Which portable charging station to buy, which is the best?

It is used in emergencies, but also for camping, rural farms and orchards, caravans and vans… portable charging stations are most useful to enjoy “wild” environments with the comfort of to be able to use and/or recharge our devices. In this one Portable charging station buying guide We help you choose the most suitable for your needs and we offer you a rigorous selection of candidates for all budgets.

How to choose a good portable charging station

Before buying a portable charging station, take a look at its main features:

• Aptitude, measured in Wh. It’s literally the watts it can deliver per hour. Thus, a 300Wh charging station (a good starting point) would theoretically be used to use a 300W device for an hour or a MacBook Pro M2 60W for about 5 hours. Of course, keep in mind that the capacity is an approximate theoretical value, but the actual energy availability will be lower for different reasons. Our recommendation is to choose a capacity higher than the power of the devices you are going to connect.

• Power. Besides the capacity, the other fundamental point to press this device is the power it can provide, which in practice differentiates it from simple power banks for mobiles and similar devices. And it is that while the 100W output powers can be enough for phones or tablets, if you have to charge several devices at the same time and one is moderately demanding like a computer, the ideal is that it or at least 200W.

• Dimensions and weight. Ask yourself if it will really be a device that you will move or if it will almost always be in the same place, because it is not the same to carry a portable charging station in your backpack than having it in your cabin or caravan. In any case, they are heavy and bulky devices, so they are not too comfortable to carry in the hand (although some have a handle).

• Robust, portable and intuitive design. Knowing that its most common usage scenario is the terrain, it is important that it is resistant, with robust and quality materials. Also taking into account its portable functionality, it exists with a handle and with wheels to facilitate its transfer. Finally, a very practical design aspect for its use is that they have a screen where data such as the percentage of remaining capacity is displayed (in other cases they are limited to indicating it with a few lines).

• output sockets. It will depend on your needs, but the minimum is an AC outlet for standard devices, a few fast USB-A outlets (10W) and a USB-C for smaller devices such as cell phones, tablets, e-books, headphones and the Like.

• how to recharge. Ideal from a practical point of view for a rural environment is that it can be charged both via a cable connecting it to the electrical system of your house with an outlet, via the car battery and via solar panels photovoltaics, a great addition if you’re going to be “out of civilization” for a few days. The time it takes to charge will depend on the energy we provide, being slower if we remove the car battery from the home socket.

• With pure sine wave inverter PSW, which will convert direct current to alternating current, hegemonic in domestic appliances. Be careful because there are models with more affordable MSW modified sine converters which, although they can be useful for certain devices in a punctual way, the waves generated are “dirtier” (more jerky, with irregular speeds), and can even damage the devices , so it is interesting that they are not used with powerful motors.

• Warranty and after-sales service. Given their price and the fact that they are not devices for daily use, it is worth betting on brands that offer a guarantee of at least one year and good after-sales service , for any problem that may arise later. There are no eternal batteries and their capacity decreases over time, but it guarantees a good after-sales experience.

The ideal is to find a balance: a portable charging station that offers great capacity and power in a format and price that is as contained as possible.

recommended models

This sturdy ‎Anker 521 charging station (369 euros) it is the most interesting because of its design and its characteristics for weekend camping and similar thanks to its sturdiness, compactness and lightness, in addition to having an intuitive screen and handle to make it more intuitive and manageable.

It has a capacity of 256Wh, it reaches up to 200W of power, enough not only to connect lamps, mobile phones or your tablet, but also to have up to a mini fridge connected for about 5 hours according to the manufacturer . With two years warranty.

If you have a lot of small appliancessuch as mobile, smartwatch, e-book, camera…this PowerOak Bluetti AC50s (499 euros) will interest you both for its capacity and for the number of USB-A ports it incorporates, although you can also power a mini-fridge. You can recharge it using solar panels, a wall socket and a car cigarette lighter socket and it has two useful extras for camping such as LED lighting and the SOS function.

Also interesting to take camping but more ambitious is the Lithionite Titan 500W (499 euros), with a minimalist and modern design, with LED for lighting and a complete display where it shows the operating data. It can be charged both via the wall socket in about 8 hours or with a solar panel (100W) in just over 10 hours according to the manufacturer.

Very interesting and compact model the Jackery Explorer 500 (659 euros), distinguished by the number of ports, the features and the robust and manageable design. You can recharge it in four ways: with a wall socket, with the car, generators or with solar panels.

If you need more capacity and powerthis Ecoflow River Pro (799 euros) is a splendid candidate whose capacity you can also double with an additional battery from the brand.

With a pure sine wave converter for its two AC outputs for your appliances and the possibility to connect up to 9 devices, it is a station of high performance and possibilities. To highlight its fast charge from 0 to 80% in 1 hour with a wall socket, although you can also use solar panels (up to 200W or the car socket).

Very neat, resistant and optimized design of the Goalzero Yeti 500x (836 euros), interesting both for camping and for van, highlighting its screen with the most intuitive graphics. You can power this charging station both with a wall socket and with USB or with photovoltaic panels, a very interesting plus considering the wide catalog of solar options of the brand.

With a modified sine wave AC inverter and a relatively high maximum power supply compared to similar models, which means that you can charge more demanding devices.

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