The Best Portable Power Stations for All Your Adventures
The Best Portable Power Stations for All Your Adventures
IT'S HARD to overstate just how handy a portable power station can be. It can power mood lights around a camp fire, convert the backseat of a car into a mobile work station, and keep the music going for an all-night backyard party, and recharge more devices than the wall outlets in an airport bar.
What's even more impressive about the best portable power stations: simple tasks like these are just the tip of the iceberg. With enough juice and the right setup, these modern marvels can keep emergency food kits cold in the backcountry for weeks, or power your entire house during a blackout.
Of course with tons of options available online, finding the right portable power station for your needs can be a tough decision. To that end, here are a few quick questions you'll want to ask yourself before moving on to our top picks down below.
What Size Portable Power Station Do You Need?
Power stations come in a wide range of shapes and sizes, but as a general rule of thumb, the bigger a station is, the more it's going to cost you. If you're looking for a station that'll run your portable dishwasher and dryer in the middle of a blizzard, you're probably about to drop a couple thousand dollars on a 5,000Wh+ unit.
If you're just looking to keep your phone, laptop, and camera alive for a weekend in the woods, however, chances are 300Wh is all the capacity you'll need, which will set you back a couple hundred bucks. It all comes down to (a) the size of the devices you'll be powering, (b) how long you intend to power them, and (c) how often you'll be able to recharge your station between uses.
What About Gas-Powered Generators?
All-electric power stations are our preferred source of off-grid electricity for several reasons: They're quiet, they're odorless, they require zero maintenance, and they don't produce potentially life-threatening carbon monoxide (or emissions of any kind, for that matter). Plus, they're safe to use indoors as well.
But, gas powered generators still have a lot going for them, so you shouldn't rule them out entirely. The main appeal of a gas generator is that it's clear how long it'll run for before calling it quits: As long as you'll got fuel on hand, gas generators will produce consistent power.
It's also worth mentioning that gas generators deliver serious bang for your buck, no pun intended. For a few hundred dollars, you can pick up a gas generator that delivers 3,000+ watts of consistent power for as long as you keep it running. You may end up spending more in the long run on gasoline, oil, and maintenance, but for quick and easy power in the outdoors, there's still an argument to be made for gas.
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757 PowerHouse Portable Power Station
Anker
amazon.com
$1299.99
The Anker 757 PowerHouse is one power station that does everything well. It's high-output and high-capacity, packs oodles of outlets (13 total), and is backed by Anker's outstanding 5-year factory warranty.
The PowerHouse also happens to be one of the fastest charging stations on the market, delivering a full 80% recharge of its 1,229Wh capacity in just one hour. What really sets this portable power station apart though is its proprietary "LiFeP04" battery technology, which Anker claims will last for over 10 years of daily use and abuse.
Yeti 500X
Goal Zero
goalzero.com
$549.95
500Wh power stations are considered the goldilocks size for running overlanding appliances like 12v refrigerators, and the Yeti 500X is our favorite of the bunch. On its own, the Yeti packs enough juice to keep your fridge going all weekend, but when paired with a simple solar setup, it'll basically run indefinitely.
The Yeti500X also includes an array of modern outlets including multiple USB-C ports and dual AC plugs, so it'll pull recharging duty for any number of small electronics around camp as well. We'll also note that vanlifers working in tight quarters will no doubt appreciate the Yeti's compact size, which is a good 30% smaller than the more budget-focused competition.
Flash300 Portable Power Station
BougeRV
bougerv.com
$399.99
You've got plenty of options out there for smaller power stations, but none are quite as impressive as BougeRV's Flash300. What sets this station apart from the competition is its insanely fast 30-minute recharge to 90%, while a full 100% recharge took just 45 minutes in our testing.
The Flash300 also sports a 100W USB-C port that recharges devices in record time, best-in-class outlet options (including a wireless charge pad) that allow you to recharge up to 10 devices simultaneously, and an intuitive backlit color display. This power station also supports up to 600 watts of solar input, so if you've got enough panels, you can recharge it just as fast from the sun as you can from your wall at home.
EP500 Pro
BLUETTI
amazon.com
$5499.00
If you're looking for a power station to keep your house running during a power outage, you need LOTS of capacity. The Bluetti EP500 Pro delivers that in spades with a whopping 5100Wh worth of power, but it's more than just a big battery.
Bluetti designed this unit specifically for home backup, so it cranks out enough power to run large appliances and also functions as a 24/7 UPS to protect your sensitive electronic devices. The EP500 Pro also packs all the premium features you'd expect for a top-shelf product including a smart touchscreen display, wireless monitoring and control from your smartphone, and a 5-year factory warranty.
Explorer 300
Jackery
amazon.com
$294.99
If you're looking for a wallet-friendly power station that handles all the basics, no one does it quite as well as Jackery. Their Explorer 300 packs all the juice you need to keep your phones, laptops, cameras, drones, etc. charged all weekend, and does it for cheaper than any other major brand out there.
It may take a little longer to charge and have fewer outlets than some, but if you don't need those features to begin with, why pay extra for them? Jackery also includes plug-and-play functionality for their "SolarSaga" 100 watt solar panel, which allows you to recharge the unit in just under 4 hours in sunny conditions.
EU2200i Portable Generator
Honda
amazon.com
$1199.00
Battery power stations and solar generators have made huge strides over the last decade, but it's still tough to beat the consistency and reliability of a gas-powered generator. The Honda EU2200i is our favorite option out there thanks to its compact size, whisper-quiet operation, and beefy 2200-watt output.
We're particularly fond of Honda's "CO-Minder" safety system, which constantly monitors carbon monoxide levels in the air and automatically shuts the generator off if they get too high. We'll also mention that while gas generators may seem antiquated, Honda includes a mobile app for the EU2200i, which allows you to wireless monitor output, shut the generator off remotely, and even keeps track of the generator's maintenance requirements for you.
Keep your gadgets fully charged, wherever you go.