Gear, Reviews, Tips, Uncategorized, Van life

The best portable power station – UK Edition

December 2, 2022

Portable power stations are a great back-up power source in case of mains supply disruptions. Luckily the UK doesn’t have many environmental disasters, but with a portable power supply, you will be prepared in a catastrophe. A satellite phone might also be useful in such situation. All these devices are also great to use if you go off-grid or use on a construction site. They are a real camping game changer, because of their versatility and small compact design. Some of them are capable of generating as much electricity as a traditional gasoline generator. But portable power stations are much quieter and lighter with fewer maintenance issues. They are also far more sustainable than gas generators, as they don’t burn fossil fuels and don’t produce fumes. For an even greener option, I suggest using solar panels with them.

In recent years it became very popular to use portable power stations for camping for a good reason. They are essentially “fancy” leisure batteries. You don’t need an inverter, because they have one built in. You should add it to your wild camping checklist if you have a van. In this guide, I summarize and compare 15 power stations available in the UK with the aim to find the best portable power station for your needs and budget.

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

What is a portable power station?

Most of you probably have a portable power bank. You use it to charge your phone and ipad on the go. However, if you are away for several days, and also want to power a TV, kettle or camping fridge then you will need something more powerful. Essentially a portable power station is is a very big power bank with a built in inverter. Power stations have various outputs, so they can be used for USB, DC or 240-volt devices.

The main things to consider before you make a purchase are performance, compatibility and power output. This comparison chart should help you make a decision. At the bottom of this post, I also include a performance chart, which will show you how long each unit is able to power your various devices.

A portable power station with solar panel is another way to charge your unit up, when it is running low on juice. Most of the devices are review are portable solar power stations, so you will be able to purchase solar panels at an additional cost. It’s the most environmentally friendly way to charge up your devices and I would highly recommend getting panels for them.

A quick summary about which is the best portable power station in the UK for different needs

Best for vanlife: Anker PowerHouse 767

Best for power cut: Anker PowerHouse 767

Best for bikepacking/hiking: BEAUDENS Portable Power Station

Best budget option: ALLPOWERS Portable Generator

Best for comfort: ECOFLOW DELTA Portable Power Station

Best small portable power stations

SinKeu Portable Power Station
Beaudens Portable Power Station
CTECHi Portable Power Station
Jackery Portable Power Station
Allpowers Portable Generator

	SinKeu Portable Power Station	Beaudens Portable Power Station	CTECHi Portable Power Station	Jackery Portable Power Station	Allpowers Portable Generator
	£	£	£	£	£
Output Power	230V	230V	220V	230V	220V
Battery Capacity	99Wh	166Wh	240Wh	240Wh	288Wh
Battery Life Cycle	N/A	2000	2000	500	300
Weight	‎1.88 kg	‎2.2 kg	‎3.6 kg	‎3 kg	‎3.4 kg
Size	‎27 x 21 x 15 cm	28 x 22 x 13 cm	24 x 20 x 9 cm	23 x 13 x 20 cm	21 x 17 x 11 cm
USB Ports	2	2	2	2	3
USB C Ports	1	1	1		1
AC Power Outlet	1	1	1	1	2
Solar Panel Support
Surge	150W	200W	300W	400W	500W
	See Price	See Price	See Price	See Price	See Price

SinKeu Portable Power Station R150 Review

This is the smallest portable power station I review both in size and in performance. It is a great entry-level unit. It weighs 1.8 kg, so might be a possibility to take it with you on a bike packing or even backpacking trip.

BEAUDENS Portable Power Station 166Wh Review

Another small capacity portable power station, that is small and light enough for human-powered adventures. A great reason to buy this over some competitors is that the product is made in Britain. A great way to support the local economy and is more sustainable than a unit from overseas. It has an integrated light as well, so you can use it as a torch.

CTECHi Portable Power Station 240Wh Review

For such a small size CTECHi provides a great performance. It has LED light at the back, which works great as a camping light or in your home during a power cut. It has a fast charging port, which is very handy if you forgot to charge it and want a quick boost. Its battery life span exceeds many competitors’ with over 2000 recharge!

Jackery Portable Power Station Explorer 240Wh Review

Jackery has been a top brand is the US for many years and they finally launched in the UK as well. They are one of the highest rated power stations on Amazon. Jackery’s main customers are outdoorsy people, who want a reliable way to power their electronics on their adventures. The company is well regarded and has excellent customer service. This is their smallest unit, ideal for short road trips.

ALLPOWERS Portable Generator 288Wh Review

This unit will recharge perfectly while you are driving on a road trip. This is a great budget friendly option if you just want to have some back up power on your outdoor adventure. The unit has wireless fast charging as well, which is a great way to charge your phone.

Best medium portable power stations

Poweroak Portable Power
Jackery Explorer 500
BLUETTI EB55
Allpowers Portable Power Station
Ecoflow River

	Poweroak Portable Power	Jackery Explorer 500	BLUETTI EB55	Allpowers Portable Power Station	Ecoflow River
	££	££	££	££	££
Output Power	230V	230V	230V	230V	240V
Battery Capacity	500Wh	518Wh	537Wh	606Wh	512Wh
Battery Life Cycle	1000	500	2500	NA	3000
Weight	6.17 kg	6.04 kg	7.48 kg	5.3 kg	6.1 kg
Size	30 x 19 x 20 cm	30 x 19 x 24 cm	28 x 20 x 20 cm	26 x 14 x 18 cm	27 x 26 x 20 cm
USB Ports	2	3	2	3	3
USB C Ports	1		1	1	1
AC Power Outlet	2	1	2	2	2
Solar Panel Support
Surge	300W	1000W	1400W	1400W	1000W
	See Price	See Price	See Price	See Price	See Price

Reviews of the Best Portable Power Stations in the UK

POWEROAK Portable Power Station 500Wh Review

Another fantastic portable power station, that is compact in size and has a solid construction. This model has handles, that can fold away, which makes it even smaller. The blue edges are a rubbery, plastic material, which protects the unit from tear and wear. If you do a van conversion, but don’t want to faff about with a fancy electrical system, this might be a good solution for you. It also comes with integrated light on the back of the unit, which has multiple brightness settings. You can plug in multiple devices to charge at once and still not reach its power limit. However the maximum output is 300w, so you won’t be able to use a hairdryer or kettle with this unit.

Jackery Portable Power Station 518Wh Review

This model is best to power smaller devices, like your phone or laptop. This portable power station will likely be sufficient for a long weekend trip, but for continuous use, I suggest buying a solar panel with it.
A huge advantage of this model over some of the competitors is that is it very quiet, even with the cooling fans on. One downside is that this unit doesn’t have a USB-C port.

BLUETTI EB55 Review

The Bluetti EB55 comes with LiFePO4 batteries, which are superior to Lithium Ion batteries and last much longer. This means that this unit has an amazing 2500+ battery life cycle. A fantastic investment for your adventures or to use at home, as it will likely last for several years. It also works with solar panels, so you can create “free” power for your devices. It is probably the best solar power station out there on the market of its size.

ALLPOWERS Portable Power Station 700W 606Wh Review

With this unit, you are able to run some powerful appliances, like a small fridge, travel kettle, and laptop… Having 3 USB ports is very handy, especially as it is capable to charge several devices at the same time. A neat feature is that you can control it wirelessly with Bluetooth. You are able to control the built-in LED lights this way as well.

ECOFLOW RIVER 2 Max Review

A great size for any road trip. It is not too bulky, yet has a lot of power to operate pretty much any appliance that you might need while camping. You can even use a hair dryer with it. EcoFlow has the world’s fastest charging power stations. It charges to 100% in 1 hour.

Best large portable power stations

Jackery Explorer 1000
ECOFLOW DELTA
Allpowers1500Wh
BLUETTI AC200P
Anker Power House 767

	Jackery Explorer 1000	ECOFLOW DELTA	Allpowers1500Wh	BLUETTI AC200P	Anker Power House 767
	£££	£££	£££	£££	£££
Output Power	230V	240V	230V	240V	240V
Battery Capacity	1002Wh	1260Wh	1500Wh	2000Wh	2048Wh
Battery Life Cycle	500	800	NA	3500	3000
Weight	9.7 kg	14 kg	14.5 kg	27.5 kg	30 kg
Size	33 x 23 x 28 cm	40 x 21 x 27 cm	38 x 25 x 25 cm	42 x 28 x 39 cm	53 x 24 x 40 cm
USB Ports	1	4	4	5	2
USB C Ports	2	2	2	1	3
AC Power Outlet	2	4	4	2	3
Solar Panel Support
Surge	2000W	3300W	4000W	4800W	2300W
	See Price	See Price	See Price	See Price	See Price

Jackery Explorer 1000 Review

The Jackery Explorer 1000 is the go-to power station for many adventure lovers, as it is very well-known thanks to its marketing. While it is a fantastic power station, it is worth comparing to others on the market with similar capacity. Some of the downsides of the Jackery is its low battery life span. Also it doesn’t have many USB ports.

Ecoflow Delta

ECOFLOW is a well-regarded company in the US. Their products are not that well-known in the UK yet, but they are top quality. The ECOFLOW DELTA can power almost any device, including those with sensitive electronics. While the price might seem steep at first, it is a one-time investment type of product. When you think about how it will make your adventures more convenient and give you peace of mind at home, that you have a backup power for emergencies, it is not expensive at all. A huge bonus over its competitors is that it takes less than 1 hour to charge from 0% to 80%.Keep in mind, that this unit is not light or super quiet, but that is to be expected if you think about the performance it can provide.

ALLPOWERS 1500Wh Portable Power Station Review

This unit has a very reasonable size and weight for its capacity. Great if you are short on space, but still need quite a bit of juice. A fantastic feature is the phone application, which means you can easily control the power station via smartphone. Overall I think this Allpowers portable power station is great for road trips and camping trips, as it has a very compact size and neat features.

BLUETTI AC200P Review

This model has a huge capacity. It can power most of your devices. It is an ideal purchase if you are going away for several days or you need it to power high output devices eg work tools. The touch panel make it easy to control and read data. A very user-friendly design with lots of power outputs and fast charging options. Also, their customer service is nothing short of amazing, which is always reassuring when purchasing any equipment. The one downside is the weight of the item and the lack of wheels to make it easier to carry it.

Anker PowerHouse 767

Anker portable power banks already showed their reliability and now the company came out with a new power station. The Anker PowerHouse 767 has a new GaNPrime technology, which allows the system not to heat up too much. This saves the battery and your devices. Thanks to GaNPrime the power station doesn’t lose much energy when pulling and charging. The company claims to have The World’s Longest-Lasting Portable Power Station. It has a smart display, that tells you about the current run time and when on the charger how long you need to a 100%. It also supports pass-through charging. You can control the Power House 767 from your phone via an app. This unit is capable to power most of your household devices, so perfect for power cuts or RV life.

Performance chart

A common question when buying a portable power station is how long it will run your devices. The chart below should give you an idea, about what to expect. Please note, that this performance chart is only approximate. Actual time will depend on the exact device you want to run and how much W they use.

If you want to calculate an estimate for your device use this method:

Working time = power station’s Watt * 0.85 / operating power of your device.

For example, assuming the power consumption of your device is 60W (might be a mini cooler), and you want to use the Jackery Explorer 500 to run your device. The working time will be 518wh*0.85/60w=7.3 hrs (roughly calculated) .

BEAUDENS Power Station
Jackery Explorer 500
Ecoflow Delta
Anker PowerHouse 767

	BEAUDENS Power Station	Jackery Explorer 500	Ecoflow Delta	Anker PowerHouse 767
	166Wh	518Wh	1260Wh	2048Wh
Phone	17 charges	52 charges	110 charges	208 charges
Laptop	2 charges	7 charges	16 charges	28 charges
LED Lights (10 W)	14 h	44 h	107 h	174 h
Mini fridge (70 W)	2 h	6 h	15 h	25 h
TV (90 W)	1.5 h	5 h	12 h	19 h
Electric Kettle
Hair dryer
Fan (50 W)	3 h	9 h	21 h	35 h
Electric drill
Electric saw
	Buy Now	Buy Now	Buy Now	Buy Now

By Enikő 4 Comments

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4 Comments

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