Technaxx Foldable Solar Camping Table 60W TX-252

Verdict

A handy companion for trips to the beach, park or garden, or for camping, the Technaxx Foldable Solar Camping Table 60W TX-252 combines a folding table with a 60W solar panel. Packing down into a small camping case, the table is easy to transport, although it’s a touch fiddly to build. Stable and rigid once built, the TX-252 is a great camping table and provides enough power to keep phones and tablets topped up, and it can handle lower-capacity power stations, too.

Introduction

Going camping means economising on space, which makes multi-function devices like the Technaxx Foldable Solar Camping Table 60W TX-252 a good option. It’s a standard folding table, but with a solar panel built in, it can also double up as a phone charger and even tackle smaller power stations.

A little fiddly to assemble, but sturdy and simple to carry around, this is a great addition to a camping trip or even for use in the garden.

Design and features

• Folds up into a bag
• USB and DC5521 outputs
• Useful pockets

I’ve got the Technaxx Foldable Solar Camping Table 60W TX-252 on review, but the company also makes the smaller Technaxx Foldable Solar Camping Table 20W TX-251. Aside from size and solar output, the smaller table doesn’t have the DC port for use with power stations, and is better suited for smartphones and tablets.

The Technaxx Foldable Solar Camping Table 60W TX-252 comes with its own travel case, which has two parts: a large bag for the table/solar panel, and a tubular pouch for the lags, which clips onto the front of the bag.

Even though it weighs 4.5kg, the table is pretty easy to move around and doesn’t take up much space for storage or transportation.

It is a little fiddle to assemble the legs, as the thin metal supports need to be put into the four shoes on the legs, and the side supports folded down. Once done, the solar panel can be unfolded and clipped into the supports.

With a little practice, the table takes a few minutes to set up, and the same to go the other way.

I found the Solar Camping Table very sturdy once it was built. It doesn’t wobble or rock, and the top is rigid enough to take drinks, books, magazines and the like without danger of anything falling over. Overall, there’s a 20kg load limit.

It also has some nice touches, including the two pouches on either side of the table, which are handy for storing phones while charging.

There’s also a sling that can be clipped onto the underside of the supports, so you can store things out of the sun, and also free up as much solar panel surface as possible for charging. Or, in my case, it proved to be a nice sleeping hammock for my cat.

Underneath the table is a zipped pouch, which holds the DC outputs. There’s a USB-A (QC 3.0) port with a maximum of 18W output; and standard 5V USB-A port, and a 45W (max) USB-C port. There’s also a DC521 output for charging power stations.

Technaxx provides an adaptor for this DC output with connectors for XT60, DC7909, MC4 and Anderson connectors. In short, whatever brand power station you have, you should have the correct connector.

Performance

• Decent power output for phones, and laptops
• Suitable for smaller power stations

I set about testing the table by setting it up in full sunlight. As it’s a table, there’s no way of angling the solar panel towards the sun, so the best advice is to ensure the panel is in full sunlight.

I started by connecting it to a Bluetti AC60 power station and B80 expansion battery, which hold 1.4kWh of power. I found that the Technaxx Foldable Solar Camping Table 60W TX-252 could deliver around 35W of input power, which would take more than a day to recharge that system fully.

In terms of the solar panel size, that’s not a bad output, but remember that power output goes down the more items you place on the table. For use during the day, I tend to keep the surface as clear as possible, using the sling for books and magazines and just putting a drink or two on the table; at night, I can use the full table surface.

Even so, with the maximum output available here, I think that the Technaxx Foldable Solar Camping Table 60W TX-252 is better paired with a smaller capacity station, such as the Ecoflow River 2.

For day-to-day use, its power output is ideal for charging phones and similar devices, matching the speed you can get from a wall charger for many models. I took my nearly flat iPhone 13 Pro to a full charge in a little over two hours, which isn’t much difference from using a plug-in charger.

Going for something that needed more power, I put my flat Steam Deck on charge. In full sunlight, the Steam Deck said it needed six hours to fully charge, which is around double the time required if using the official charger.

With the level of power on offer, it makes sense to either target one high-power device, or to charge a couple of phones at the same time.

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