35 
Stoves have come a long way since the humble primus: turbo flames, jet boilers and ultra-light portables are just some of the options around. But now there’s the BioLite, a stove that burns twigs and charges your phone all at once. I know, it should erect your tent for you too.
It’s a bio-fuel burning camping stove with a re-chargeable power unit attached. This holds a fan to assist combustion, and an ingenious system which recovers heat from the fire, turning it into electricity which you can then use to charge your gadgets via a USB port.
Wilderness lovers and Ray Mears-types who can’t bear to be without their phone/GPS unit or other USB powered devices.
OK, it may look like a cheese grater, but the perforations are a key part of the design. The fan in the clip-on power unit, which attaches to the side of the stove with a rather-phallic-looking probe, sends the air via ducts into the base of the combustion chamber. It’s held in place by the fold-out feet which, being tripod in form, give the whole thing stability on uneven ground. When stored in its bag, the power unit sits inside the stove. The orange power unit is simply-designed with just a power switch; a USB port which is protected by a flip-out rubber flap, and two status LEDs. With not a hint of khaki or green, it’s unashamedly brash and modern-looking.
Following the clear instructions, getting a fire started is quick and simple — just make sure you have a ready supply of twigs. Once fire has taken hold, a single press of the power button sets the fan purring on low and illuminates the orange LED. The fanned flames form a miniature fire tornado in the incinerator, and within two minutes will be heating a pan of water quite rapidly. It takes around six minutes of fierce burning before a green LED indicates that charge is available from the USB port. It will keep charging as long as you keep adding fuel, aka, twigs. Hope you have a forest at your disposal, gadget fans.
Twigs and leaf litter really do = (add your own Jeremy Clarkson impression here) POWER.
Thanks to the fan and clever ducting, it burns extremely well which, given its primary function, is essential. Plus, there’s no need to carry gas canisters or foul-smelling fuel tablets.
At £150 a pop, this is no frivolous purchase. You can make a hobo’s stove which will burn twigs and leaves for a few pence, so this is a lot of moolah just to have a few amps at your disposal.
The power unit contains a large re-chargeable battery which has to be charged fully before first use. It begs the question, why couldn’t you just use that as an emergency power supply?
Another oddity, even when the fire is extinguished and the chamber is cooling down, the fan will keep switching itself on, even when you repeatedly turn it off.
- 14:30 lit firelighter.
- 14.32 pan on stove, fan on, intense roaring flames.
- 14.36 green means go for USB charging.
- 14:42 500ml of boiling tears (it’s an eye-wateringly priced ticket).
If you spend a good deal of time camping; fishing by remote rivers; hiking or biking in the wild yonder, then actually this is a worthwhile purchase. Sure, you can probably find a system to cook more quickly or cook using foraged bio-fuel, and there are probably other means to charge your electronic essentials off grid. You’d be hard pressed though to find all these things in one package that looks near as good; is as solidly constructed, and provides you with quite so much entertainment/satisfaction whilst doing the job, mind.
- Packed dimensions: H20cm W12cm
- Weight: 938g
- Fuel: twigs, pinecones and found biomass
- Fire output: (claimed) 3.4kw Low power 5.5kw High
- Charge Output: Max continuous: 2W @5V, Peak: 4W @5V
- Compatible with: charges/powers most USB powered devices
- Charging time: (claimed) iPhone 4S (2G), 20 minutes of charging provides 60 minutes of talk time. Charging times vary by device and by strength of fire.
- Price: £150
- GizRank: 4/5
Update: BioLite got in touch to clarify a few potentially-odd things:
First on the integrated battery:
The battery has a similar role of a battery you’d find in your car — to kickstart the whole thing — but isn’t the primary power supply. The battery is what jumpstarts the fan, after which the TEG (Thermoeletric generator) kicks in to supply the electricity via the heat-to-electric conversion.
Second on the fan constantly switching itself back on:
That’s a purposeful safety feature. We have smart logic built into our power module where the fan will turn itself back on until it senses a low enough temperature (it’s actually pretty cool). A fire might die out, but hot embers are still a safety concern so the fan stays on until the burn chamber is truly no longer hot; the fan will turn itself off when it’s ready, and all you’re left with is a tiny bit of ash for easy disposal.
Wow! What a cool piece of kit! But not for me at that price
I did the kickstartery thing that funded this and received mine last summer. It’s awesome! Because it burns so hot, you don’t get any smoke, and it boils water just as fast as most regular gas burners. But I do now find myself looking at twigs and thinking “there’s enough for a cuppa there”! It didn’t cost me 150 quid though, seems a bit steep.
That’s one good thing about Kickstarter — the early adopter’s discount!
I know I’m kind of missing the eco-point here, because this is providing carbon-neutral energy, but you could grab a jetboil and separate portable charger for a lot cheaper, then you don’t rely on dry fuel for your noms and your texts.
I’ll be sticking with my jetboil for rapid water boiling and carrying spare batteries for my gps even if it does mean I have a larger ecological impact. Some of the places I go don’t have many twigs readily available. It’s still a nice product but its not for me.
Yeah, it’s super clever and innovative, but I agree. My jetboil saved my life one soggy night high up in the Cairngorms.
It is very large, and £25 less will get you a top of the range multifuel burner that will work everywhere for any outdoor needs. The reliance on solid fuel is also a downside in that it makes it less effective in the UK as the most used outdoor areas aren’t exactly abundantly forested and even what you can find it will be soaking wet the majority of the year.
You can build a stove that operates on the same principles without the charging for a few quid or free with a bit of raking about as all it needs is a couple of big metal tins/pots. And with the money you save you can buy a top of the range solar charger and stick it on the back of your pack.
And if the test notes have a bit of serious in them, 10 minutes to boil half a litre of water is dire for a £150 stove. Most stoves at the price you are looking at less than 2 minutes if that. I have seen MSRs boil that much in a minute.
Give me a good multifuel or a pocket rocket over one of these things any day of the week. Even a trangia would be better and you can run those on biofuel if you want carbon neutral. I laugh at guys that go out and buy over priced jet boils but one of these things is just a ridiculous purchase.
Regarding the test timing, I may well have been a bit stingy on the fuel…I’m pretty sure it would have boiled more quickly had I not been buggering about trying to take pictures and stuff.
But hey, we’re out in amongst nature. What’s the hurry?
If you’ve ever been out on the side of a hill in the highlands huddled in a lean to waiting for a brew you would know the hurry.
Also with larger groups it becomes an issue if you have to cook for a few people. £150 is a serious bit of cash for a stove and outdoors kit is expensive.
Its not really suitable for any serious outdoors/AT work, unless you have unlimited funds I would be worried that people would buy one of these and spend less on something more important.
I certainly don’t think its worth 4 stars as a device even with cool gimmick shouldn’t be rated highly if it doesn’t perform well in its primary task.
Fair point, other than I wouldn’t take the Biolite under those circumstances. Camping in the woods with my lad or out fishing by a river in Lapland, I’d take it in a heartbeat. I gave it four stars because it does what the blurb says it does and does it well. It’s just much too expensive.
Surely reviewing involves a bit of impartiality and comparison? Certainly evaluate it on its own merits, but a comparative assessment is called for if you are writing a serious review. A £150 camping stove that is only good for fishing and walks in the woods is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard to the general public.
Its definitely a fair weather device, which in terms of outdoors equipment is a show stopper. Like I said you could buy a top of the range stove for that kind of money that would work under all conditions and still have money left over for a different kind of charger.
On its merits as a stove its maybe 1 star given its high cost and the fact most handy people could build there own wood burner. The fact it does what its supposed shouldn’t be worth 3 extra stars.
What would make this stove worth £150 and 4 if not 5 stars IMO would be if it was a multifuel that was compatible with Bioethanol or Biodesiel. That would be a real winner in all categories.
I addressed the points you are making in the review. It isn’t a comparative test. I use all kinds of stoves, none of them do the same job as this stove. I get that you don’t rate it very highly. I rate it more highly than you.
For me, it’s well built, looks cool, does a very specific job and does what the manufacturers claim well: it burns twigs and foraged woodland fuel (more efficiently than a hobo stove) and charges your USB gadgets. It does those things better than anything else on the market at the moment.
Absolutely not worth 4 stars, 2 at most for potential.
I was very excited when I saw this six months ago, however the reality is not the same as the potential, its a great idea but:
1. Too much energy is wasted running the fan
2. Its too big
3. Its too heavy
4. If you are an Apple believer, it wont charge your phone.
5. Its too expensive
The cup charger is smaller, lighter and more useful in the real world, I am in no way affiliated to the cup charger, I just think its better that’s why I bought one.
Better research and more experienced reviewers required on gizmodo.co.uk
You are entitled to your opinion, of course. However, I reviewed it as I found it. For my purposes (I will mainly use it camping with a gadget loving lad and whilst out in the remotest forest wilderness in Europe) it would work fine. It would not be too big, nor too heavy for me….but then I’m a fit, strong fella.
I wouldn’t take it on a high alpine trip, where lightness and small size are a real virtue. Apart from anything else, there wouldn’t be any handy eco-fuel. I’d know this from experience.
Certainly you are correct, each to his own and I do hope you enjoy using it you big hunk of masculinity you. I do concede it does have a market in the fair weather car camping nouveau riche crowd.
Yet it costs the same as my tent, weighs the same as my complete three season sleep system and still does not charge iphones, not that I’m a believer.
So there is no space for it on my weedy intercontinental bicycle trips.
Instead, how about a detailed analytical comparison of the current crop of rugged, light weight solar chargers?
I would love to. I’d love to catch a glimpse of the sun at any rate.
its actually out to buy?!? SOLD!
Just to annoy and confound all the commentators ripping the review and the product apart, im going to buy one of these and use it maybe twice a year at shell island with firewood iv brought from the camp shop, negating any environmental benefit and revelling in its sheer geeky enjoyment. Lighten up people.
J. Windsor – I agree. Ordered mine about 2 months ago and should arrive tomorrow, cant wait to try it out. I suppose I fall into the category of ‘fair weather car camping nouveau riche crowd’ in my de waard tent so this will go nicely with the Cobb oven and all the other lovely things that make camping so enjoyable. (Dont do electric/LED lighting though, has to be natural flame or gas, dont like the ‘coldness’ of the light quality of electric). Another bonus is this will be great for my festival outings this year – early morning cuppa and charge my phone at the same time (strangely not an i phone). So horses for courses I suppose – Im looking forward to the ‘fun factor’ with this one.
I think the working class car camping crows would like it too if it was more affordable. Good point about festivals…possession of a Biolite will give you instant “cool”….instant popularity.