right Temperature Food, Always
Whether it is lunch for the kids at school, a home packed healthy lunch to take to the office, lunch with the team at university, a few sandwiches to whet the appetite when out fishing, or a lunchtime break in the woods – it is far more enjoyable and healthy when food is properly stored.
Salads and sandwiches should be kept cold, your favourite curry with rice should be hot. And of course, there are endless other possibilities.
What if we had a lunchbox that could either heat or cool, that could do so when away from a power supply, that was easy and convenient to use – perhaps even with an accompanying phone app, and could even charge your phone? Wow!
The folks at Sunnyside reckon that’s exactly what they have created.
The base of the box contains 2 X 26650 batteries for a total of 10,000mAh capacity, and they say that these can be fully charged using the USB-C connector and the cable provided in around 2 hours. This gives about 20 hours of operation, though in fairness this would vary with several factors including the temperature of the food inserted at the outset, the temperatures demanded during use, and the prevailing temperature in which the lunchbox is stored.
That same USB-C connector is how Sunnyside add the ability to act as a convenient power bank for your phone or tablet.
The lid of the lunchbox also has inbuilt solar panels, but we suspect that these are designed more for ‘top-up’ than for providing a full initial charge. Of course, they will be useless if the box is in a backpack or school locker, but there may be circumstances – sitting in a boat or enjoying the view on a rocky outcrop in the mountains – when such a feature might be a bonus.
Since the lid, and therefore the solar panels, remove totally from the box itself without any connector, one may wonder how the panels on top charge the batteries in the bottom? The answer is that when in place, the lid makes connection with 2 magnetic pogo connectors. Now why didn’t we think of that? The lid is secured in place by plastic clips on each side and such is the design that Sunnyside boast it is leakproof. The underside of the lid contains a very convenient clip – presumably a great place to keep utensils. They’ve thought of everything!
The lunchbox has a temperature indicator and display panel on one end, and nearby built-in buttons for setting the operating mode and temperature.
As if all that wasn’t enough, the box also comes with a very fancy phone app that can control the unit remotely. Not only that, it contains hundreds of recipes and also allows you to track calories and nutrition levels.
To top things off, the whole lunchbox is dishwasher safe – brilliant!
The lunch measures 9” L (230mm) X 4.5” W (117mm) X 3.3” H (86mm) and weighs 1.4lb (680gms) when empty.
Our Final Opinion on this Gadget
Sunnyside solar-powered lunchbox – the perfect solution for food on the go.
FAQ
It seems to be a good fit for backpacks, although that depends upon your backpack of course, but Sunnyside say it is leakproof, even if carried end on, so that seems to be a resounding yes.
Sunnyside have various dividers for just that purpose at small additional cost.
Adam Lucci, a Melbourne resident, is a technology aficionado with a talent for evaluating the latest, most stylish gadgets, With his extensive background in health and fitness as a seasoned lifeguard at Watermarc Belgravia Leisure, Adam's evaluations of fitness gadgets are informed by his expertise in this field.