The Best Portable Power Stations

As a big fan of Anker’s power banks, I was excited when the company launched a line of portable power stations, and the Solix C1000 did not disappoint. This LiFePO4 battery promises a decade of use and packs a 1,056-watt-hour capacity, which you can double with a BP1000 Expansion Battery ($799). The charcoal-and-gray design with blue highlights and a silver power button looks classy. Built-in handles make it fairly easy to carry (it weighs just shy of 30 pounds). The limited capacity and maximum output make this suitable for topping off small gadgets, but it had no trouble powering a small fridge, TV, and power drill. I also tested with a hair dryer, and the surge handled it. The Solix C1000 consistently performed well in my tests, was capable of fast-charging most phones, and worked well as an uninterruptible power supply with a 20-millisecond delay. The LED bar on the front has three brightness levels, which is very handy for a campsite.

While you can refill the Solix C1000 from wall power in just under an hour if you toggle “UltraFast Charging” in the app, it's an emergency measure, and Anker recommends charging more slowly for battery health. There's an XT60 input for solar panels or charging from a car socket (cables included). While it's generally a quiet operator, the fan can get loud under a heavy load (I measured around 70 decibels at its peak), though it quietens swiftly when the load drops back below 1,800 watts. The only other issue I had was that one of the USB-C ports kept overloading and switching itself off when charging an Oppo phone. Anker offers a 5-year warranty with the Solix C1000.

If you need a lot of power, the Zendure SuperBase V6400 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) has you covered. Beyond the 6,438-watt-hour capacity, this is a modular system you can build up to 64 kilowatt-hours, though that would cost you more than $40,000. Oof. Zendure says the semi-solid-state batteries inside are more resilient than LiFePO4, making them safer, and you can expect a decade of service from this power station. You can control the SuperBase V6400 easily using the buttons and display, but Zendure’s slick app has extra options, including the ability to drive the V6400 like a remote control car, which is handy, since this thing weighs 130 pounds (there is also a telescopic handle). My tests proved Zendure’s capacity claims accurate, and this power station ran my desktop PC, speakers, and two monitors for about 34 hours. It also had no trouble with a kettle or anything else I plugged into it, and it can work as an uninterruptible power supply with no downtime.

The downside, apart from the high price, is the fan noise. It hovered around 52 decibels and kicked in quickly any time I used the power station or when charging it. While the remote control feature helps you roll it around, you will need help if you have to lift it. The warranty is three years, but you can extend it by another 2 years if you register with Zendure.

This portable power station is a good size for a weekend camping trip. Weighing in at 29 pounds, it has recessed handles at each side that make for easy carrying, though this is as big a power station as I can imagine lugging any real distance. There’s no superfluous app. You can do everything using the buttons and the display on the front. It has a good mix of ports to cover a lot of small gadgets like phones, tablets, and laptops. There’s even a wireless charging pad on top. I wouldn’t run anything too demanding on it, but it coped fine with an electric drill and blender. I tested it with Biolite’s SolarPanel 100, but the BaseCharge 1500 has a standard HPP input, so you don’t have to use Biolite’s solar panels. It finished just on either side of the stated capacity in my tests.

Sadly, the BioLite BaseCharge 1500 takes a long time to charge. Even from a wall outlet, you need a day, though you can speed it slightly by using the PD USB-C as a second input. Solar charging from a single Biolite SolarPanel 100 takes several days. The battery is also a Li-NMC, so it likely won't last as long as some of our other picks. The BaseCharge 1500 comes with a 2-year warranty.

I managed to get 1,511 watt-hours out of Goal Zero's Yeti 1500X. That's enough power to keep your fridge humming through an outage, but the 1500X is portable enough to take with you. I stopped using ridiculously long extension cords and instead just brought the 1500X out to where I needed power. With a 2,000-watt output rating, it had no trouble running power tools, refrigerators, and everything else I could find. It has a decent selection of ports too: two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, and a regulated 12-volt cigarette-lighter-style port. The only downside is that there are only two 120-volt AC ports. You can charge the Yeti off solar or by plugging it in, and the Yeti app is nice for monitoring power usage and battery life, as well as getting notifications and upgrading firmware.

Compared to the BioLite above, Goal Zero's Yeti 1500X also packs a Li-NMC battery but can put out and take in a much higher wattage, so you can safely use it with power tools and appliances, and it will charge faster. On the other hand, you have fewer ports, and it is much heavier at 46 pounds. Goal Zero offers a 2-year warranty.

By far the most portable power station in our guide, the EcoFlow River 2 Pro weighs just 17 pounds and has a large handle along the back. The LiFeP04 battery inside is good for 768 watt-hours, and I managed to squeeze a little more out of it in my tests. The ports are great for camping trips, with everything you need to charge small gadgets. Using the X-Boost surge, you can power small appliances, but I wouldn’t risk a hair dryer or a UK kettle. The River 2 Pro can also function as an EPS with a 30-millisecond delay. The EcoFlow app is slick, and you can connect via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, but you don’t really need it.

The River 2 Pro takes over an hour to charge from wall power and has a standard XT60 connector for solar panels, but the fan can get noisy. It doesn’t always kick in when charging smaller gadgets, but with more demanding things plugged in or when you recharge it, the River 2 Pro makes a bit of a racket (my Apple Watch says as high as 57 decibels). Thankfully, EcoFlow offers a 5-year warranty, and it's certified for safety by TÜV Rheinland (an independent testing service).

It makes sense that the maker of some of the best drones would create a portable power station to help you keep them powered up. After all, flight time is often very limited due to battery drain, and if you have a power station right there, you can get back in the air faster. The DJI Power 1000 has a typical design with molded handles, though it weighs around 33 pounds. A trio of features makes the DJI Power 1000 stand out. Firstly, it can output 2,200 watts steadily (2,600 watts surge); secondly, it has two USB-C PD 3.1 ports that can put out 140 watts; and finally, it has DJI’s proprietary SDC ports for fast-charging drone batteries. It had no trouble powering a microwave and hair dryer, fast-charging phones, and my MacBook, but it is built for speedily charging DJI drones.

The fan took a while to kick in and can get noisy, hitting 45 decibels with gadgets plugged in, but it stays quiet when charging from an outlet at around 25 decibels, so you can easily sleep in the same room while it charges. It took me around 75 minutes to fully charge from an outlet. I love the carrying bag ($99) DJI sent me, and the shoulder strap makes it way easier to lug around, but it is a pricey extra. Speaking of extras, you need an adapter module ($59) to charge from solar panels ($299), a special cable ($49) to plug into your car, and fast-charging cables for your drones (around $20 apiece). Unusually, there is no mobile app, which is fine unless you need to update the firmware (DJI says this can be done via Mac or Windows). You get a 5-year warranty with this power station if you register.