The Best Portable Power Station

A portable power station is the best option if you need to juice up common personal electronics and small appliances while spending long periods of time away from household AC outlets, or if you want to have backup power ready to go in case of an emergency.

These devices are basically large batteries in protective boxes, with AC outlets and other ports built in. They’re much bigger, heavier, more powerful, and generally more rugged than our power bank and portable laptop charger recommendations. That gives them more versatility for activities like camping with lots of electronic gear, working in a remote corner of your home, screening a movie in your backyard, or staging a scenic photoshoot.

In an emergency, they offer some major advantages over gas-powered portable generators, despite not being as powerful. Portable power stations are silent and free of emissions, which means you can use them safely inside a house during a blackout. And since there’s no motor, you don’t have to keep gas handy, or perform the oil changes or other minor maintenance a combustion engine requires. Battery-powered generators are a good alternative for projects requiring heavy-duty power tools, but they tend to be bigger and heavier (and have much lower capacity) than the top contenders in this guide.

With one of these being roughly the size of a standard plastic milk crate and weighing up to 50 pounds, you’re probably not going to be carrying it around in a backpack or briefcase. But you can charge your portable power station overnight on a wall outlet (charging most of them from empty to full takes 12 to 24 hours), pack it into a trunk with the rest of your gear, and bring it with you—keeping your phone, laptop, camera, projector, GPS unit, breast pump, drone, or other electronic device powered for hours at a time. Portable power stations usually offer more output options than just AC and USB, too, such as 6 mm DC ports and car power sockets, to support a wider range of devices.

Although a high-wattage portable power station can be a great backup in an emergency, even the best of breed have limitations compared with gas generators. These units can’t keep refrigerators or other large appliances powered, and anything that generates heat is likely to overload them or drain the battery too fast for them to be useful. A high-quality generator can power space heaters and hair dryers safely, but otherwise you should only plug them into an indoor wall outlet.

Some people use portable power stations to run CPAP machines (which treat sleep apnea) and other electronic medical devices while camping. If that’s your situation, we advise getting one of our high-capacity picks to keep your device running smoothly for as long as possible.

If you plan to travel, keep in mind that in most cases, portable power stations have to travel by ground. The FAA doesn’t allow passengers to bring batteries rated for more than 160 Wh in carry-on or checked luggage, so you can’t fly with any of our picks.